Ethan woke up in Ryan’s bed again the next morning sunlight spilling through the blinds like liquid gold He had not slept more than a few hours the night before because his thoughts kept circling back to his own life in Chicago His apartment his coffee mug the leaky faucet the small plant near the window he wondered if someone else was touching them now Someone living as him

He scrolled through Ryan’s phone looking for clues There were new messages from people he didn’t know social media posts tagged with his borrowed name fans calling him perfect flawless unreal He almost laughed at that word unreal was exactly how this felt Yet the longer he stayed the harder it was to remember what his real voice sounded like He tried to recall his reflection but Ryan’s face came instead

He decided to visit the local branch of Substitute Life Inc to demand an early termination He drove across the city using the red car that had first appeared in his dreams The GPS guided him to a tall mirrored tower with no signs outside just a single glowing symbol a looping circle with a dot at the center

Inside everything smelled sterile The receptionist looked human but her eyes did not blink right She smiled too evenly and asked for his name He hesitated before saying Ryan Harris She typed something and said smoothly “Welcome back Mr Harris Your current session is active Any support request must be submitted by the original user identifier”

“I am the original user” he said “I’m Ethan Cole from Chicago I rented this life through your program and I want to end it now”

Her smile didn’t move “I’m sorry sir we have no record of an Ethan Cole in our active registry Please return when your session concludes”

He leaned over the counter “Listen I didn’t agree to be trapped in this body I need to talk to someone who can stop the session”

She tilted her head slightly the motion too precise “We appreciate your feedback All concerns are processed after session completion Please enjoy your borrowed experience Mr Harris”

He realized then that she wasn’t a person at all maybe an AI projection or a synthetic receptionist He backed away the air around him colder than before Outside he leaned against the car breathing hard His phone buzzed again this time a message from an unknown number How does it feel being me

He froze staring at the text for several seconds Another one followed You have something of mine but don’t worry I’m taking good care of yours

Ethan’s heart raced He tried calling the number but it went straight to voicemail the recorded greeting using a voice that made his stomach twist It was his own

He drove aimlessly for hours the world around him flashing past like static Every corner of the city seemed to blur into the same colorless pattern His own memories began to slip he couldn’t remember the code to his Chicago apartment door or the name of the street he had grown up on

By evening he returned to Ryan’s apartment desperate for something solid He searched every drawer until he found a small card with the Substitute Life logo On the back someone had scribbled coordinates He typed them into the car’s GPS and followed the route out of the city into the desert where the sun was setting behind jagged mountains

After two hours of driving he saw a cluster of low concrete buildings half hidden from the highway A steel gate stood open as if waiting for him He parked and walked toward the largest building The door slid open silently revealing a dark hall lit by blue lines across the floor

A voice spoke from hidden speakers “Welcome Subject B fourteen three seven seven session integrity confirmed”

He shouted into the empty space “I want my life back who’s using it”

The voice replied calmly “Please refrain from disrupting active simulation Your real life is being maintained safely”

“What does that mean” he said “Someone’s living it aren’t they”

No response came only the hum of distant machines

He walked deeper into the building The corridor ended in a wide chamber filled with pods like glass coffins each one glowing faintly Inside every pod lay a person perfectly still faces covered by silver halos He counted at least fifty pods before he saw one with his own face inside

He stumbled backward his breath breaking The man in the pod was him motionless peaceful wires running from his temples to the machine beside it His first thought was that it couldn’t be real but the scar on the eyebrow the small freckle on the neck every detail was correct

He reached out and touched the glass It was cold but the surface pulsed faintly like a heartbeat Then the eyes inside the pod opened

Ethan fell to the floor in shock staring as the other him smiled faintly a mirror image alive behind the glass Then the lights in the room dimmed and the pod displays flickered to black

He ran toward the exit but the doors sealed shut a calm synthetic voice repeating over and over Session continuity must be preserved

The last thing he saw before the lights went out completely was his own reflection blinking back at him both real and not