Darkness.

Jonah hit the ground hard, air rushing from his lungs. He groaned, pushing himself up as his eyes strained against the pitch black. The silence was oppressive, broken only by Kai’s sharp intake of breath nearby.

“Kai?” Jonah called out, his voice shaky.

“I’m here.” Kai’s silhouette appeared as his voice echoed. “But… where the hell is Nico?”

Jonah looked around. The room was eerily quiet, a deep void without walls or ceiling. “He was right behind us.”

“Guess he wasn’t. Must’ve picked another door without telling us.” Kai’s tone was tense. “Figures.”

Before Jonah could respond, a faint hum stirred beneath them. The ground lit up with a dim glow. Square tiles blinked to life, stretching across the floor. Strange symbols flickered on them—some familiar, some alien.

“What now?” Jonah muttered.

Kai stepped forward cautiously. As his foot touched one tile, it lit up brighter. A low click echoed. “Looks like a puzzle.”

Jonah frowned. “A puzzle? Why now?”

Kai didn’t answer, studying the pattern. “We probably shouldn't mess this up.. let’s think this through.”

Jonah hesitated but followed Kai’s lead. The tiles hummed underfoot. Some symbols resembled wings, others mirrors or chains. The air buzzed with quiet warning.

“Seems like we need the right sequence,” Kai murmured. “Every wrong step resets the pattern.”

Jonah nodded, his gaze lingering on a tile etched with a cracked mirror—the same symbol that hung above the door they’d chosen. His pulse quickened. The room seemed to whisper. His father’s voice echoed faintly in his mind. Weak. Broken.

Kai glanced back, catching Jonah’s hesitation. “Hey. Focus. You with me?”

Jonah shook his head, clearing the fog. “Yeah. Let’s finish this.”

Without thinking, Kai began moving. His steps were sure, instinctive. Somehow, he knew the sequence. He didn’t understand how or why—only that his body moved as if it remembered something his mind couldn’t grasp.

Jonah followed close behind. With each correct step, the tiles lit up, casting a brighter glow across the path. The hum in the air deepened into a steady rhythm—like a heartbeat.

Step by step. Light by light.

Finally, after a tense pause and one last cautious step, the final tile glowed brilliant white. The room trembled. The puzzle was complete.

“Whoa, Kai! How’d you figure that out? I didn’t know you were a genius!”

Kai turned to him, his expression distant, almost hollow.

“I don’t know either.” It was strange, there was no reason for Kai to get that sequence correct and yet it felt familiar to him. A odd feeling nagged him, like there was something he didn't know that he should know.

A door slid open ahead, revealing a dimly lit corridor. At the end of it—Elena and Aiden.

“Jonah? Kai?” Elena’s voice was sharp with relief. “You made it.”

Aiden looked up, worry etched on his face. 

"I guess the gangs all here.. except, where's Nico?"

Kai’s jaw tightened. “He was just with us.. until he took another door.”

But before anyone could react, a sharp beep cut through the air.

They all turned.

A large timer had appeared above the exit—a red countdown flashing ominously.

00:10:00

Ten minutes.

“What the hell—” Elena started, but the timer’s steady tick silenced them all.

Jonah swallowed hard. “We can’t leave without him.”

“Well, he better hurry..” Kai muttered, staring at the dwindling time.

Meanwhile…

Nico stumbled into a dimly lit room. The door slammed shut behind him with a metallic clang.

He turned, but there was no way back.

The room was lined with mirrors. Dozens of them. Each one tall, wide, and pristine—except for the names scrawled across the glass in neat, sharp letters. He began to recognize that these were the names of everyone in the program. It didn't take long before he found his friends names.

Jonah.
Kai.
Aiden.
Elena.

“What… is this?”

As he stepped forward, a cold voice echoed from above. It was emotionless, mechanical.

“You must face the challenges of another to pass. Choose wisely.”

Nico’s eyes darted between the mirrors. His reflection shifted as he moved across them, but something in the glass felt wrong. The images seemed distorted, flickering with flashes of memories not his own.

He passed Jonah’s mirror. For a moment, he thought he heard a distant echo of a mans voice, cold and unforgiving.

Kai’s mirror radiated heat, a flash of fire pulsing briefly in the glass.

Aiden’s showed a flicker of a young girl—her expression blurred.

But it was Elena’s mirror that made him stop. The glass shimmered, and for a fleeting moment, he saw her—not as she was now, guarded and distant. She appeared happier.

She was running freely across a schoolyard, laughter glinting in her eyes. The brightness in her expression caught him off guard. Her smile—it was beautiful.

Without thinking, he reached out towards her. 

The voice repeated:

“Choose.”

Nico stared at Elena’s name etched across the glass. His fingers brushed against the cold surface.

Elena.

He hesitated for only a moment before pressing his hand against the mirror.

The glass rippled under his touch, pulling him forward.

Before he could react, the surface gave way. The room blurred, the mirrors vanishing into darkness.

Nico was gone.