Tony buttoned his shirt slowly, eyes half-focused on the mirror. He didn't remember which day it was. It felt like any normal morning from four years ago — the same curtains, the same morning light, the same assistant calling him downstairs for breakfast.
Yet something felt off.
The air tasted different.
The silence carried a strange weight.
The house felt familiar, but not alive… like a perfect copy of a memory.
Tony paused at the door.
Why does today feel… wrong?
He forced himself to head toward the dining room, but every step made his stomach twist.
Samy entered her classroom with a quiet breath. No whispers. No giggles. No cruel eyes following her.
She should've felt relieved.
She should've felt free.
But instead, something felt wrong.
Her classmates weren't gossiping about her — they weren't gossiping about anyone. They sat quietly, almost too quietly, staring at their books or talking in small, empty-sounding voices. No noise. No chaos. No life.
Samy slid into her chair. The room looked exactly like her memory, but the atmosphere was… hollow.
She tapped her desk.
It echoed.
Her fingers trembled.
Why does this feel fake?
Jet made her way back to camp, the wind brushing against her arms. The mountain track behind her disappeared into sunlight, and the familiar camp tents came into view.
Normally, her friends would run toward her, teasing her about her speed or bragging about theirs. Someone would shove her shoulder, someone would steal her helmet, someone would challenge her to another race.
But today…
No one was there.
The camp was silent. Not abandoned — just too still. Tools lay in perfect order. Bikes stood upright, clean, untouched. The fire pit was burning, but no one sat around it.
Jet removed her gloves slowly.
Her heartbeat thudded in her ears.
Where is everyone?
Why am I alone here?
Her memory didn't match this version. Something had been erased.
Tin sat on the living room couch, hugging a pillow. He stared blankly at the opposite wall, the pictures, the furniture, the lights…
Everything looked like his home, but his brain screamed that something wasn't right.
It felt like a dream — too soft around the edges, too perfect, too quiet. He tried to remember what he was doing before he appeared here, but the memory blurred.
Tin swallowed hard.
"I'm dreaming… or something is making me dream…"
He rubbed his eyes, but nothing changed. The room stayed frozen in its perfect past.
Kim stood in front of the memory-covered wall, breath shaky. At first he thought the pictures were the same — the same map, the same clues, the same photos of his missing sister.
But suddenly… something shifted.
A picture near the top looked different.
A small scribbled marking he didn't remember making.
A shadow in the background of a photo that wasn't there before.
A line connecting two clues that he never connected.
Kim frowned.
For the first time, he could see small clues he had missed years ago. Things that didn't match the real memory. Things that felt like they were added… recently.
He leaned closer, heart pounding.
"Why is everything changing…?"
This wasn't just his past.
Something was rewriting it.
Roger hugged Drake tightly, burying her face into his shoulder. She didn't care if this was fake, a dream, or a memory trap. Feeling her brother alive — warm — breathing — it shattered her.
His hand stroked her hair gently.
"Rog… it's ok. I'm right here."
She squeezed him even harder.
But as she held him, something strange tugged in her chest.
A cold, crawling feeling.
Like something was pulling her away from him… or pulling him away from her.
Roger opened her eyes slowly.
The room behind Drake flickered.
Just a little — like light reflecting on water.
Her heart lurched.
They were all lost in their memories.
Each trapped in a world that felt almost real… almost perfect… almost safe.
But far, far away — or maybe very close — something watched them.
A presence with no shape.
A shadow with no body.
An intelligence that didn't blink.
It observed Tony's confusion.
Samy's discomfort.
Jet's loneliness.
Tin's fear.
Kim's rising suspicion.
Roger's breaking heart.
The creature had no face, but if it did…
It would've been smiling.
Because the 10th gate wasn't showing them memories.
It was studying them.
And soon it would use those memories against them.