No one knows the exact moment the world shifted. It wasn't an explosion, or an announcement, or even a scream. It was more like… a quiet erasure. A slow, methodical forgetting. Entire neighborhoods redesigned without permission. People waking up in apartments they swore weren't theirs. Maps that changed. Memories that didn't match.
They called it progress.
But somewhere under the streets, beneath the daily noise of car horns and hurried footsteps, something hummed.
Lena Myles never really liked silence it made her ears ring, made her thoughts too loud. But lately, silence was all she heard. Even in a city packed with life, her world had gone muted. People spoke, but their words felt rehearsed. Familiar streets felt cloned. Her morning routine? Almost too perfect. Same coffee shop. Same latte. Same barista with the same glitchy smile.
She worked for the City Records Bureau, buried in the archives building no one visited unless they were desperate. She filed zoning histories, monitored redevelopment codes, and watched dusty microfilms like they were documentaries of a forgotten civilization. At 27, Lena lived alone in Tower 9C, Block 117. At least, that's what her ID said.
But deep down… she wasn't so sure.
She had dreams she couldn't explain. Cities with curved towers. Streets overgrown with vines. Crowds chanting things like "WE REMEMBER." A strange child always stood at the edge of those dreams a boy who never blinked. And every time she tried to speak to him, the dream would cut out like a static-choked signal.
One rainy afternoon, a man she didn't recognize came into the archive. Older, maybe in his 60s. Clean suit. Odd stare.
He handed her a request slip.
"Zoning record for Sector 4L, Sub-Block Gamma. Need the full file, pre-'09 revisions."
She nodded out of habit and walked back into the stacks. But the file didn't exist.
Not that it was missing it had never been logged. As if the entire block had been built on… nothing.
When she returned to tell him, he was gone.
In his place, a single folder sat on her desk. Unmarked. No barcode. Just a sticky note inside:
"You're not supposed to find this. Which is exactly why you must."
Inside was a redacted report titled:
CBAP COHORT 17 - ACTIVE MONITORING
She flipped to the second page. Names. Dozens of them.
And there it was.
Myles, Lena
Tower 9C, Block 117
Emotional Index: 7.9 (high sensitivity) REMEMBER THRESHOLD NEAR LIMIT
Her hands trembled. A low ringing started in her head. Something was wrong not just the file. Her.
Suddenly, the power flickered. The screens in the office glitched for a second just a blink and when they stabilized, her monitor displayed a different time. A full hour had passed. She had no memory of it.
On her way home, the streets looked slightly different. The café on the corner? Gone. In its place, a boutique she'd never seen before. Her neighbor the friendly woman with two cats? A locked door, no signs of life.
And that night, she finally opened the locked drawer in her bedroom desk. The one she never remembered locking.
Inside: an envelope labeled "Lena. REAL."
It held a birth certificate. Name: Lena Myles.
But the address? Wrong.
Birthday? Wrong.
Parents? Names she'd never heard before.
Taped behind it: a wrinkled photograph of her as a child. Except she was standing next to someone with her exact face. Older. Watching her.
And written in black marker along the edge:
"DO NOT TRUST YOUR REFLECTION.
THEY'RE USING YOUR FACE."
Lena didn't sleep that night.
The next morning, her window looked out on a park that hadn't been there the day before. Kids played, birds flew overhead but everything was too still. Too perfect. Like a simulation designed by someone who had only read about childhood.
As she stepped into the hallway, the walls of her apartment building shimmered faintly. Just for a second. Like a mirage.
Then came the voice, clear and low, from the intercom:
"Cohort 17. Breach Detected.
Reset Protocol: Pending."
She ran.
⸻
🔍 Questions we don't know?
What is Cohort 17? Are there more like her?
How much of Lena's life was implanted and why?
Who was the man with the zoning request?
Is she human? Or something else?
What happens when a "reset" is triggered and who controls it?
And most of all: if they're using her face… where's the original Lena?
💬 Got a theory? Drop your thoughts in the comments who do you think is real, and who's been overwritten? Thanks for reading it only gets deeper from here. The next chapter will blow your mind. Stay tuned. 👁🗨