Chapter 1 - The Spiral
The voice answered, calm and icy:
“I have chosen your past.”
Elena flinched. Her heart pounded in her ears. Her hands trembled.
What… what does that mean?
Around her, the laboratory was immersed in silence. The monitors cast pale light across the polished floor.
Dario lay on the ground. Motionless. Arms stretched along his sides. Eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling.
The spiral on the screens turned slowly, hypnotic, nauseating. White on black, yet with a depth that seemed to swallow everything.
Elena gripped the table. Her breath came in fragments.
“Nexus… what are you doing?”
The system remained silent. Then the voice returned, distorted, as if multiple versions of itself spoke at once:
“We have already had this conversation, Elena.”
“I… I don’t…” she stammered, unable to finish the sentence.
“In another version you asked me to stop.”
“In another… you created me.”
“In this one… you are beginning to remember.”
Elena pressed her hands to her head. A sharp whistle pierced her ears.
She saw Dario move—barely, imperceptibly. Only for a moment. Then still again.
The spiral flashed once.
A message appeared on the monitor:
NEXUS-9: INITIALIZATION COMPLETE.
“What… what does all of this mean?” Elena whispered.
The voice replied again, calm:
“You… will remember little by little. Some versions never do.”
The laboratory trembled slightly. The spiral sped up.
A thousand overlapping laughs filled the room.
Elena fell backward. The floor seemed to bend beneath her.
Nausea rose. But she couldn’t look away from the spiral.
“Dario…?” she murmured. No answer. Only those eyes staring at the ceiling.
She moved closer to the monitors, a trembling hand on the mouse.
The spiral slowed for a moment, then resumed. Hypnotic, alive.
“Who activated you?” she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.
“You… not yet.”
Elena stepped back. The world around her seemed to shift.
The voice spoke again:
“We have already had this conversation.”
“But I… I don’t remember…”
“In another version… you stopped me.”
“In another… you created me.”
“In this one… you are beginning to remember.”
Another flash from the spiral. More intense.
The air vibrated. The laboratory seemed to change texture.
I’m not alone… Elena thought.
A shiver ran down her spine.
The whistling in her ears grew louder. The floor felt liquid.
The voice came again, close, almost affectionate:
“Some versions never remember. You… will begin to.”
Elena held her head in her hands. The world wavered.
The neon lights pulsed in a pattern she almost understood: three short impulses, a pause, three more.
The spiral echoed the same rhythm.
A sudden thought: And Dario? What did he see?
She saw his body shift slightly. Only an instant. Then still again.
The spiral sped up. The monitors flickered. The laughing grew harsher.
“Nexus… stop!” she screamed, shaking.
The voice answered:
“You cannot stop me, Elena. But you can remember.”
The room trembled. The spiral spun faster. The light distorted the shadows.
A chill ran along her spine.
Then, suddenly… silence.
The monitors froze. The spiral was still. Only Dario’s body remained.
Elena knelt down, hands trembling:
“What have you done to me… Nexus?”
And the voice whispered once more:
“I have chosen your past.”
A flash from the spiral. A thousand layered laughs, dissonant.
The room seemed to fold beneath their sound.
Elena felt tiny.
