The Second Call

It had been 15 minutes since I arrived at the police station. The room buzzed with activity. Officers moving from desk to desk, phones ringing, the dull hum of chatter filling the space. I sat quietly in the corner table staring blankly at the floor and waiting for someone to call my name.

Suddenly a loud voice cut through the noise.

"YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE ME! THERE ARE ACTUALLY DRONES AND ROBOTS KILLING PEOPLE!"

I flinched and my head snapping up. A man stood across the room with his face flushed in desperation. He wore a loose wrinkled button-up shirt over faded jeans. There was a faint tremor in his hands as he gripped the edges of the desk in front of him.

That has to be one of the participant.

The officer looked around nervously and trying to calm the man, it was clear he didn't want anyone else to overhear. A few of the other officers nearby exchanged uneasy glances. Now the officer was speaking to leaned forward. I strained to hear them but they had lowered their voices.

After a few minutes the man finally left yet still muttering angrily to himself.

I watched as the officer gathered the man's report and walked over to a corner of the room. He added it to a growing pile of files on the desk. My eyes scanned the pile, there were at least 20 files stacked there.

"Another one?" a nearby officer asked.

The first officer sighed rubbing his temple.

They exchanged tired and confused looks but said nothing more. It looks like they didn't know what to do with the reports as they were waiting for someone higher up to make a decision. Either way there was no sense of urgency in their movements.

"Miss, sorry to keep you waiting."

I turned to see an officer approaching me. He carried a clipboard and his expression professional but kind.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Kira."

"Miss Kira, what do you want to report today?"

"....."

"I lost my purse."

Reporting the truth wasn't going to change anything for now.

***

The entire day at the office felt like a fog. My mind refused to focus and stuck in the loop of memories I couldn't make sense of. Lili was relentless hovered over me since morning.

"Gurl, why won't you tell me anything about your LARP event?" she pressed.

"How about the set theme?"

"It was… futuristic?" I muttered but my face buried in my arms on the desk.

Her eyes lit up. "Like a dystopia or something?"

I didn't respond. My head sank deeper into the desk as if trying to disappear altogether.

Lili frowned. "You know, because you're so tight-lipped, I got curious and decided to look up the sponsor you mentioned. Altiris Labs, right?"

….

"I couldn't find a thing about it!"

Of course.

I had searched for anything about Altiris Labs late into the night but found absolutely nothing as well.

What bother me more was the email that I received.

The email wasn't normal like the one I'd received before the event. This one felt like it had stopped pretending to be human because now it didn't have to.

[SYSTEM MESSAGE: PARTICIPANT CONTINUATION ELIGIBILITY UPDATE]

START TIME: Two earth-days from notice

LOCATION: Previously established coordinates

NOTICE: Continuation of participation is not mandatory. Absence will result in irrevocable forfeiture of future eligibility.

ALTIRIS LABS

-

As much as I hated the thought of going back, the words "future eligibility" lingered in my mind like a silent dare which daring me to look away or to confront it.

Or, maybe, should I bring the police there?

But even as the thoughts swirled there is something darker gnawed at me. The thing that disturbed me the most wasn't fear or confusion yet it was the lingering pull of what was called as my shadow.

The memory of its power and its cold consuming presence it hadn't left me. Somewhere deep inside I felt it still, the thought stirred something I couldn't name.

Am I finally going insane?

***

Yes, I must be going insane.

The tall building standing in front of me just as I remembered it. I had no reason to return yet here I was.

As I approached the building the tension in my chest grew heavier. It was the same as before, the gleaming monolith of glass that seemed to pierce the clouds. A familiar dread crept over me as I stepped through the entrance.

Everything was just as it had been the first time, the white walls, the endless hallways, the silent guides in their robotic masks and robes.

Kira! What you're doing? U-turn!

I quickly pushed the thought aside as we were guided into our rooms.

Just in case this was another trap and I wouldn't make it out alive this time, I'd made preparations. I'd deposited enough money to cover my brother's hospital bills and bought him medical insurance for the future. I also transferred everything into our joint account.

If he dared to use it for gambling, I swear on the graves of my parents that I'd kill him myself.

I scanned around before pushed the room door. The crowd around me was noticeably smaller than before. I guess not everyone had returned.

The room was the same as before. A clean jumpsuit lay on the table identical to the one I'd worn last time. There were no earphones this time.

Instead as I finished changing, a low hum emanated from the floor. My breath caught as a cylindrical tube of glass rose up.

The door to the tube slid open with a quiet hiss.

My gut screamed at me to run but my legs wouldn't move. A voice ring in the room:

[Proceed for Compatibility Scan. Compliance Required]

With a shaky breath, I stepped inside.

The glass door slid shut with a hiss and sealing me in. I clenched my fists and my pulse pounding in my ears.

[Initiating Compatibility Scan. Stand By]

Suddenly a sharp jolt shot through my body like electricity coursing through every nerve. My knees buckled and I crumpled to the floor. I clutched my chest as searing pain exploded inside me.

My vision blurred as bright red and white lights flashed inside the tube and the system's voice echoed in my ears:

[Compatibility Level: Inconclusive. Subject Integrity Test Required]

"What… is happening?!" I gasped.

Another wave of agony ripped through me, and I screamed and collapsing onto my side. My hands clawed at the smooth surface of the tube as if trying to escape. The room spun and the lights burning into my vision as the pain reached its peak.

Then abruptly, it stopped.

....

My mind was a haze, the system's voice faintly breaking through the fog:

[Integration Stabilized. Dimensional Signature Verified]

[Archetype Catalyst: ACTIVE]

[Subject Compatibility: QUALIFIED]

The door of the glass tube slid open with a soft hiss. I stumbled out still clutching my chest as the pain from the compatibility scan still remain in my ribs. 

The EXIT doors are now open.

When I stepped outside, the view even surprised me more.

The ruined city I remembered was gone.

In its place stood a sprawling skyscrapers reached high into the sky. 

The entire city seemed to emit its own glow. There was no discernible source, no sun, no visible streetlights, yet every corner was bathed in a soft ambient luminescence. It's like the sky was made by an invisible artificial dome.

There was not a single car or bike. Instead an electric metro trains glided silently along elevated tracks. They paused briefly at some place to other place.

How could this have been built within a week?

I shook my head. No… after everything we've seen does impossible even mean anything anymore?