Environment Construct ID: 6A-ECHO
Joint Simulation Trial – Emotional Crosslink Test Initiated
Subjects: 32A & 47B
The door opens.
They're standing, though neither remembers getting up. A blink ago, they were in the cell. Now—this.
A two-bedroom apartment. Beige walls. Stained carpet. Burnt coffee and lemon cleaner in the air. Late sun cuts through dusty blinds. A fan ticks slowly in the corner.
Jonah breaks the silence. "What is this?"
Elias doesn't answer. Scanning the room like it might bite. The fridge hums. TV muted—just static under some sitcom that never aired. A picture frame sits on a shelf.
Jonah walks over. Stops cold.
It's him. Older. Tired eyes. Beard. Holding a little girl.
Too clear. Too real. Dreams don't look like that.
"She's mine," he says, before he thinks. "Her name's Lily."
Elias tenses. "You don't have a kid."
"I remember her," Jonah says.
"No. You don't." Elias's voice sharpens. "They want you to. Ghosts, Jonah. They're feeding us ghosts."
He turns—and sees it.
A kid's drawing on the fridge. Crayon mess. Stick people. A house. A dog.
One word scrawled in shaky letters: Caleb.
Elias freezes. "This isn't real."
"Then why does it feel real?" Jonah whispers.
No answer.
The door slams.
Locks click. One. Two. Three.
Lights flicker. A phone rings. Old landline. Beige plastic.
Jonah picks it up. Doesn't say a word.
A voice does.
"You left the stove on, Jonah."
He drops the phone.
Smoke curls out from the kitchen. Alarm screeches. Elias bolts toward the hall—but the floor stretches like rubber, pulling away.
He yells. Jonah can't hear.
He turns—and Lily is there.
Still. Silent. Too still.
She doesn't blink.
Doesn't breathe.
Copied and pasted wrong.
"Lily?" he says.
She tilts her head.
And in Elias's voice, says:
"You should've let me die."
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End of Simulation Segment 1
Subjects separated. Emotional destabilization recorded. Crosslink metrics exceeded. Recommend continued trauma exposure.q