Chapter Three: The First Person to Wake

In the dark, every phone turned on at once, showing the same timer: 06 days, 03 hours, 12 minutes. Something crashed downstairs. A guard screamed. Lu and Su ran into the lobby. Old Ma, the night guard, stood in its center with both hands gripping his own face. Blood seeped between his fingers. Yet his voice was bright and young and wrong. “Finally. My turn.” His Mirror self stood opposite him: a boy in a school uniform. The boy shook his head, crying. “I don't want this. The protocol is forcing a takeover.” Old Ma seized a fire axe and swung at the glass doors. Shards flew. Su lunged for him but an invisible force threw her back.