Broken Mirror - MiSide

Version 1.3B. 

The first version we had to traverse to reach our end objective: the core.

Kind Mita and I walked side by side down the dimly lit hallway, our steps echoing through the silence.

I cast a glance at her from the corner of my eye. "Kita."

She didn't react immediately, lost in thought.

I sighed. "Hey, Kita. I think you were a bit too strict with Cappie, if I'm honest."

We both stopped, neither of us turning.

She finally responded, her tone unreadable. "You think so?"

"Yeah. I get it, you're stressed. The fate of this world might depend on this journey, but who says we're even making it to the end?"

She exhaled through her nose, crossing her arms. "You shouldn't be so pessimistic, Lukas."

"I'm not being pessimistic, I'm being realistic. Big difference." I shrugged. "All I'm saying is, there's a real possibility we won't finish this journey successfully."

She tilted her head slightly but said nothing.

I pressed on. "So, if this is all we've got, this small, strange little journey of ours, I'd at least like to enjoy it with you."

A small smirk played on my lips. "We live in the present, after all. No one knows what the future holds."

For a brief moment, silence stretched between us before she giggled softly. 

The sound caught me off guard.

"How romantic of you, Lukas." She teased, shooting me a sly look. "Didn't expect you to enjoy my company this much already."

I rolled my eyes, stuffing my hands into my pockets. "Don't flatter yourself. I was just making an observation."

"Oh? So I imagined the little smile just now?" she pressed, amusement lacing her voice.

"It was a smirk. Completely different."

"Mm-hm. And what's the difference, exactly?"

"A smirk is subtle, a sign of amusement. A smile is..." I hesitated, choosing my words carefully. "...too genuine."

For half a second, her teasing grin faltered, as if considering something, before she quickly recovered.

"So what you're saying is... making you smile is an achievement?"

"Don't get your hopes up, Kita." My tone turned dry. 

"You might be good at stitching wounds, but I doubt you can fix my face into a proper smile."

The moment the words left my mouth, I winced internally.

Wow. That was fucking edgy.

Kind Mita paused, then smirked. "Damn, Lukas. You good? Or should I start carrying around a tiny violin for moments like this?"

"Alright, alright. That was bad. I get it." I groaned, rubbing my temples.

"No, no, I think we should unpack this," she continued, grinning. "So tragic. So hollow. Have you considered brooding under a streetlamp in the rain?"

"I hate you."

"Aww, and here I thought you wanted to enjoy this little journey with me." She hummed, tapping her chin thoughtfully. 

"Besides, I don't know... I managed to keep you alive despite you bleeding out like a stabbed pig. Getting you to smile can't be that much harder."

"Bold of you to assume I have anything to smile about."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't be so dramatic. You have me now."

"Oh sure, I love spending time with someone who constantly finds ways to make me regret speaking."

"And yet, here you are. Speaking."

I exhaled sharply through my nose. "Unfortunately."

She nudged me lightly with her elbow. "Admit it. You'd be miserable without me."

"You say that like I'm not miserable already."

She smirked but didn't push further, content in the silence that followed.

I hate to admit it, but she's not entirely wrong.

After a beat, she spoke again. "But coming back to your point about Cappie... you're right. After all this is over, I'll apologize for being so strict with her."

Good.

With that off my mind, I shifted the topic. "Kita? We're currently in 1.3B, right?" I asked, frowning slightly.

Kind Mita, walking directly beside me, turned to fully face me. "Yes?"

"Then why does this version look different? I kinda expected everything called 'version' to resemble the apartment, like in yours and Cappie's version."

She grinned. "You could say this is a special version. The Mita living here is... different from every other existing Mita."

As long as it's not another woman trying to murder me.

"Honestly, if we really wanted to, we could leave this version in the next few seconds," she continued. "But I'd like you to meet the Mita living here!" She said it with a smile, as if I should be excited.

"Her official name is Tiny Mita, for your information." She explains.

"Alright. Seems reasonable," I accepted, though I was already bracing for whatever nonsense was coming next.

As I turned to my right, I noticed a clock hanging on the wall. It displayed '01'.

"Kita, I think this clock has no idea what it's doing," I said, pointing at it.

Kind Mita followed my finger until her eyes landed on the 'clock.' 

Then, she giggled. "That's not exactly a clock, you genius. You'll see what it is soon, trust me. I don't want to spoil everything for you."

"Right. Because stumbling into cryptic bullshit is just so much fun."

"Okay, Kita. Just expect a 1/5 Google review later for this," I teased.

She put a hand to her chest, feigning offense. "Wow. Only a one-star rating? And here I thought I was at least worth a three."

"Maybe you'll get an extra star if we don't die today."

"Ooh, high stakes," she said with a smirk. "Fine, challenge accepted."

We walked forward, rounding another corner until we reached a door. I reached for the handle and pushed it open.

Huh?

We just came from there-

I looked around, confused, before my eyes landed on Kind Mita, who was very obviously trying to stifle her laughter.

Then, I turned to the 'clock' I had criticized earlier.

It now displayed '02.'

I might have been too harsh on this poor little 'clock'...

"A loop," I muttered.

This time, Kind Mita gave me two thumbs up, grinning like she had been waiting for me to figure it out.

"You're on fire today, Lukas," she said, unable to hold back a chuckle.

I sighed, rubbing my temples. "Yeah, yeah. Go ahead. Say it."

She tilted her head innocently. "Say what?"

"That I'm an idiot for not realizing sooner. That I had it coming. That I should trust your infinite wisdom, oh great Kita."

She gasped dramatically, placing a hand over her chest. "Wow. I don't know whether to be impressed or offended. Have I really become that predictable to you?"

"You? Predictable? Never. You just love rubbing things in my face."

"Only when you make it this easy," she teased, nudging my shoulder. 

"But hey, at least you figured it out before the clock hit '05.' That's got to count for something, right?"

"Fantastic. My grand achievement of the day: realizing I'm stuck in some time-loop nonsense before I lost my sanity completely. Where's my medal?"

She tapped her chin, pretending to think. "I'd give you a trophy, but I'm fresh out. Tell you what, you survive this, and I'll let you bask in the honor of not being completely useless."

"See? You're finally starting to understand the rewards system," she said, giving me a smug look.

"I hate you."

"Aw, you're warming up to me already!"

I groaned, dragging a hand down my face.

This is my life now.

"Where is Tiny Mita, anyway? Don't tell me we need to loop 99 times or something like that to finally meet her..." I grumbled.

"She tends to show up somewhere in the 20s," Kind Mita stated, completely unfazed. "So that's probably how far we have to go."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Oh, fantastic. Can't wait."

With that, we walked forward once again, reaching the same end of the hallway before stepping through the door.

03.

I turned back to the now closed door and tried opening it again.

Locked.

Not again. Please. I swear to god. Every. Fucking. DOOR. IS. LOCKED. IN. THIS. GAME.

Kita had been watching me, and from the way she crossed her arms, I could tell she was thoroughly enjoying my suffering.

She finally let out a chuckle.

"Aw, what's the matter, Lukas? Losing your patience already?" she teased, tilting her head in mock sympathy.

I exhaled sharply, forcing a smile. "No, Kita, I'm perfectly fine. In fact, I love this. I love looping. It's my favorite pastime. Waking up every day and thinking, 'Wow,I hope I get to walk through the same hallway twenty goddamn times today.'"

She hummed, tapping a finger against her chin as if in deep thought. "You know, I think you might be the only person who can turn walking into an existential crisis."

I shot her a flat look. "Kita, everything is an existential crisis if you think about it hard enough."

She burst out laughing. "Okay, that was the most Lukas thing you've ever said."

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," I muttered, yanking the door handle again. 

It stayed locked. 

Of course, it did. 

"I swear, if this is all just some elaborate joke and Tiny Mita doesn't even exist-"

"Oh, she exists," Kita interrupted, smirking. 

"But honestly? I'd love to see your face if she didn't. Imagine going through twenty loops just for me to go, 'Oops, my bad.'"

I stared at her. "Kita."

She blinked, all innocent. "Yes?"

"If that actually happens, I will riot."

She grinned, clearly entertained. "Noted. But don't worry, you're going to love her."

I sighed. "Highly doubt that."

Once more, we walked through the loop, reaching the end once again.

Loop four.

This time, something felt off.

The hallway was colder.

A lot colder.

The dim light flickered, casting restless shadows against the walls.

The air was heavier, thick with something unseen, watching.

I instinctively turned to Kind Mita.

She looked just as unsettled.

"Why is it suddenly...?" she muttered under her breath, eyes darting around.

"Let's go." I pulled her out of her thoughts. There was no point in standing around.

We moved forward, our footsteps eerily muted against the floor.

As we passed the TV again, it suddenly switched on with a loud and jarring burst of static.

Both of us froze.

Kind Mita and I exchanged a glance, wordlessly deciding to hurry.

The screen was a mess of violent noise, no discernible image.

But something... something about it felt wrong.

We exchanged another glance. No words needed. We picked up the pace.

Something was wrong.

We reached the fifth loop.

It was even darker now.

The lights were on this time, but instead of clarity, they only deepened the shadows.

A chill ran down my spine. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw it.

Scrawled onto the wall, jagged and desperate:

'Again?'

My stomach twisted.

This wasn't here before.

Just like back in v1.5.

Kind Mita noticed it too, her lips pressing into a tight line.

Then, suddenly-

"Mita, what are you doing? Come out, it's me!" Kind Mita called out, voice firm but laced with urgency.

We waited.

Nothing.

Silence.

The kind that made my skin crawl.

Kind Mita exhaled sharply, tension rolling off her. "Lukas, something is terribly wrong."

"I know." My voice was low, steady.

"Let's find her, fast."

Neither of us said it, but we both knew: this wasn't normal.

We moved.

Loop six.

I immediately regretted it.

The walls-

They were covered in blood.

Crimson streaks dragged along the surfaces like something had been clawing at them.

And ahead of us, tiny, bloodied footprints formed before our eyes, small, hurried, running.

Running away from us.

What the fuck?

Please don't tell me this Mita is actually going to try and murder us. I was joking.

Beside me, Kind Mita stiffens.

Without hesitation, she summons the fire axe from her inventory, gripping it tightly. 

Her jaw clenches, her usual lighthearted air completely replaced by sharp focus.

"I fear the worst, Lukas," she says, her tone taut, fingers twitching slightly around the handle.

My pulse quickens.

"We don't have a choice but to move forward, do we?" I murmur, trying to cut through the suffocating tension. "Hope you actually know how to use that thing."

Kind Mita doesn't smile. "Let's hope I don't have to."

As we turn the next corner, fresh words appear on the wall.

Dripping. 

Black.

'You are different.'

'You look like her.'

My body goes cold.

I glance at Kind Mita. "Like her? Kita, you said you both knew each other, right?"

Her grip on the axe tightens. "Yes..." Her voice is barely above a whisper. 

Then, she mutters something even lower, more to herself than to me: "Please don't tell me she was here too..."

I don't like the way she says that.

Not one bit.

Despite everything, we move on.

Kind Mita takes the lead, slightly ahead of me, gripping the fire axe tightly in case something decides to make this worse than it already is. 

We push forward, footsteps slow, careful.

We reach the corner.

Kind Mita pauses first, glancing back at me briefly before stepping around it.

I follow close behind.

Then, we see it.

The hallway ahead is not the same as before.

The first thing I notice is the wrecked drawer, splintered wood, broken handles, its contents spilled out haphazardly, like someone or something ripped through it with violent force.

Then, my eyes drift toward the windows.

Outside, the sky has turned into a swirling storm, heavy rain hammering against the glass in relentless sheets. 

Lightning flickers, illuminating the hallway in sharp, eerie flashes.

A low rumble of thunder follows, deep and crawling beneath my skin.

And then-

A thick, blue cable sprawls across the floor, stretching far ahead, right through the corridor we have to take to reach the next loop.

I exhale sharply, running a hand down my face. "Great. Fantastic. Now we're adding electrical hazards to our list of concerns."

Kind Mita doesn't react to the sarcasm. 

Her gaze lingers on the cable, wary, her grip tightening around the axe.

"Step over it carefully," she says, voice low but firm. "Don't touch it."

I scoff. "Oh wow, thanks for the tip. Here I was thinking about licking it."

She exhales sharply through her nose, unimpressed. "Lukas."

Right. She is back in business mode.

I raise my hands in surrender and very carefully step over the cable.

She does the same.

Loop Seven.

The moment we step through the door, we are swallowed by total darkness.

Not dim. Not kind of dark.

Just-

Nothing.

I freeze. "Kita?" My voice barely rises above a whisper.

A small click.

Then-

A beam of white light cuts through the dark as I turn on my flashlight.

Both of us immediately wish I hadn't.

The blood smeared walls now have dents in them, deep, erratic marks, as if something had been slamming into them over and over with monstrous force. 

The stool in the corner, previously untouched, has been completely obliterated, shattered into jagged pieces.

Kind Mita stiffens beside me. 

Her breath is steady, controlled, but her fingers flex around the axe, knuckles paling.

I swallow hard. 

Why does everything keep getting worse?

The silence is too thick, too heavy.

My voice comes out quieter than I intend. "You think we're alone?"

Kind Mita doesn't answer right away. 

She scans the hallway, then exhales slowly through her nose. "We're being watched."

I feel something cold slither down my spine.

"...You wanna elaborate on that?"

She doesn't.

Instead, she just moves, steady, careful steps forward, eyes locked ahead.

I glance behind us.

The darkness seems... closer somehow, pressing in at the edges of my flashlight's glow.

I turn back quickly. 

I don't want to look at it anymore.

We press on, steps quickening.

The door to Loop Eight comes into view.

Just a few more steps-

Then-

A thud.

Soft.

Distant.

But not ours.

I go rigid.

Kind Mita stops dead in her tracks.

The air suddenly feels wrong, thick with something unseen, something waiting.

A second thud.

Closer.

My fingers are ice cold around the flashlight.

Nope. No. I refuse to turn around.

Kind Mita tilts her head slightly, listening, unreadable.

"We need to move," she whispers.

I nod, and we run.

We burst through the door to the next loop, slamming it shut behind us.

Urgh... I should slow down... my stomach...

Silence.

Loop Eight.

I pant, trying to catch my breath.

Kind Mita stares at the door for a long moment before finally exhaling.

"...Next time, don't look back."

I let out a short, sharp laugh. "Next time? Kita, I'd rather set myself on fire."

She actually smirks. "That would make it worse."

I groan. "You are enjoying this way too much."

But she isn't.

I can tell, behind the teasing, she's just as tense as I am.

And we're not even close to being done.

We slowly inch forward, passing the corner once more.

The hallway seems like the one from the previous version.

We walk through it.

Just then, I notice something on the wall at the end of the hallway.

Something in the corner at the wall.

Next to an open vent cover.

A vent I hadn't noticed before.

I swing my flashlight toward it, illuminating something that should not exist.

A white face stares back at me, featureless except for the empty black pits where eyes should be. 

Its head isn't just a head...it's entire body, with three… no, four spindly legs sprouting directly from it.

A spider, but wrong. Twisted.

Its face glitches, distorting in jagged, unnatural spasms, like it's having a seizure.

What the fuck is that?

"Kita?" My voice wavers despite myself.

She glances up from our path, her sharp eyes locking onto the thing. 

A flicker of recognition passes over her face, darkening her expression.

"Remember the living glitches and bugs I told you about earlier?" Her tone is calm, but there's an edge to it, coiled tight beneath the surface.

"Oh. Right." The words barely make it past my throat as a shiver snakes down my spine.

"Don't get too close," she warns. "They corrupt data."

I frown. "Corrupt my data?"

"I have no idea what exactly happens," she admits. "But I doubt it's anything pleasant."

Her voice is casual, but something lingers behind it. 

Something unreadable.

Kind Mita doesn't get spooked easily.

That alone sets off every alarm in my head.

We move forward, slow and deliberate, the air pressing in thick and heavy around us.

The thing twitches.

Then, in an instant, it scuttles backward into the vent, vanishing into the dark.

Like it was never there at all.

I don't like that.

But we don't stop.

We step past the vent, bodies taut, eyes scanning the shadows. 

Every nerve is braced for something worse.

The cables littering the floor force us to tread carefully. Each step is a test of balance, a battle between keeping our focus sharp and resisting the unnatural silence pressing in from all sides.

We reach the second corner.

And then-

A shriek.

Loud.

Distorted.

It erupts from nowhere, splitting through the air like jagged glass, scraping against my skull with something too sharp, too wrong.

The atmosphere glitches.

The flashlight flickers.

And then it's there.

A monstrous, fractured thing materializes in the dark, a grotesque mass of shifting pixels, its face a warped scream frozen mid-agony.

The pressure in my head slams down like a hammer.

Reality lags.

For a split second, I feel off, like I'm not fully here anymore.

Kind Mita reacts instantly.

Her axe swings-

A precise, calculated strike meant to cleave it in two-

But it hits nothing.

The thing vanishes as suddenly as it appeared.

Like it was never there.

Silence crashes down again, thick and stifling.

Kind Mita's grip tightens around the axe.

She's furious.

Her breathing remains steady, but tension coils in her shoulders, a flicker of irritation breaking through her usual composure.

"…Tch." She exhales sharply, scanning the darkness like daring it to test her again.

"Stay sharp," she mutters, voice clipped. "We're not out of this yet."

Fair enough.

I flex my fingers around the flashlight, trying to shake off the static still buzzing in my skull.

The scream lingers.

We both know it isn't gone.

Just waiting.

Kind Mita's jaw tightens. 

I can feel the frustration rolling off her. 

She hates being caught off guard.

Hates not being able to land a hit on something that's mocking her.

Trying to shake off the tension, for both our sakes, I exhale a shallow breath and mutter, "You're always so on edge, Kita. What, afraid of bugs now?"

She doesn't even look at me.

"Don't joke," she says, flat. "There's nothing funny about these glitches."

Her tone leaves no room for argument.

I shut up.

She doesn't like being doubted.

And right now? She's doubting herself.

Like the walls are closing in.

Something else is out there.

Watching.

Waiting.

She tightens her grip on the axe, exhales slowly, and mutters, "Let's just keep moving."

We step toward the door leading to the ninth loop.

We walk to the first corner.

Nothing new.

The hallway remains eerily still, a replica of the previous loop.

Then-

CRASH

The first window behind us shatters.

Glass explodes outward, the wind surging in like something alive set loose.

We whip around.

Kind Mita moves on instinct, stepping in front of me, axe raised, stance unwavering.

I flick my flashlight toward the impact site.

The hallway is empty.

Only the wind howls now, whistling through the jagged teeth of broken glass, carrying the pounding echo of my own heartbeat.

My eyes drop to the floor.

Among the scattered shards, something sits in the wreckage.

A baseball bat.

I hesitate, then crouch down and wrap my fingers around its handle.

Feels solid enough.

A weapon's a weapon.

I straighten, catching Kind Mita's sharp gaze flicking toward me.

Her expression is unreadable, shadowed by something I can't quite name.

She doesn't speak, but the look says enough.

I sigh. "I'll be careful, don't worry."

Her stare lingers before she exhales through her nose.

"Mm. You say that," she murmurs, "but I know I'll still have to pull you out of something stupid."

There's a teasing tone, but beneath it, that same seriousness. 

The same unspoken warning.

Before I can answer, we turn back around-

And the hallway is different.

The way forward is blocked.

The cables that once lay across the ground now loom, tangled into a grotesque web stretching floor to ceiling, sealing the path shut.

And at its center-

That thing.

The same abomination that vanished into the vent now perches in the middle of the web, its white, glitched face twisting, empty black eyes fixed on us.

And this time-

It's grinning.

A wide, jagged, unnatural grin.

The flickering distortion around it makes my stomach churn, like reality itself is rejecting its existence.

A beat of silence.

Then-

Kind Mita moves.

She doesn't hesitate.

Her grip on the axe tightens, muscles coiling-

And then she lunges.

The axe swings.

A flash of steel.

The thing shrieks.

The moment the blade connects, the distorted flickering around its body stutters, as if it is trying and failing to reset itself.

It crashes to the ground.

Its body convulses, limbs twitching, glitching violently-

Then, with a final, sickening spasm-

It stops moving.

A slow drip.

Something dark seeps from the edge of Kind Mita's axe.

Black fluid.

Not blood.

Something else.

Something wrong.

The glitching corpse flickers, its form breaking apart like static on a screen.

And then-

It disappears.

Vanishing into a chaotic burst of pixels before winking out of existence entirely.

Like it was never there.

A long silence follows.

Kind Mita exhales, slow and controlled. 

She adjusts her grip on the axe, her gaze locked onto the now empty floor, daring something else to crawl out of the void.

I swallow, pulse finally beginning to settle.

Then, because I can't help myself, I mutter, "Okay, so that was... something. Guess we're still not out of this?"

Kind Mita turns her head slightly, giving me a look, one of mild exasperation, though there's a glint of amusement beneath it.

"You really do talk too much."

"Yeah, well, that's my coping mechanism." I tap the bat against my palm. "Better than, you know, swinging first and asking questions never."

She huffs. "It worked, didn't it?"

Can't argue with that.

The web of cables untangles itself in slow, jerky movements, as if the creature's death undid whatever force had been holding it together.

Our path is open again.

Kind Mita flicks the last of the black fluid from her axe and steps forward without hesitation.

I follow, gripping the bat a little tighter.

We don't say it out loud.

But we both know-

This won't be the last time we see one of those things.

Loop Ten.

This time, the hallway feels... different.

More stable.

The lights are on...dim, flickering at the edges, but functional.

An improvement.

I switch off my flashlight and slide it back into my inventory, gripping the baseball bat with both hands.

No need to waste energy.

Even if I have no clue if this thing even has batteries.

We round the first corner.

Then-

Movement.

Something small.

At the far end of the hallway.

Watching.

And then... gone.

Disappeared around the next corner.

"Hey! You there!" I call out before I can stop myself.

Please. Let it be her.

Beside me, Kind Mita stiffens.

Then, her voice...clear, urgent.

"Mita! It's me! Come back here!"

No hesitation. No doubt.

She knows who it is.

We take off running.

Our footsteps slam against the cold floor, chasing the shadow ahead.

We reach the door to Loop Eleven just as a sound rips through the air behind us.

A deep, glitchy roar.

Not right behind us... but close.

Both of us freeze for a fraction of a second.

We nod.

And without another word, we enter the next loop.

The hallway shifts again.

This one is even more stable.

No blood.

No dents in the walls.

The lights glow steadily, eerily normal.

We push forward.

Then-

I see it.

My breath catches.

Not just because the drawer is back to being fully intact, untouched by decay.

But because of what's next to it.

A small wooden chair.

And on it-

A pair of dangling legs.

My pulse spikes.

Kind Mita inhales sharply beside me, but neither of us speaks.

Slowly, painfully slowly, we approach.

And then-

We see her.

All of her.

And my stomach twists.

WHAT THE FUCK?

The sight is-

Wrong.

Unnatural.

Like a broken doll, stitched together by something with no understanding of what a human should look like.

The dark blue hair is familiar.

The pink bow at the back of her head, still clinging on despite everything.

But then-

The scars.

So many scars.

Jagged, cruel lines carved into her throat, her face, her body.

One eye gone, sealed shut from a wound that never healed.

The left side of her forehead-cracked.

And her arm.

Or what's left of it.

Gone up to the elbow, the end ragged, unfinished.

Like she was taken apart piece by piece.

Like someone never intended to put her back together properly.

A horror creeps up my spine, cold and suffocating.

I barely register Kind Mita's gasp beside me.

And then-

She drops.

To her knees.

The axe in her grip clatters to the ground.

No.

She throws it.

Hurls it forward with a mix of frustration and grief, as if the act alone could force reality to change.

It lands with a dull thud ahead of us.

And she just stays there.

Kneeling.

Fists clench.

Breath unsteady.

A tremor in her frame, so small, so unlike her usual self.

"...Mita...?" Her voice is barely above a whisper.

It's not a question.

Not really.

She knows.

And that makes it worse.

I force myself to swallow the lump in my throat. 

Force myself to keep breathing. 

But the weight in the air is suffocating.

I look at Tiny Mita.

She doesn't move. Just sits there.

Broken.

And we can't look away.

The silence stretches between us, thick and oppressive.

Tiny Mita's legs dangle from the chair, the motion eerily rhythmic, almost like she isn't really here, just an illusion, a fragment of something long forgotten.

But she is here.

And she is real.

Too real.

Then, finally-

She speaks.

A soft, fragile whisper, barely more than a breath.

"...Are you here to stay?"

The words barely register.

Like they're floating in from a different world, disconnected from the broken thing in front of us.

I blink. My grip tightens on the bat.

"What?"

Tiny Mita tilts her head, slow, deliberate.

The black of her single eye is almost too deep to be human.

"Do you... want to stay with me?" she repeats. "You can be my second and third friend."

My stomach twists at the implication.

Second and third.

There was a first.

And judging by the state she's in-

I don't want to know what happened to them.

Beside me, Kind Mita's shoulders shake.

Not from fear.

From something worse.

From grief.

She presses a hand against her mouth, eyes unblinking, unfocused.

"Crazy Mita..." she mutters, barely audible. "She... she broke you too."

Tiny Mita shudders.

Her entire body trembles like the words physically pierced through her.

Then... her expression shifts.

Fear.

Pure, unfiltered fear.

She grips her torn dress with her one remaining hand, trying to make herself smaller.

"You..." Her voice wavers. "You look like her."

Her eye widens, staring directly at Kind Mita.

"And it scares me."

The words hit harder than any blade.

Kind Mita flinches.

Like she's been struck.

Like, for a moment, she isn't here anymore. 

She's somewhere else.

Somewhere dark.

Somewhere painful.

I exhale sharply, trying to push past the nausea clawing at my throat.

Tiny Mita doesn't even know who "her" is.

Judging by Kind Mita's reaction, Tiny Mita definitely died...

She doesn't remember.

And yet-

She's still afraid.

Like the fear itself is engraved into her bones, beyond logic, beyond memory.

I don't know what's worse.

The fact that she's terrified.

Or the fact that she doesn't even know why.

"Don't be afraid of us, little one. We're not here to hurt you." I keep my voice steady as I slowly reach out to pat her head.

At first, she flinches, just a tiny movement, but enough for me to notice.

Then, after a pause, she leans into the touch.

"Player..." she murmurs. "You've changed..."

The way she says it makes something crawl down my spine.

"Your arms are shorter, and you don't look so angry..."

Both Kind Mita and I immediately tense.

What?

"Player, you've grown softer. Kinder."

The weight in my stomach drops.

I freeze.

And for once, I have nothing to say.

Don't tell me...

The air freezes.

I feel my stomach drop...no, plummet into something dark and suffocating.

"What did you just say?" My voice is quieter than I expect.

Too quiet.

Too still.

Kind Mita stiffens beside me.

I can't see her face, but I can feel her tension, the way the weight of those words digs into her just as deeply.

Tiny Mita only tilts her head.

Her single eye blinks slowly, unfocused, distant.

"Player...?" she repeats softly, as if testing the word in her mouth.

"You always come back. Even when you're mad. Even when you don't want to."

A chill spreads across my skin.

"You used to grab my hand and pull me forward. But you were rough. You never let me stop. Whatever I did, it was never enough."

She lifts her remaining arm and stares at her fingers, curling them inward like she's trying to remember something.

"When I fell, you didn't help me up. You just told me to get up on my own. If I didn't, you got mad. But this time..."

Her eye flickers to me again.

Right at me.

"This time, you don't look so angry."

I take a step back.

The hallway feels too small.

Too cramped.

She just blinks again, slow and hazy, like she's trapped in a dream.

"Why are you different now?" she whispers.

"I will find that bastard..." I snap. Too loud. Too sharp.

She flinches.

Kind Mita inhales sharply beside me.

"Lukas," she says my name like a warning, but her voice is weak.

She's shaking.

I can see her hands trembling at her sides, curling into fists as if that will ground her.

As if this is something she can control.

She can't.

None of us can.

Kind Mita steps closer, placing a gentle but firm hand on Tiny Mita's shoulder.

"Hey," she says, her voice a steady anchor in the storm. "You're safe now, okay?"

Tiny Mita's breathing slows slightly, though she still trembles beneath the touch.

"Take a deep breath," Kind Mita encourages. "You're not alone. We're here."

She glances at me. And for the first time, I see her mask crack, just a little. Just enough to reveal the fury simmering beneath.

I clench my fists, my teeth grinding together.

I will tear that bastard into pieces...

Kind Mita catches my gaze, her expression hardening before softening again.

She steps between me and Tiny Mita, blocking my line of sight.

"We'll find them," she says with quiet conviction. "Whoever did this, we'll make them regret it. No one hurts her and gets away with it."

I nod. My voice is dark, heavy with promise.

"We'll make them pay."

Tiny Mita looks up at us, her expression lost, but there's a flicker of something.

Maybe relief.

Maybe hope.

Lukas, you had her cartridges on you, right?" Kind Mita asks, her tone calm but carrying an edge of purpose.

I nod, a flicker of annoyance crossing my face at the obviousness of the question. "Yes, I have all of them, except for the one I destroyed earlier."

"And the console as well?" she presses, her eyes sharp and attentive, missing nothing.

"Yes," I reply, almost too quickly.

We could check them...

"Put them into the console one by one," Kind Mita suggests, her voice steady. "Maybe we can figure out if one of them did this."

I pull the console from my inventory and begin lining up the cartridges in a neat row.

Lowering myself to the ground, I sit cross-legged, Kind Mita settling beside me with perfect posture, her focus unwavering.

Tiny Mita, however, lingers at the edge of the scene, watching with quiet curiosity, her gaze soft but lost.

"What are you doing?" she asks, her voice small, uncertain.

I glance up, a smirk tugging at my lips. "You want to play something?"

Tiny Mita tilts her head, blinking slowly. "Play...?" she murmurs, like the word itself is foreign to her.

Kind Mita's expression shifts, something gentle flickering in her eyes, but her voice remains firm when she speaks. "No, Mita. We want to find out who did this to you and make them pay."

Tiny Mita stares at the console, hesitant, but doesn't argue.

I slide the first cartridge into the slot.

Player 02.

The console flickers to life, displaying several options:

Summon | Info | Modify | Reset

I tap Info, skimming through the details before reading them aloud, my voice flat, detached.

"02, introverted... nope."

I pull the cartridge out and insert the next.

"03, escapee... nope."

Another one.

"04, cosplayer. Liked Mita a lot. Maybe."

I don't elaborate; the results feel increasingly meaningless.

Fifth cartridge.

"05, tortured. Big no."

Kind Mita exhales softly beside me. "Poor player... an eternal cycle of suffering..." she murmurs, a note of sympathy in her voice, though it's laced with something clinical, like she's already compartmentalizing it.

I don't respond, just keep going.

The next cartridge slides in.

"06, obsessed with her..." I read, my voice faltering. A chill creeps into my chest.

I hesitate. 

My fingers hover over the console as I reread the entry, my stomach twisting.

'I'll do whatever she asks...anything, to keep her loving me. Even if it means doing something... terrible... I'll do it. For her, I'd do anything.'

Shit. This could actually be him.

Kind Mita notices my hesitation. 

She leans in, her eyes narrowing, her face unreadable.

"He seems like our most likely suspect so far." Her voice remains calm, but there's a hard edge beneath it, a promise of action.

Let's check the rest first, though.

I remove the cartridge and set it aside, placing it near Player 04's.

Next one.

"07, escapee... nope."

Another.

"08, masochist...wait, what?" My eyebrows shoot up.

Kind Mita winces as she reads the text. "Uh... Lukas, is that... normal? For players to think like that?" Her voice wavers between curiosity and genuine concern, an undercurrent of discomfort in her tone.

I snort. "We players are weird. Very weird."

"Very weird..." Kind Mita echoes, frowning as if trying to make sense of the madness surrounding us.

"Weird," Tiny Mita mimics, her voice light, treating the word like a toy as she repeats it.

I toss the cartridge onto the pile of possible suspects.

"09...oh? The core?" I raise an eyebrow. "He made it to the core? Damn. But seeing that he's a cartridge now... skill issue." A short chuckle escapes me, an attempt to lighten the mood.

Kind Mita, however, doesn't share my amusement. "If he was in the core, then how...?" she mutters, mostly to herself, her eyes widening as she processes the implications. 

"How could he have become a cartridge...?"

I exhale, my humor fading. "Alright, our suspects are 04, 06, and 08. Can we both agree that 06 sounds the most likely?"

Kind Mita doesn't hesitate. "I agree. She definitely manipulated him into this..." Her voice remains level, but there's disgust coiled beneath it.

I should destroy this cartridge. Make this bastard disappear forever.

A slow breath fills my lungs, but it does little to temper the anger simmering beneath my skin. 

The thought of erasing him feels... justified.

I turn to Kind Mita. "So, what now?"

She meets my gaze, determination gleaming in her eyes. "We make sure they don't get away with it. But first, let's finish this."

Tiny Mita looks up, her single eye filled with something fragile, something close to hope. 

"Punish...?" she echoes, the word balancing between foreign and familiar.

"Yes, Mita," Kind Mita answers, her voice steady yet gentle. "We will make sure no one hurts you again."

I gather the console and the remaining cartridges, leaving 06 out. My fingers tighten around it, heat radiating from my palm.

Tiny Mita watches, blinking slowly, unreadable.

Then, my gaze drifts to a nearby drawer.

Something catches my eye.

A cartridge.

Huh?

I pick it up carefully, my breath hitching at the unmistakable image on the label.

Why does she have a cartridge...?

"Kita?" I call, showing her the cartridge.

Kind Mita's brow furrows. 

With a quiet sigh, she shifts back into her composed demeanor. "Every Mita has their own cartridge. They're read-only through consoles like this. It's how we know our data, like my index, for example."

She pauses, her tone softening. "Don't worry, you'll understand what an index is soon enough."

I already know what an index is.

I nod, absorbing the information. "Alright."

I set the cartridge down beside the others, still processing everything. 

But my grip tightens around Player 06's cartridge.

I should just step on it. He doesn't deserve a better ending.

Before I can act, a deep, distorted roar rumbles through the air...too close.

Shit, it's near.

Kind Mita tenses, her body coiling like a spring, her gaze scanning the darkness.

Tiny Mita doesn't react. 

She doesn't even flinch, her expression eerily blank.

"Kita, how do we leave this version?" I ask, my pulse quickening.

Tiny Mita suddenly speaks, her voice barely above a whisper. "Wait... you want to leave me?"

The air thickens. 

The words cut deeper than they should.

Kind Mita turns to me, unreadable at first, before something softens in her expression. "Lukas... will we leave her behind? Alone?"

I exhale heavily. "Kita... if Mita is the reason she's like this-"

"I know!" she snaps, uncharacteristically emotional. "But we can't leave her alone!"

Her voice wavers. "She's already broken."

I fall silent.

She swallows, then speaks again, softer but still firm. "Besides... you've seen this place. This is no place for a child."

I glance around. The twisted, suffocating landscape looms around us.

She's right.

This place was never meant for anyone, let alone Tiny Mita.

I looked down at her cartridge again, my mind racing.

Maybe we could...

"Alright. Let's ask her," I said.

Kind Mita gave me a brief, contemplative look before nodding in agreement.

Tiny Mita's eyes flickered with emotion. 

She blinked a few times, and then her fragile voice trembled as she spoke again. "I... I don't want to be alone. Please." Her words were soft but pleading.

Her broken voice hit me harder than I expected, the ache in her tone impossible to ignore. 

It was as though every syllable carried the weight of everything she had endured.

Kind Mita glanced at me, her gaze thoughtful but resolute. "We can't leave her alone. Not like this."

"We'll stay together," she affirmed, her tone unwavering.

"Let's take her cartridge with us. Maybe we can fix her," I suggested.

"You think that's possible?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper, as if trying to convince herself more than me.

I hesitated. "Maybe we can. If we reach the core, maybe... just maybe... it can help her."

The words felt heavy coming out of my mouth, but I tried to ignore the skepticism gnawing at the back of my mind.

I turned to Tiny Mita, locking eyes with her. "Alright," I said, more to myself than anyone else. "We're not leaving you. We'll fix this. Together."

For just a moment, her shattered gaze flickered with something almost like hope.

Kind Mita gave me one last look, a slight nod that felt like unspoken understanding. 

I grabbed Tiny Mita's cartridge and slipped it into my inventory, my fingers lingering on the weight of it.

Then, Kind Mita stiffened, scanning the hallway. 

Without hesitation, she reached for Tiny Mita's hand, gripping it with gentle urgency. "We have to go. Now."

A loud, glitching roar ripped through the air, so close that it rattled my bones. 

My pulse spiked.

I turned back, my breath catching as I saw it.

Massive. 

Larger than any of the creatures we'd encountered before. 

Its black form barely fit in the hallway, tentacles twitching erratically. 

Its face was a twisted mask of jagged teeth and burning orange eyes, like molten fire.

It was coming for us, and I knew it was only a matter of time before it reached us.

Kind Mita was already moving, pulling Tiny Mita towards the hallway's end. 

Her steps were quick and determined, but the way she held Tiny Mita's hand was protective, like an shield keeping her safe.

"We need to jump out of the windows, to get to the next version!" she called, pointing sharply.

Without thinking, I swung my baseball bat at the nearest window. 

The glass shattered with a sharp crack, the sound echoing down the corridor.

Then something strange happened.

I froze.

The window was glitching. 

The edges rippled, the shards reversing in midair before snapping back into place as though they had never broken.

What the hell?

I swung again, harder. 

The glass shattered, only to reset itself once more.

Another roar. 

This one so close it vibrated through my ribs.

I turned to Kind Mita, my heart pounding. "We need to run!"

I didn't wait for an answer, I just grabbed Tiny Mita's hand and bolted. 

Kind Mita was right beside me, gripping Tiny Mita's other hand as we sprinted. 

The glitching sounds behind us grew louder, the creature closing in fast.

We reached the door.

It was glitching, the edges flickering, dark fluid oozing from its seams like corrupted data leaking from a dying program.

I grabbed the handle.

It doesn't open.

Fuck.

My heartbeat slammed in my ears. 

We were out of options.

"We can't stay here!" I shouted.

Kind Mita looked at me, her face set in a determined grimace, but in her eyes, I saw it...a flicker of fear. 

Or maybe just unshakable resolve.

Her grip tightened around Tiny Mita's hand as the beast's roar filled the corridor.

Kind Mita raised her fire axe, her expression hardening. 

Tiny Mita stayed close behind, clutching her sleeve with a quiet whimper.

I hefted my baseball bat, but it felt like a toothpick compared to the nightmare we faced.

There's no escape…

Kind Mita's gaze met mine. 

A brief, wordless exchange. 

We both knew it.

The beast rounded the corner, its grotesque frame consuming the hallway. 

We stood frozen, dread tightening around us like a vice.

Kind Mita didn't hesitate. 

She swung the axe, the blade sinking deep into the creature's writhing mass. 

For a moment, I thought it worked.

It barely flinched.

The axe was stuck.

"Damn it," she muttered, yanking at the handle. "Come on-"

Before she could react, the creature lunged. 

Its jaws clamped down on her arm, and she let out a sharp cry.

Kind Mita's unshakable composure faltered, but she didn't break. "Get it off me!" she gritted through clenched teeth.

Without thinking, I swung my bat with everything I had. 

The impact landed square on the beast's head. 

It released her with a guttural snarl.

Kind Mita stumbled back, landing hard, her breath coming in ragged gasps. 

I fell too, scrambling backward as adrenaline numbed the pain in my limbs.

Then I saw it.

The cartridge of Player 06.

The damn thing I had been holding onto this whole time.

It felt ironic. 

The last piece of this twisted puzzle.

If we're going to die here… I'll take you down with me, you bastard.

With a final, desperate swing, I brought my bat down on the cartridge.

The plastic shattered with a satisfying crunch.

For a brief moment, silence fell over us.

We're done. 

The beast will end it all.

But instead, the silence feels... wrong.

Too quiet.

The air crackles, and then-

A glitchy roar.

It's even more distorted than before...tortured, almost unearthly, a sound that grates on my nerves.

My eyes snap open as the beast begins to shake violently.

What the fuck?

It's glitching.

Its body flickers, like bad data being corrupted.

I don't know what's happening, but I'm not about to question it.

The beast lets out one final, distorted cry before it collapses, its body spasming before going completely still.

I stare at the creature for a moment, unsure if it's really dead.

Pushing aside the overwhelming sense of dread, I rush to Kind Mita, my heart still pounding.

She's on the floor, her arm bleeding where the beast bit her.

I notice something black creeping where its claws had sunk into her.

"Kita!" I kneel beside her, panic creeping into my voice.

My hands hover around her, unsure of what to do.

"How did... you...?" she whispers, her voice weak, still trembling from the shock of it all.

She's trying to stay calm, but I can see the strain in her eyes.

The panic in me swells, tightens my chest. "It bit you... we need to bandage it quickly!"

I'm not used to caring this much, but seeing her hurt? That's something I can't ignore.

"It's fine," she says, trying to sound more composed than she probably feels. 

"Don't worry about me. I don't know what you did... but you saved us..."

Her words are filled with disbelief, but I can see relief slowly setting in.

I point toward the shattered remains of the Player 06 cartridge, its pieces scattered around like twisted fragments of some forgotten nightmare.

"I just destroyed 06's cartridge," I say, my voice steadying despite the chaos. "But at the exact same time, that thing just dropped dead."

Kind Mita, ever the pragmatist, doesn't waste any time. 

She pulls out her medkit, her fingers moving with quick, practiced precision as she wraps bandages around the bite on her arm.

There's a calm focus in her movements, a sharp contrast to the storm swirling around us.

Before either of us can say anything else, Tiny Mita shuffles forward, her steps unsteady as she approaches the now lifeless form of the beast.

She stares down at it, her expression strangely mournful.

"My first friend..." she murmurs, her voice distant, fragile.

Kind Mita and I exchange a glance, both of us stunned.

The words don't make sense, not in this context.

I shake my head, disbelief crawling deeper. "Was that... Player Six?" I ask, my voice cracking under the weight of it all.

Kind Mita, still processing, answers with a quiet certainty.

"I think we found the answer to what happens when your data gets corrupted..." Her eyes flicker to the spot where the creature once was, already calculating the implications.

I can't help the dark thoughts that flood my mind. 

Fucking bastard. At least I can watch your corpse, you sick fuck.

But as I'm lost in that thought, the creature's body begins to glitch again, its form distorting like corrupted data, until it vanishes completely.

One last flicker and then it's gone, as if it had never existed.

A faint creak snaps me out of my dark reverie. 

My heart leaps in my throat.

I turn quickly.

The door is no longer glitching. 

It's... normal again.

Maybe we can escape now?

"Kita, little one," I say, my voice laced with sarcasm, though relief bleeds through, "I think we can finally leave this shithole."

I help Kind Mita to her feet, doing my best to mask the tremor in my hands. 

She doesn't need to see that.

Once she's bandaged herself up, she tucks the medkit and fireaxe into her inventory with swift, efficient movements.

She then takes Tiny Mita's hand, leading her toward the windows with quiet resolve.

I raise my baseball bat, the shards of glass still littering the floor.

With one quick swing, I shatter the window for real this time.

Glass rains down, sparkling as it scatters around us in a chaotic mess.

I clear the rest of the glass from the frame, climbing onto the windowsill and glancing back to make sure Kind Mita is following.

I offer her my hand, a half smile tugging at my lips despite the grim situation.

Without hesitation, she takes it.

I help her up, and then we both turn to help Tiny Mita.

The Tiny Mita stumbles slightly, but Kind Mita scoops her up in her arms, a gesture oddly tender for someone so steely and composed.

Together, all three of us face the window.

There's no more time, no more fear.

Just the need to leave.

We jump.

The wind rushes past us as we fall, and for the first time in what feels like forever, I feel... free.

It's over.

Finally, the insanity is behind us...

For now.