Clyde's eyes snapped open.
But it wasn't the same as before.
This time, it wasn't darkness. It was… too bright. Blinding, sterile light burned his retinas, making his vision spin. He blinked rapidly, trying to adjust, but the harsh illumination seemed to stretch endlessly, an artificial sun hanging in the sky. His limbs felt heavy, as though they had been asleep for far too long. The air around him was thick, metallic. He struggled to stand, his legs shaking beneath him, his head still pounding with the aftershock of what had just happened.
The memories—the voices—the glitching. It felt like it had all been a dream, a nightmare. But something was off. Something was wrong.
He looked around.
It was a lab. Cold. Clinical. Rows of white, sterile tables. Computer screens flickering in the distance, displaying endless streams of data. The faint hum of machines, their lifeblood pumping through tubes and wires that snaked through the sterile room. There were no windows, no doors—just walls that seemed to close in on him. It was like he had been placed in some kind of cage, with no escape.
His breath caught in his throat. "What… what is this?"
A voice. This time, it was calm, monotone.
"Welcome back, subject 476."
The words sent a jolt of panic through Clyde's chest. The number—it sounded so impersonal, so wrong. He wasn't a subject. He wasn't some… experiment.
He stumbled forward, his heart racing, but his body felt slow, heavy, disconnected. Like he was wading through thick mud. There was a faint, rhythmic beeping nearby, and he followed the sound, desperate to get answers, desperate for something to make sense.
His fingers brushed against a terminal, and the screen blinked to life.
SYSTEM REWRITE COMPLETE
INITIALIZATION SUCCESSFUL
WELCOME BACK, SUBJECT 476
PLEASE ENTER SECURITY CODE TO PROCEED.
He recoiled from the screen, his hands trembling. The code—it was like a sick joke. He didn't remember it. He didn't even remember his name. His memories were… a mess. A glitch in the system. All he had was a number, a cold string of data, and a feeling that everything was wrong.
"You weren't supposed to wake up," a voice whispered in his mind again, but this time, it wasn't the glitching entity. It was colder. Distant. Like it came from somewhere deep inside his mind, buried beneath layers of code and forgotten history.
The screen flickered again, and a new line of text appeared:
SECURITY CODE: REQUIRED
PASSWORD: NULL
Clyde stared at the words. Null? His breath hitched. Was that the key? Was that his name? He didn't know. But it felt… familiar. He hesitated, unsure, but then typed it in.
The screen froze.
A sudden, sharp beeping filled the room.
Then, the door behind him slid open with a hiss.
He turned around, startled. But there was nothing there. Just more sterile white walls stretching into infinity.
The voice came again, this time clearer than ever:
"Run."
His legs moved before his mind could catch up. He bolted forward, charging through the open door, desperate to get out, to escape.
But as he ran, the world around him started to blur, glitching like a corrupted file. The hallway stretched longer, the lights overhead flickering and buzzing. Something—someone—was following him. He could feel it. The static hum from before. The distortion in the air.
He didn't know where he was going. He didn't know who was chasing him or why. But all he knew was that he couldn't stop running.
Not yet.