It took us nearly forty minutes to reach the outskirts of the same village — though something about it felt off.
The fog hung lower this time, swallowing the rooftops until they looked like half-sunken ships. The houses leaned at wrong angles, as though the ground beneath them had shifted overnight. Even the wind carried the wrong weight — thin, metallic, humming with a faint electric charge.
Silva's voice broke the stillness as she scanned her datapad. "Population count: ninety-three civilians, two farms, one derelict motel. No law enforcement within five kilometers."
She frowned, thumb hovering over the screen. "This data... shouldn't still be cached."
Theo leaned closer. "Could be interference?"
"Could be memory," she muttered — mostly to herself.
By the time we parked near the forest's edge, the rain had dwindled to a mist. The air smelled of rust and wet concrete, sharp and stale, like breathing through a radio coil.
Silva shut the car door softly, eyes fixed on the treeline. "Station's approximately two kilometers in. No roads. Expect spatial irregularities."
Theo groaned. "Yeah, yeah, I know. No roads, no GPS, no hope."
Mira smirked faintly. "I have a feeling your shoes are about to get ruined again."
He blinked. "Wait—again? What's that supposed to mean?"
She hesitated, expression flickering with confusion. "...Nothing. Déjà vu, I guess."
Theo gave a mock salute. "Chief, i think Mira's going nuts."
Silva ignored them, tightening the strap of her pack. "Let's move."
---
The forest swallowed us whole.
Sound dampened instantly — footsteps, breaths, even the rustle of clothing seemed to fade half a second too late, like the air itself couldn't keep up. The deeper we walked, the heavier the silence became.
My breath fogged, vanishing faster than it should have. Every now and then, the light seemed to shift direction — as though the sun were moving in circles above us.
Mira broke the silence first. "You notice how even the bugs are gone?"
"They adapt," Silva replied without missing a beat. "When the frequency shifts, lesser lifeforms cease motion."
Theo smirked weakly. "You sound like you've said that before."
She blinked. "Perhaps I have."
A shiver crawled down my back. The way she said it felt rehearsed — like a line from a script she didn't remember reading.
The ground squelched beneath our boots, waterlogged and slick. Each step echoed half a second after it landed, faintly distorted, like the forest was mimicking us. I tried not to notice how sometimes the echoes didn't match — a missing footstep here, an extra one there.
Eventually, Silva stopped. "Activate your earpieces," she said.
"I thought we—"
"Protocol," she cut in, tone clipped.
I sighed and complied. The second the connection clicked, static filled my ear — soft at first, then swelling like a tide.
[■■■■■■■■—■■■■■■■■■■■■■■]
Mira froze. "Did you guys hear that?"
Theo frowned. "Hear what?"
"That voice... It sounded—" She broke off, eyes darting to Silva.
"The anomaly manipulates prediction," Silva said quietly. "It can only manifest the future you believe in. Don't listen. Don't engage."
"Yeah," Theo muttered, "because that always works."
We moved on, the fog thickening until the world narrowed to a ten-meter radius of gray and shadow. The trees tilted inward slightly, as if drawn to the sound of our breathing. A few times, I caught something flicker in the corner of my eye — branches swaying against the wind's direction, reflections in puddles that didn't match the angle of light.
Then, the static rose again — sharp, urgent.
[Hu■■■… tu■■ b■■k now.]
My pulse spiked.
I'd heard that before. Maybe in a dream. Maybe in one of the previous... no. I shook it off.
"Did you guys not hear that?" I asked, scanning their faces.
"No," Theo said. "What are you talking about?"
Silva turned slightly, studying me. "The anomaly guides one more than the others at times — depending on which probabilities it calculates."
"Right," I murmured. But it didn't feel right at all.
---
The treeline broke, and the clearing unfolded before us.
There it was — the tower.
It stood taller than memory, skeletal and glistening under the mist. The red light at its apex blinked unevenly, beating like a disjointed heart. Even the mud beneath it vibrated faintly, resonating with each pulse.
Theo gave a low whistle. "Power's out, right?"
"Correct," Silva confirmed.
"Then how the hell's it glowing?"
No one answered.
The gate was half torn open. The sign beside it was identical to last time — except one word was missing, scraped away cleanly, as if history itself had been edited.
We stepped through. The air was colder inside the fence, almost sterile. Every sound seemed to collapse into a dull hum.
Mira whispered, "This place… it feels wrong."
Theo exhaled shakily. "You're just realizing that now?"
"No, I mean… like it's pretending to be something it's not."
Silva's gloved hand brushed the control room door. "Interior readings show residual EM. Proceed carefully."
The door groaned open.
The control room waited beyond, its walls sweating condensation. Dust drifted in the flashlight beams, and a single red light pulsed on the console — each blink too slow, each pause too long.
Theo frowned. "Power's dead. That thing shouldn't be on."
"Unless something wants it to be," I said quietly.
Silva crouched, brushing dust from the panel. "Residual electromagnetic activity," she murmured automatically. Then, after a pause: "…again."
Theo's head lifted. "Again?"
Her brow furrowed. "Did I—say that before?"
Mira's voice dropped to a whisper. "Okay, seriously, what the hell is wrong with this place?"
Silva stood. "Containment strategy remains unchanged. Find the transmitter. Sever its feedback loop."
Something in the phrasing made my stomach knot. Remains unchanged.
The static surged.
[—don't—look—up—]
My breath caught.
Mira froze. "Was that—"
The ceiling groaned. Metal warped. A beam cracked, sending rubble crashing down in a violent cascade.
"Shit—!" Theo shouted, diving aside.
Dust filled my lungs. Silva's voice fractured through the haze — calm but glitching, her tone flickering like broken radio. "Everyone. Step back. The ceiling is…. Behaving uncharacteristically."
[—thr■e step■ ■eft—]
Theo stumbled backward just as another panel dropped. "I'm fine!" he coughed. "I'm—fine—!"
The static hissed again, doubled, two voices overlapping into a chorus:
[—four rem■in—]
[—time re■■nds wh■n bel■■f beg■■s—]
My vision tunneled. My body felt weightless.
'Hold on... what?' I thought.
Then everything went white.
---
[S■ven■h L■op b■■ins]
The rain whispered against the hood of the car.
"No roads?" Theo sighed as he stepped out. "I can deal with that. But no pathways either?"
Mira smirked. "Forest and rain ruining your fancy shoes again?"
He gave her a look. "Wait—how did you—?"
"Just a hunch."
Silva adjusted her office jacket. "Focus. We move now."
---
The forest was waiting for us — silent, heavy, damp with memory. Every sound landed a beat too late, the same forest, the same path, repeating itself perfectly.
When Mira spoke, the words sounded old.
"You notice how even the bugs are gone?"
"They adapt," Silva said. "When the frequency shifts—"
Theo interrupted with a tired grin. "Lesser lifeforms cease motion. Yeah, yeah. Heard that one before."
She blinked slowly, like the words had betrayed her.
---
We pressed on until Silva stopped again. "Activate your earpieces."
Theo groaned. "Already?"
"Protocol," she said.
Static hissed, faint and muffled this time.
[■■■■■■■■—■■■■■■■■■■■■■■]
Theo flinched. "You heard that, right?"
"Hear what?" Mira asked.
"That voice. Artificial, kinda metallic—like—"
He paused, uneasy. "Never mind."
"Remember," Silva said evenly, "the anomaly can only manifest the future you believe in most. Don't listen."
"And it may guide one more than the other," I added before I could stop myself.
Silva's gaze lingered on me. "...Interesting phrasing."
---
We reached the clearing again.
The tower loomed. The red light pulsed.
Nothing had changed — not the gate, not the mud, not the missing word on the sign.
Theo sighed. "Right. Power's out. Let's just get this over with."
We stepped forward—
And suddenly, we were walking through the forest again.
---
[Forty-Ninth ■■op ■e■■■s]
Mud. Fog. Footsteps. Voices.
"Yikes, my shoes," Theo muttered.
"You knew we were going into a forest, right?" Mira teased.
"Can't a man chase nightmares and look good doing it?"
"Negative," Silva said flatly.
Mira snorted. "Low blow, Chief."
Their laughter faded as the tower came into view again.
The hum vibrated through my chest, heavier this time. I froze at the threshold, staring at the door to the control room.
That's when I heard it:
[Yu■o■, d■n'■ go i■■id■]
It wasn't just the anomaly's voice — it was mine. Distorted, hollow, echoing from somewhere I couldn't place. My reflection in a puddle didn't move when I did.
"I have… a bad feeling about this tower," I said quietly. "And that room."
Silva turned. "Let's proceed to the control cente—"
"No."
The word came out sharper than I meant.
Theo raised his eyebrows. Mira froze mid-step.
Even Silva hesitated.
"Sorry," I said quickly. "But I don't think this is the tower we're supposed to enter."
Silva's stare was unreadable. "Can you back up your claim?"
"Not by facts," I said slowly, the words scraping at my throat. "It's more of a feeling. A memory that shouldn't exist."
Mira frowned. "But the anomaly can't hurt us unless we pick a future it's calculated, right?"
"Exactly." I rubbed my temple, the ache behind my eyes sharpening. "If this tower was the core, it wouldn't need let us anywhere near it— it would already be feeding us an alternative future. No. This… this is a prompt. The first choice in its equation."
Theo shifted his weight uneasily. "So what, you're saying it's waiting for us to make that same choice again?"
"I'm saying we've already picked it — too many times."
They stared at me. I couldn't tell if it was disbelief or fear.
A faint pulse shimmered at the tower's base — red light bleeding through the mist like a heartbeat under glass. My reflection wavered in the puddle at my feet, but it wasn't mine. The other version didn't move when I did.
Mira swallowed. "But if we already ran into this trap multiple times… how are we still here?"
"Something's protecting us," I said. "I don't know what — but whatever it is, it either has access to the Nine frequency… or it's merging with the anomaly."
Theo exhaled slowly. "So we're on limited time?"
The static whispered, faint and layered — voices upon voices.
[—Yo■—w■■l nev■■ l■■ve—]
[—bel■■f is th■ bri■■e—]