Every city has secrets.Some are buried in silence.Others… buried beneath the code.
🌆 A New Beginning
Three days.
That's what the message had said.
Three days until the Core unlocks.Three days until something changes forever.
Aaryan hadn't slept properly. The dreams were fractured. Time moved like liquid. Nyra's last words echoed in his mind — "Find the core."
And so, he stood now at the edge of Kashmere Gate Metro Station — disguised behind his hoodie, a fake ID in his pocket, and a black digital wristband strapped tightly on his arm, gifted by The Observer before vanishing.
This station was no longer active. The government had officially "sealed" it five years ago due to "underground structure instability."
But he knew the truth now.
This was one of the doors to the DCC — the Delhi Control Core, the heart of the glitch network, the source of everything.
🛠️ The Descent
The entrance gate was locked. But Aaryan's mark — now pulsing faint blue — interacted with the panel like a code key.
Click.
The gate slid open with a mechanical sigh.
Inside, the escalators were dead. Dust floated thick in the air. But faint blue lines — almost invisible to the normal eye — glowed along the floor, guiding him deeper into the unknown.
Every step echoed unnaturally. His breath seemed delayed. Sound traveled after motion.
Downstairs, an old map of the metro lines flickered — and then rearranged itself. The names changed into code:
Line A-001 → Visibility AccessLine A-002 → Protocol Movement PathLine A-003 → Rejected Realities
He took the A-001 path.
🧍 The Boy with No Pulse
Halfway down the tunnel, Aaryan heard something.
A breath. Not his.
He turned sharply.
A silhouette crouched near the wall — hooded, unmoving.
"Who's there?" Aaryan whispered.
No reply.
He stepped closer — cautiously. Then saw the figure clearly.
A boy. Around his age. Pale skin. Bloodshot eyes. And a collar around his neck, pulsing red.
But the worst part?
His chest wasn't moving.
No heartbeat.
No breath.
Yet... he was awake.
The boy looked at him. Eyes flickering.
"You're not supposed to be here yet," he said in a voice that echoed twice.
Aaryan frowned. "What do you mean? Who are you?"
"I'm... glitch-stuck. Indexed failure. Code fragment 0081."
"I died in 2017. But the code brought me back. Wrongly."
"Now I wait here. For it to end. Or begin again."
⚠️ The Warning
Before Aaryan could speak again, the boy raised a shaky hand and pointed at the far end of the tunnel.
"They are watching you. They know you're coming."
"They will not let you reach the core unless..."
He convulsed.
The collar flashed red.
"Unless you become visible in the invisible."
And then — his eyes turned black.
A blinding light exploded from his chest.
Aaryan dove for cover — boom!The tunnel trembled.
When the smoke cleared… the boy was gone.
Only his collar remained — glowing faint red — and a carved message on the wall:
"NOT ALL GLITCHES ARE SURVIVORS."
🌀 Crossing Through Memory
The blast had opened a side passage.
He stepped into it — and instantly everything changed.
This wasn't a tunnel.
This was a memory corridor.
Screens on either side began playing fragmented scenes — not from his life, but from others:
A girl crying in a science lab
A man being erased mid-sentence
A group of children whose reflections didn't match them
A school class where only the teacher had a shadow
All glitch survivors. All indexed. All wiped.
Then — Aaryan saw his own image.
In a hospital bed.
Wires in his chest.
Doctors calling him dead.
"Subject 23. Death confirmed. Code rewrite in progress."
What?! He gasped. "I... died?"
He had no memory of this.
But now... the whispers made sense. His heart never raced. His body never bruised like others.
He had been re-coded.Rewritten into this world.
🔐 Door to the Core
At the end of the memory corridor stood a massive door — circular, metallic, covered in blinking lines of code. At its center: a mark matching Aaryan's.
He raised his hand.
The mark expanded.
Connection syncing...Identity: AARYAN.Status: ACTIVE.Entry: GRANTED.
HUMMMMMMMMMMM—The door slid open.
Inside — nothing.
Just a vast white chamber. Empty.
But as he stepped in — a voice filled the space.
"Welcome, Aaryan. Visibility accepted."
A holographic form rose from the floor — female, glitching, wearing a crown made of code.
"I am VIRYA. Keeper of the Core."
"Your awakening was early. But necessary."
"Phase 2 is now live."
💀 The Twist
"Why me?" Aaryan asked.
"Because you were never human."
Silence.
"You were a prototype. The first successful fusion of dead consciousness and living code."
"You died seven years ago. Your father rebuilt your memory from shadow echoes. Your mind is real. Your body is a carrier."
"You are not here to save the world, Aaryan."
"You are here to decide which version of it survives."
Suddenly the white chamber dissolved.
And he stood over Delhi.
Not the real one — but two versions.
One — bright, human, real.
The other — digital, perfect, cold.
And the decision?
Merge. Erase. Or Rebuild.
🌒 Final Scene
Aaryan collapsed to his knees, eyes wide.
He screamed — but no sound came out.
Only the echo of VIRYA's final words:
"Choose wisely.The Protocols are no longer your enemy.They are your reflections."