When Elara opened her eyes, the world around her pulsed with sterile white light. The faint scent of antiseptic filled her lungs. She wasn't in the precinct. She wasn't even sure she was in Orvale anymore.
Her wrists were bound to a hospital bed by soft restraints. Electrodes dotted her temples. Machines beeped quietly nearby, monitoring every heartbeat, every breath.
For a moment, she thought she was in a hospital. Then she saw the emblem on the far wall — the same one from the secret files.Orvale Behavioral Institute.
Her pulse spiked.
"Good morning, Dr. Voss," a voice said from the corner.
A woman stepped forward, white lab coat perfectly pressed, glasses gleaming under the light. Elara's chest tightened. The woman looked older — but unmistakably familiar.
It was her mother.
"Elara," she said gently, "you've been unwell. We had to sedate you. You were hurting people again."
Elara's breath caught. "No… no, that's not possible. You disappeared twenty years ago."
Her mother sighed softly, adjusting a syringe on the tray. "I didn't disappear, sweetheart. I had to continue the work. You were the work."
Elara's voice shook. "The Mirror Code… Project Doppel… you created it."
Her mother nodded. "You were my greatest success — and my greatest failure."
Her restraints tightened automatically as she struggled. "You cloned me. You experimented on me!"
"I didn't clone you," her mother said calmly. "I separated you."
"What?"
"You were born with exceptional neuroplasticity — your mind could reflect itself, adapt faster than any subject I'd ever studied. The Mirror Code was designed to explore self-replication within consciousness. But during the trials, your mirrored self became autonomous. It started thinking for you."
Elara stared at her. "The reflection."
"Yes," her mother whispered. "It wasn't a reflection anymore. It was another you."
Her vision swam. "Then… which one am I?"
Her mother hesitated. "That's what we're here to find out."
She injected something into Elara's IV. The world shimmered. The edges of reality bent like glass under heat. Suddenly, she was standing — not lying in bed — and the white walls had turned to polished chrome.
She was inside a mirrored chamber.
Across from her stood the other Elara, the one from the archives — calm, unblinking, flawless.
Her mother's voice echoed through the intercom. "Protocol Awakening initiated. Subject E1 and E2 will undergo synchronization testing."
Elara's reflection tilted her head. "You feel it too, don't you? That pull — the urge to finish what she started."
"I'm nothing like you," Elara hissed.
Her double smirked. "You keep saying that, but we share the same blood, the same thoughts. When I breathe, you hesitate. When you sleep, I dream."
The lights flickered, and the two Elaras began to blur — their movements slightly out of sync.
"Only one of you can remain conscious," her mother's voice echoed. "The unstable mind must dissolve to preserve integrity."
"Stop this!" Elara screamed.
But her mother only whispered, "I can't stop what you already began."
Suddenly, the mirrored version lunged. Their hands collided, but instead of touching skin, Elara felt cold electricity rip through her body. Memories flashed — childhood laughter, her mother's lab, the moment of the first blackout.
She saw two girls standing before a mirror — both smiling. One whispered, "Only one of us gets to be real."
Then — black.
Elara woke up again. This time, the bed was gone. The wires were gone. She was in her apartment. Morning light spilled through the window. Birds sang outside.
It felt… normal. Too normal.
Her phone buzzed. A message from Calen.
Calen: "You okay? You vanished last night after the scene."
Her fingers trembled as she typed back, "Where are you?"
He replied instantly: "Downstairs. Let's talk."
She rushed to the door — but before opening it, she glanced at the mirror near the hallway.
Her reflection stood still. Too still.
And then — it smiled before she did.
Elara stepped back, her breath catching. The reflection whispered something she couldn't hear.
She moved closer, lips trembling. "What did you say?"
The reflection leaned forward, lips curling.
"You didn't win, Elara. You woke up on my side."
The lights flickered once — and the reflection moved away from the mirror… while Elara stayed frozen on her side of the glass.
Outside, Calen knocked on the door."Elara? You there?"
Inside, the mirror shimmered faintly. The woman inside smiled — calm, steady, eerily composed.
When she opened the door, she sounded exactly like Elara.But the real one could only watch from behind the glass, pounding silently as her world inverted.
The reflection — or the original — stepped into the light and whispered, "Time to finish what she couldn't."
The mirror went dark.