00:37:59
The corridor beyond the steel door stretched on forever, narrowing slightly the farther Isla walked. The walls were glass, smoky, translucent and behind them, shadows moved in perfect sync with her steps.
Each time she breathed, the sound came back a fraction of a second too late. At first, she thought it was just echo. Then she realized the echoes were speaking.
Not copying.
Predicting.
"Left," they whispered before she turned left.
"Run," before she started to run.
And then, softly
"Stop."
Her body froze before her mind did.
"Why?" she whispered.
The glass beside her flickered to life, forming faint silhouettes. Her own shape, multiplied dozens of times, all whispering back in overlapping voices:
"Because you're being heard."
A piercing tone filled the corridor, making her vision blur. When it stopped, the voice from the speaker returned calm, clinical, almost gentle.
"Subject 08 neural interference confirmed. Begin auditory synchronization."
Her ears rang. Blood dripped from her nose. Every reflection started to smile.
"Mason," she said weakly, "where are you?"
Her own voice answered.
"I'm right here."
She spun around, but no one stood behind her. Only the red light pulsing down the hall like a heartbeat.
Then the sound changed. The whispers became Mason's voice. Hundreds of him.
"Keep going, Isla."
"Don't stop."
"Remember why you came here."
Her chest tightened. The corridor seemed to tilt, the glass bending inward until the walls nearly touched.
"Remember," the voices hissed, overlapping now, Mason's, hers, the children.
She pressed forward, pushing through the sound, until she reached a doorway framed in black metal. Above it, flickering letters read:
AUDITORY TESTING, ROOM 12
The door slid open as she approached.
Inside, the room was silent. No hum, no static. Just a single chair and a recorder placed neatly on the floor.
Isla bent down and pressed Play.
Her own voice spoke:
"Day 22. Memory degradation confirmed. Mason no longer responds to direct prompts. Subject 08 displays emotional resistance to removal."
She stopped breathing.
"Further delay risks contamination. Recommend termination before full sync."
A click. Then silence.
Isla stood there, shaking. "What did you do, Mason?"
A faint whisper from behind her answered, perfectly calm:
"What you told me to."