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For the first time in what felt like several hundred years, Wemmbu was bored.
Not dangerously bored.
Not I am going to accidentally start another war because there is nothing else to do bored.
Just...
Bored.
He was lying on the roof of the old underground base he and Eggchan had been using, staring at the ceiling of the cavern above them.
It was ugly.
There were patches of stone, dirt, and cobblestone where previous explosions had damaged the walls. A few torches had been shoved into random places. Somebody had attempted to make the area look nicer with spruce planks.
That somebody had clearly given up halfway through.
Wemmbu stared at the ceiling for another ten seconds.
“This place sucks.”
Eggchan, sitting several blocks away with a chest open in front of him, didn't look up.
“You picked it.”
“I picked it because we needed somewhere to hide.”
“So?”
“So it should at least be good.”
Egg finally looked at him.
“You blew up the good parts.”
Wemmbu sat upright.
“Okay, first of all, that's slander.”
Egg stared.
“Second of all, the explosions were necessary.”
“For what?”
“For...”
Wemmbu paused.
He thought about it.
“Security.”
Egg snorted.
“You blew up three walls.”
“Exactly. Nobody expects that.”
“Nobody expects you to destroy your own base.”
“Which makes it genius.”
Egg closed the chest.
“You're an idiot.”
“I'm literally one of the strongest players on the server.”
“Those aren't mutually exclusive.”
Wemmbu's mouth fell open.
“Wow.”
He slowly stood.
“Wow.”
Egg smiled.
“What?”
“After everything we've been through together...”
Wemmbu put a hand dramatically against his chest.
“This is how you repay me.”
“I'm leaving.”
“You can't leave.”
“Why?”
“Because you're my emotional support Egg.”
“That's not a thing.”
“It is now.”
Egg shook his head and started walking toward the opposite side of the cavern.
Wemmbu followed.
“Where are you going?”
“Getting food.”
“We have food.”
“You ate it.”
“I was hungry.”
“You ate all of it.”
“I was really hungry.”
Egg stopped.
He turned around.
“You know what? Fine. Let's go get food.”
Wemmbu brightened immediately.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“Then why did you say yes?”
“Because if I said no, you'd complain.”
“Correct.”
They left the base.
For once, nobody was chasing them.
No Law soldiers.
No invisible players.
No mysterious bounty hunters.
No prison.
No Mafia.
No Parrot appearing out of nowhere with some elaborate plan that somehow involved Wemmbu getting himself into trouble.
Nothing.
After the final battle with the Law, the server had become strangely quiet.
The Law had fallen.
Lettuce was gone from power.
Parrot had become king.
And Wemmbu could finally roam around without expecting an army to appear on the horizon every five minutes.
He wasn't sure he liked it.
“This is weird,” Wemmbu said.
Egg looked over.
“What is?”
“Nobody's trying to kill me.”
“Give it time.”
“That's reassuring.”
They walked through the outskirts of Capital City.
Wemmbu kept expecting something to happen.
A player would recognize him.
Someone would start yelling.
Maybe Flame would appear and challenge him to another fight.
Maybe Parrot would fly over and demand something.
Maybe Spoke would emerge from somewhere and say something cryptic before disappearing again.
Nothing happened.
People simply went about their business.
Wemmbu looked around.
“This is awful.”
“You're the only person complaining.”
“Exactly.”
Egg sighed.
“You need a hobby.”
“I have a hobby.”
“What?”
“Being better than everyone.”
“That's not a hobby.”
“It takes practice.”
Egg laughed.
They continued walking.
Eventually, they left the city behind.
Wemmbu wasn't entirely sure where they were going anymore.
He'd started following a path.
Then the path had become a smaller path.
Then the smaller path had become nothing.
Egg had stopped paying attention several minutes ago.
“Where are we?” Egg asked.
Wemmbu looked around.
“I know exactly where we are.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere.”
“That's not an answer.”
“It's a very accurate answer.”
Egg sighed.
Wemmbu climbed onto a small hill.
From there, he could see an old stretch of forest, a river, and the remains of what looked like an abandoned settlement.
Most of the buildings had been stripped.
A few broken farms were still visible.
There were no players.
“Wait here,” Wemmbu said.
Egg frowned.
“Why?”
“I'm looking around.”
“For what?”
“I don't know.”
“Then why?”
Wemmbu shrugged.
“I'm bored.”
Before Egg could respond, Wemmbu jumped down the hill.
He walked through the abandoned settlement, kicking aside bits of dirt and stone as he went.
There was nothing interesting.
Nothing.
Then he noticed something.
A patch of stone.
It looked normal.
Wemmbu stepped closer.
There was a faint line running through it.
“Huh.”
He crouched.
Tapped it.
Nothing.
He tapped again.
A hollow sound answered.
Wemmbu's eyes widened.
“Oh.”
He grinned.
“That's interesting.”
Behind him, Egg shouted.
“Wemmbu!”
“What?”
“Don't touch it!”
“Why?”
“Because every time you say something is interesting, something explodes!”
“That's not true.”
Egg stared at him.
Wemmbu stared back.
“Okay, that's happened a few times.”
“Exactly.”
Wemmbu placed a hand against the stone.
“I'm just going to check what's underneath.”
“Wemmbu—”
He broke the block.
The ground disappeared.
“OH, COME ON—”
Wemmbu dropped.
Egg rushed forward.
“WEMMBU!”
“I'M FINE!”
His voice echoed from somewhere far below.
Egg looked down into the hole.
“Are you actually okay?”
“YES!”
A pause.
“Mostly!”
Egg sighed.
“I'm coming down.”
“No!”
“Why?”
“Because I found something.”
“What?”
Wemmbu's voice came back quieter this time.
“I don't know.”
Egg crouched beside the hole.
“Wemmbu?”
No answer.
“Wemmbu?”
Still nothing.
Egg stared down into the darkness.
“Wemmbu!”
Far below, Wemmbu finally moved.
He pushed himself upright.
His fall had been longer than he'd expected.
Much longer.
He looked up.
The hole above him was already difficult to see.
“Okay,” he muttered.
He brushed himself off.
“That's... a little deeper than it should be.”
He looked around.
There was a corridor.
Not a cave.
Not an abandoned mineshaft.
A corridor.
Its walls were made from stone and dark metal.
Small lights had been installed into the ceiling at regular intervals.
Most of them flickered.
Some were completely dead.
Wemmbu stared.
“What the hell?”
He turned toward the hole.
“Egg!”
His voice echoed upward.
“I'm going to explore!”
“WHAT?!”
“I'll be back!”
“WEMMBU, WAIT—”
Wemmbu had already started walking.
He didn't hear Egg's next words.
He was too busy staring at the corridor ahead.
There was something strange about it.
Something familiar.
Not the architecture.
Not the machinery.
The feeling.
Wemmbu had felt it before.
In the Far Lands.
In abandoned bases.
Inside places where somebody had built something enormous and complicated and then disappeared before anyone could ask why.
He hated that feeling.
It usually meant trouble.
“Whatever,” he muttered.
“I've dealt with worse.”
He walked deeper.
Behind him, the lights flickered.
One.
Two.
Three.
Then the light above the entrance went dark.
Wemmbu didn't notice.
He kept walking.
And somewhere far above him, Eggchan stood alone beside the hole, staring down after his friend.
“...Wemmbu?”
Nothing.
Egg looked around.
For the first time that afternoon, the silence didn't feel peaceful.
It felt wrong.
Deep beneath the abandoned settlement, Wemmbu stopped.
There was a door in front of him.
It wasn't made of wood.
It wasn't made of iron.
It was something darker.
Beside it was a small screen.
The screen flickered.
For a moment, there was only static.
Then text appeared.
FACILITY ACTIVE.
Wemmbu stared at it.
“...Oh.”
The screen changed.
WELCOME BACK.
Wemmbu's expression slowly fell.
“I have literally never been here before.”
The door unlocked.
Click.
Wemmbu stared at the opening.
Then, because he was Wemmbu, he walked through it.
The staircase seemed to go on forever.
Wemmbu counted the steps for a while.
Then he got bored.
Then he started counting again.
Then he forgot what number he was on.
“Whatever.”
He reached the bottom.
Another corridor.
This one was different.
The walls weren't smooth anymore.
They were covered in glass.
Not windows.
Entire sections of the wall were transparent.
Wemmbu slowed down.
Behind the glass were rooms.
Small rooms.
Empty ones.
At least, most of them were empty.
He walked past the first.
Nothing.
Second.
Nothing.
Third—
Wemmbu stopped.
There was someone inside.
White hoodie.
Dark pants.
Brown hair.
Wemmbu blinked.
“...Wifies?”
The person didn't move.
Wemmbu walked closer.
The figure was facing away from him.
“Wifies?”
Nothing.
Wemmbu looked around.
Maybe this was some weird clone.
Maybe Wifies had built some sort of underground laboratory.
That actually sounded plausible.
Extremely concerning.
But plausible.
Wemmbu tapped the glass.
The figure didn't react.
He tapped it again.
Nothing.
“Dude.”
The figure slowly turned around.
Wemmbu jumped back.
The face was Wifies.
Exactly.
Same hair.
Same clothes.
Same expression.
Except—
Something was wrong.
The eyes were empty.
Not literally empty.
Just unfocused.
Like there was nobody behind them.
Wemmbu stared.
The figure stared back.
Neither moved.
“...Okay.”
Wemmbu slowly raised a hand.
The figure raised its hand too.
Wemmbu lowered his.
The figure lowered its.
He tilted his head.
It tilted its head.
Wemmbu frowned.
“Are you copying me?”
The figure said nothing.
Wemmbu took one step to the left.
The figure took one step to the left.
“Oh, come on.”
Wemmbu stepped right.
The figure stepped right.
He took another step.
It followed.
Wemmbu stared at it.
“You're a Wifies mirror.”
Nothing.
“That's horrifying.”
Still nothing.
“Actually, wait.”
Wemmbu leaned closer to the glass.
“Are you even real?”
The figure stopped copying him.
Wemmbu froze.
Its head slowly tilted.
Not in the same direction as his.
In the opposite direction.
Wemmbu took a step back.
The figure didn't move.
For the first time, it looked directly at him.
Not at the glass.
Not at his reflection.
At him.
Wemmbu's grin disappeared.
“...Right.”
He turned around.
“I'm leaving.”
He walked away.
He made it three steps.
Then he stopped.
Something had changed.
There was a sound behind him.
A quiet metallic click.
Wemmbu looked over his shoulder.
The room behind the glass was empty.
He stared.
“What?”
The figure was gone.
Wemmbu immediately looked down the corridor.
Nothing.
He looked at the ceiling.
Nothing.
He looked back at the room.
Still nothing.
“Nope.”
He pointed at the empty room.
“We're not doing that.”
He continued down the corridor.
Faster this time.
The next room was different.
It wasn't a containment room.
It was enormous.
Rows of glass cylinders stretched across the room.
Wemmbu stopped at the entrance.
“Oh.”
He slowly walked inside.
There were dozens of them.
Then hundreds.
Each cylinder was connected to the ceiling by thick tubes.
Some were empty.
Some were filled with a cloudy liquid.
Some contained people.
Wemmbu stared at the nearest one.
White hoodie.
Brown hair.
Wifies.
He walked to the next.
Wifies.
Next.
Wifies.
Next.
Wifies.
“What the hell?”
He started walking faster.
More.
More.
More.
Everywhere he looked, there was another one.
Some looked exactly like the first.
Others were slightly different.
One had longer hair.
Another had a different hoodie.
One was missing the usual expression entirely.
Another had its eyes open.
Wemmbu stopped beside it.
The clone was floating in the liquid.
Its eyes were closed.
Wemmbu leaned toward the glass.
“Are you alive?”
The clone's eyes opened.
Wemmbu jumped.
“JESUS CHRIST!”
The clone stared at him.
Its mouth opened.
No sound came out.
Then it slowly raised one hand.
It placed its palm against the glass.
Wemmbu stared at the hand.
After a moment, he placed his own hand against the other side.
The clone looked at him.
Its expression changed.
Not fear.
Not confusion.
Recognition.
Wemmbu pulled his hand away.
“Okay.”
He looked around.
“You definitely don't know me.”
The clone continued staring.
Wemmbu moved on.
He found a control panel at the far end of the room.
Unlike everything else in the facility, this one actually had labels.
Wemmbu looked at the screen.
There were hundreds of entries.
He scrolled.
WIFIES — PRIMARY TEMPLATE
Wemmbu blinked.
He scrolled again.
WIFIES — INSTANCE 004
Again.
WIFIES — INSTANCE 019
Again.
WIFIES — INSTANCE 031
Again.
WIFIES — INSTANCE 052
Again.
Again.
Again.
Wemmbu's expression slowly changed.
There were too many.
Way too many.
He scrolled all the way down.
The final entry wasn't numbered.
It was simply marked:
ORIGINAL
Wemmbu stared at it.
“...Original?”
He clicked it.
The screen flickered.
For a second, nothing happened.
Then a file appeared.
There was almost nothing in it.
One name.
One date.
One status.
WIFIES
STATUS: REMOVED
Wemmbu frowned.
“Removed?”
He scrolled down.
A second line appeared.
REPLACEMENT PROTOCOL ACTIVE.
Wemmbu stared at the words.
“Replacement?”
He looked back at the cylinders.
Hundreds of Wifies.
His stomach dropped.
“Oh.”
He took a step backward.
“Oh, that's not good.”
A quiet sound came from behind him.
Footsteps.
Wemmbu froze.
One step.
Then another.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Someone was walking through the corridor outside.
Wemmbu looked toward the entrance.
Nothing.
He waited.
The footsteps stopped.
Silence.
Wemmbu slowly reached for his mace.
“...Hello?”
No answer.
He stepped toward the doorway.
Nothing.
Just the empty corridor.
Wemmbu relaxed slightly.
“Okay.”
He put his mace away.
He turned back toward the control panel.
The screen had changed.
He hadn't touched it.
A new message was displayed.
UNAUTHORIZED SUBJECT DETECTED.
Wemmbu stared.
“Subject?”
The screen flickered.
Another line appeared.
IDENTITY: WEMMBU
Wemmbu's eyes widened.
“...How the hell do you know my name?”
The lights went out.
Every cylinder in the room suddenly illuminated at once.
Hundreds of pale faces stared through the glass.
Wemmbu slowly turned around.
Every single Wifies clone was looking directly at him.
And somewhere deep inside the facility—
something laughed.
Wemmbu's head snapped in that direction.
The laughter stopped.
Wemmbu didn't move.
Neither did the clones.
For several seconds, the entire room was completely silent.
Hundreds of glass cylinders stood around him.
Hundreds of identical faces stared through the liquid.
And every single pair of eyes was fixed on him.
Wemmbu swallowed.
“...Okay.”
He slowly reached for his mace.
Nothing happened.
He looked at the nearest clone.
It was still staring.
He looked at another.
Same thing.
Another.
Same.
“You guys are really committed to the bit.”
No response.
Wemmbu took one step backward.
Every head in the room turned.
At the exact same time.
Wemmbu stopped.
“...No.”
He took another step.
Every head turned again.
“Nope.”
Another step.
Again.
It wasn't even creepy anymore.
It was wrong.
There was no hesitation.
No delay.
No difference between them.
It was like one person was moving hundreds of bodies.
Wemmbu slowly raised his hand.
Every clone raised theirs.
He lowered it.
They lowered theirs.
He clenched his fist.
Their hands clenched.
Wemmbu stared.
“...Okay, that's actually impressive.”
He paused.
“Still horrifying.”
A light above him flickered.
Then another.
The room slowly returned to darkness.
One cylinder went dark.
Then another.
Then another.
It moved across the room in a wave.
Wemmbu watched it approach.
“Uh.”
The final cylinder went dark.
The room was completely black.
Wemmbu couldn't see anything.
He waited.
Nothing.
Then a single light came back on.
Directly above him.
Wemmbu looked around.
Every cylinder was empty.
He froze.
“...Where did they go?”
There were no broken containers.
No shattered glass.
No open doors.
They were simply gone.
Every single one.
Wemmbu slowly turned around.
The room was empty.
“That's not funny.”
He backed toward the control panel.
His hand found the edge of it.
The screen was still running.
Still displaying his name.
But underneath it, something new had appeared.
OBSERVATION INITIATED.
Wemmbu stared at it.
“Observation?”
The words disappeared.
Another message replaced them.
SUBJECT BEHAVIOR: UNSTABLE.
Wemmbu frowned.
“Rude.”
The screen changed again.
SUBJECT RESPONSE: CURIOUS.
Wemmbu pointed at it.
“Correct.”
Another line.
SUBJECT RESPONSE: FEAR.
Wemmbu stopped.
He stared at the screen.
“...I'm not scared.”
The screen remained unchanged.
“I'm just cautious.”
Nothing.
“There's a difference.”
The screen changed.
SUBJECT RESPONSE: DENIAL.
“Oh, fuck you.”
The monitor went black.
Wemmbu stared at his reflection in it.
For half a second, he thought he saw someone standing behind him.
He spun around.
Nothing.
Just the room.
Empty.
Wemmbu slowly looked back at the monitor.
His reflection was still there.
Except—
There was something wrong with it.
Wemmbu leaned closer.
The reflection leaned closer too.
He raised his hand.
It raised its hand.
Normal.
He stepped to the side.
The reflection followed.
Normal.
Wemmbu squinted.
Then he noticed it.
His reflection was smiling.
Wemmbu wasn't.
He immediately stepped away.
The screen went dark.
“No.”
He pointed at it.
“Absolutely not.”
He turned toward the exit.
He was leaving.
He didn't care what was in the facility anymore.
He didn't care who built it.
He didn't care why there were hundreds of Wifies clones underground.
He was going to find Egg.
He was going to get out.
And then he was going to spend the next several hours explaining to Egg exactly why he should never let Wemmbu wander off alone ever again.
Wemmbu reached the door.
He grabbed the handle.
It opened.
He stepped into the corridor.
He stopped.
There was a hallway to the left.
A hallway to the right.
And another directly ahead.
Wemmbu stared.
“...That wasn't there before.”
He looked back.
The room behind him was gone.
There was only a wall.
Wemmbu slowly turned around again.
“What?”
He walked backward.
His shoulder hit the wall.
Solid.
He pressed his hand against it.
Solid.
“Okay.”
He looked down the three corridors.
“So the building moves.”
He paused.
“That's completely normal.”
He chose the hallway on the right.
Not because it looked safer.
It didn't.
He just didn't like the look of the other two.
There were doors along this corridor.
Most were locked.
Some had windows.
Wemmbu glanced through the first.
Empty.
The second.
Empty.
The third—
He stopped.
There was a desk inside.
Old books were scattered across it.
There were papers everywhere.
Unlike the other rooms, this one looked like somebody had actually used it.
Wemmbu tried the door.
Locked.
He sighed.
He pulled out his pickaxe.
“You know, I've dealt with governments, armies, dictators, ancient civilizations, and whatever the hell the Far Lands were doing.”
He raised the pickaxe.
“A locked door is not stopping me.”
Crack.
The lock broke.
Wemmbu stepped inside.
The room smelled old.
Not dusty.
Old.
Like the air hadn't moved properly in years.
He walked toward the desk.
The papers were covered in handwriting.
Most of it was faded.
Some pages had been torn apart.
Others had been crossed out so many times that Wemmbu couldn't read them.
He picked one up.
There was a drawing.
A person.
Wemmbu frowned.
It looked like Wifies.
But underneath the drawing was a diagram.
Lines extended from the person's head.
Down the spine.
Across the arms.
There were notes beside each section.
Memory.
Behavior.
Instinct.
Recognition.
Wemmbu stared.
He picked up another paper.
This one had a sentence written across the top.
THE BODY IS EASY.
Wemmbu's eyes narrowed.
He read the next line.
THE PERSON IS NOT.
He slowly lowered the page.
“...What does that mean?”
There was another sheet underneath it.
He picked it up.
EARLY INSTANCES SHOW COMPLETE PHYSICAL ACCURACY.
COGNITIVE SIMULATION FAILED.
SUBJECTS COULD REPLICATE SPEECH.
SUBJECTS COULD REPLICATE HABITS.
SUBJECTS COULD REPLICATE MEMORY.
Wemmbu's eyes moved lower.
THEY COULD NOT REPLICATE ATTACHMENT.
He stopped.
Something about that sentence bothered him.
He didn't know why.
He kept reading.
THEY KNEW WHO PARROT WAS.
THEY KNEW WHAT HE MEANT TO WIFIES.
BUT THEY DID NOT UNDERSTAND WHY.
Wemmbu stared at the page.
“...Parrot?”
He looked around.
The room suddenly felt much colder.
He read the next line.
THE ORIGINAL REFUSED TO PARTICIPATE.
Wemmbu frowned.
“Original Wifies?”
He turned the page.
There was a date.
He didn't recognize it.
Underneath it were several names.
Most had been crossed out.
One remained.
WIFIES.
Below it:
STATUS: NONCOMPLIANT.
Wemmbu stared.
Then he heard something outside.
A soft scrape.
He froze.
He slowly lowered the paper.
Another scrape.
Right outside the door.
Wemmbu reached for his mace.
He waited.
Nothing.
He stepped toward the doorway.
He looked through the gap.
The corridor was empty.
Wemmbu opened the door.
Nothing.
He looked left.
Right.
Empty.
He stepped outside.
Then he noticed something on the floor.
A footprint.
It was fresh.
Wemmbu crouched.
It looked like a normal boot.
He followed it.
One step.
Then another.
Then another.
They stopped at the corner.
Wemmbu looked around it.
Nothing.
But there was another footprint.
Then another.
Then another.
They continued down the hallway.
Wemmbu followed.
He wasn't sure why.
Curiosity, probably.
Or stupidity.
With Wemmbu, the distinction was often difficult.
The footprints led to another door.
This one had no handle.
Only a small glass window.
Wemmbu looked inside.
There was a chair.
A table.
And a single mirror.
Nothing else.
Wemmbu frowned.
He leaned closer.
Someone was sitting in the chair.
Wemmbu jumped backward.
The person was wearing a white hoodie.
Brown hair.
Wifies.
Again.
Wemmbu stared through the glass.
The person wasn't moving.
“Another clone?”
The figure slowly turned its head.
Wemmbu stopped breathing for a second.
This one looked different.
The others had stared.
This one was looking at him like it was actually thinking.
Then it smiled.
Wemmbu's grip tightened around his mace.
The figure stood.
It walked toward the glass.
Slowly.
One step at a time.
It stopped directly in front of him.
Wemmbu stared into its eyes.
The clone raised one finger.
It pointed behind Wemmbu.
Wemmbu didn't turn around.
He couldn't.
Every instinct in his body told him not to.
The clone's smile widened.
Then it whispered something.
Wemmbu couldn't hear it through the glass.
He leaned closer.
The clone mouthed the words again.
He's watching you.
Wemmbu's blood ran cold.
He turned.
There was nobody there.
He looked back through the glass.
The room was empty.
The chair was empty.
The clone was gone.
Wemmbu stared.
Then he heard footsteps.
Not behind him.
Above him.
He slowly looked up.
There were vents in the ceiling.
Something moved behind one.
Wemmbu stepped backward.
The vent went still.
He raised his mace.
“Okay.”
His voice was quieter now.
“You know what?”
He looked down the corridor.
“I'm done exploring.”
He turned around.
And walked away.
He didn't see the figure standing at the far end of the corridor.
It was wearing a white coat.
Its face looked almost exactly like Wifies.
Almost.
It watched Wemmbu disappear around the corner.
It didn't follow.
Not yet.
The figure tilted its head.
A faint smile appeared.
Then it stepped backward into the darkness.
And disappeared.
Far above the facility, hidden behind layers of stone and abandoned construction, a small monitor flickered to life.
A camera feed appeared.
Wemmbu was walking down another corridor.
The camera followed him.
Not mechanically.
There was no movement in the camera itself.
It simply switched from one feed to another.
Then another.
Then another.
Always keeping Wemmbu in view.
A figure sat in front of the monitors.
He watched silently.
Wemmbu stopped.
The figure leaned forward.
Wemmbu looked around.
He seemed confused.
The figure smiled.
“Interesting.”
His voice was quiet.
Almost amused.
He looked at the monitor again.
Wemmbu had started walking.
The figure reached toward the controls.
His hand hovered over a button.
He could have activated the containment system.
He could have locked every door.
He could have sent someone after Wemmbu.
Instead, he pulled his hand away.
“Not yet.”
The monitor flickered.
For a moment, the screen displayed Wemmbu.
Then it displayed something else.
A file.
A single line appeared.
UNAUTHORIZED SUBJECT: WEMMBU
Underneath it, another line slowly appeared.
INTEREST: HIGH
The figure stared at it.
Then smiled again.
“Let's see what you find.”
He switched the monitor off.
The room went dark.
Wemmbu kept walking.
He didn't know where he was going.
At this point, he was mostly trying to find a way back to the surface.
Unfortunately, the facility seemed to have other plans.
The corridor stretched ahead of him.
Dark.
Quiet.
Almost peaceful.
That was probably the worst part.
After everything he'd seen, the silence didn't feel like safety anymore.
It felt like the building was waiting.
Wemmbu glanced over his shoulder.
Nothing.
He turned forward again.
He kept walking.
His footsteps echoed against the walls.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Then another sound joined them.
Step.
Wemmbu stopped.
The other sound stopped too.
He stared down the corridor.
Nothing.
He waited.
Silence.
“...Okay.”
He started walking again.
Step.
Step.
Step.
There it was.
Another footstep.
Behind him.
Wemmbu stopped again.
Silence.
He turned around.
Nothing.
Just the corridor.
He narrowed his eyes.
“Very funny.”
Nothing answered.
Wemmbu started walking.
This time, he deliberately changed his pace.
Slow.
Then fast.
Then slow again.
He listened.
Nothing.
Wemmbu relaxed.
“See?”
He nodded to himself.
“Probably just the pipes.”
He took another step.
Step.
Something stepped behind him.
Step.
Wemmbu spun around.
Nothing.
His hand immediately went to his mace.
He stood there.
Waiting.
The corridor remained empty.
There wasn't even a doorway nearby.
No hiding place.
No corner.
Nothing.
Wemmbu slowly lowered his hand.
“...Okay.”
He looked up.
The ceiling was several blocks above him.
Dark.
Metal beams crossed it.
Thin cables disappeared into the walls.
There were vents.
Dozens of them.
Wemmbu stared at one.
“Don't.”
He pointed at it.
“Don't even think about it.”
Nothing happened.
“Good.”
He continued walking.
He passed another door.
Then another.
Then another.
Most were marked with numbers.
Some had faded warnings.
One had a large red symbol painted across it.
Wemmbu stopped.
He recognized the symbol.
Not from the facility.
From somewhere else.
It was a warning marker.
Containment.
He stared at the door.
“What were they keeping in here?”
The door had a small window.
Wemmbu looked through it.
Nothing.
Just darkness.
He tried the handle.
Locked.
He sighed.
“Of course.”
He reached for his pickaxe.
Then stopped.
He looked at the warning symbol again.
“Actually...”
He slowly put the pickaxe away.
“Maybe I don't need to know.”
He walked past.
Three steps.
Four.
Five.
He stopped.
“...No.”
He turned around.
“I definitely need to know.”
He walked back.
“I hope I don't end up a protagonist in a horror movie.”
He pulled out his pickaxe again.
Crack.
The lock broke.
The door opened.
Nothing jumped out.
Wemmbu waited.
Still nothing.
He cautiously stepped inside.
The room was enormous.
It looked like some kind of workshop.
Tables were arranged along the walls.
Old equipment covered them.
Glass tubes.
Needles.
Tools.
Empty bottles.
Broken pieces of machinery.
There were even old books stacked in the corners.
Wemmbu walked toward the nearest table.
Dust covered everything.
But not evenly.
He frowned.
There was a clear patch across the table.
Something had been sitting there recently.
Very recently.
Wemmbu touched the surface.
No dust.
He looked at his finger.
Then at the table.
“Someone's been here.”
He looked around.
Nothing moved.
Wemmbu walked further into the room.
There was a large machine against the far wall.
It was connected to several pipes.
Most had been disconnected.
One was still running.
A faint green light pulsed inside it.
Wemmbu stared.
“That seems safe.”
He walked closer.
The machine had a screen.
It was old.
The text on it kept flickering.
GENERATION CYCLE: COMPLETE.
Wemmbu frowned.
He pressed a button.
The machine hummed.
“Uh.”
He immediately took his hand away.
Nothing happened.
Wemmbu waited.
Still nothing.
“Okay.”
He looked at the screen.
A list appeared.
Instance numbers.
001.
002.
003.
004.
005.
Hundreds of them.
Wemmbu scrolled.
The numbers continued.
He kept scrolling.
Eventually, they stopped.
At the bottom was a section marked:
FAILED INSTANCES.
Wemmbu hesitated.
He clicked it.
The list expanded.
There were hundreds more.
Wemmbu stared.
“...How many times did they do this?”
He scrolled.
Most entries had almost no information.
004 — COGNITIVE FAILURE.
007 — MEMORY FAILURE.
011 — BEHAVIORAL DEVIATION.
018 — TERMINATED.
Wemmbu stopped scrolling.
“Terminated.”
He didn't like that word.
He continued.
026 — TERMINATED.
031 — TERMINATED.
033 — TERMINATED.
041 — TERMINATED.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Wemmbu's expression slowly fell.
He'd expected weird.
He'd expected creepy.
He hadn't expected this.
These weren't just copies.
They had tried.
Over and over again.
They had made Wifies.
And when they didn't get what they wanted—
they made another.
And another.
And another.
Wemmbu backed away from the machine.
“What happened to the originals?”
The screen flickered.
Wemmbu froze.
A new line appeared.
QUERY NOT RECOGNIZED.
“What?”
He typed it again.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ORIGINALS?
The machine paused.
The green light inside it stopped pulsing.
For a moment, everything went still.
Then:
QUERY RESTRICTED.
Wemmbu stared.
“By who?”
The machine didn't answer.
He typed again.
WHO RESTRICTED IT?
The screen flickered.
One word appeared.
WIFIES.
Wemmbu stared.
“Which one?”
The machine went black.
“...That's what I thought.”
He stepped away.
Something moved behind him.
Wemmbu turned.
Nothing.
He narrowed his eyes.
“I know you're there.”
Silence.
“I'm not stupid.”
A pause.
“Okay, that's a lie.”
He raised his mace.
“But I'm not that stupid.”
Nothing.
Wemmbu slowly walked backward toward the door.
His eyes never left the room.
He reached the doorway.
Still nothing.
He stepped into the corridor.
Then stopped.
There was something on the wall.
A message.
Written in black.
Wemmbu hadn't noticed it before.
He stepped closer.
The handwriting was messy.
Almost frantic.
Three words had been written over and over again.
ONE BECOMES MANY.
Again.
ONE BECOMES MANY.
Again.
ONE BECOMES MANY.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Until the words covered nearly the entire wall.
Wemmbu stared at them.
“That's... not ominous at all.”
He looked down.
There was something underneath the writing.
A smaller sentence.
Almost hidden beneath the black marks.
MANY CANNOT BECOME ONE.
Wemmbu's expression changed.
He reached toward it.
His fingers stopped just short of the wall.
Someone had scratched the sentence into the stone.
Deeply.
Over and over.
Like whoever wrote it wanted to make sure it could never be erased.
Wemmbu slowly stepped back.
Then he heard it.
A voice.
Quiet.
Very close.
“You're not supposed to be here.”
Wemmbu froze.
He turned.
Someone was standing at the end of the corridor.
White hoodie.
Brown hair.
Wifies.
Wemmbu immediately pulled out his mace.
“Okay.”
The figure didn't move.
“Which one are you?”
No answer.
Wemmbu took a step forward.
The figure took one backward.
“Hey.”
Wemmbu narrowed his eyes.
“I asked you a question.”
The figure smiled.
It wasn't the empty smile the other clones had.
This one looked genuine.
That somehow made it worse.
“You ask a lot of questions.”
Wemmbu's grip tightened.
“You talk.”
“Yes.”
“You're a clone.”
The figure tilted its head.
“Maybe.”
Wemmbu frowned.
“That's not an answer.”
“It is.”
“It's a terrible answer.”
The figure smiled slightly.
“You're Wemmbu.”
Wemmbu's expression hardened.
“Yeah.”
“From outside.”
“Yeah.”
“Interesting.”
“Why?”
The figure didn't answer.
It simply looked at him.
Wemmbu felt something crawl up his spine.
Not fear.
Something worse.
The sensation of being examined.
Like he wasn't a person standing in a hallway.
Like he was an object.
A strange thing that had somehow wandered into the wrong room.
Wemmbu raised his mace slightly.
“You gonna tell me who you are?”
The figure looked at the mace.
Then back at Wemmbu.
“Do you really want to know?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you're creepy.”
A quiet laugh.
“Fair.”
The figure stepped closer.
Wemmbu didn't move.
One step.
Then another.
Until the figure was standing only a few blocks away.
Wemmbu could see its face clearly now.
It looked like Wifies.
But the similarities ended there.
There was something different in the eyes.
Something alert.
Almost playful.
Like the person standing in front of him knew something Wemmbu didn't.
“You shouldn't wander alone.”
Wemmbu scoffed.
“I've been wandering alone for years.”
“Not here.”
“Why?”
The figure looked past him.
Down the corridor.
“Because this place notices things.”
Wemmbu's expression tightened.
“The building?”
“Sometimes.”
“And the other times?”
The figure smiled.
“Someone else notices.”
Wemmbu stared.
He didn't like the way he said that.
“Are you threatening me?”
“No.”
“Then what are you doing?”
The figure looked directly into his eyes.
“Watching.”
Wemmbu's stomach dropped.
The figure stepped backward.
“I've been watching you for a while.”
Wemmbu immediately looked around.
“Since when?”
“Before the cylinders.”
“The hallway?”
“Before that.”
Wemmbu's eyes widened.
“The storage room?”
The figure smiled.
“Earlier.”
“The first corridor?”
“Earlier.”
Wemmbu stared.
“The door?”
The figure said nothing.
Wemmbu's face slowly fell.
“You've been watching me since I got here.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you do anything?”
The figure's smile disappeared.
For the first time, it looked almost serious.
“I wanted to see what you'd do.”
“And?”
“You're interesting.”
Wemmbu stared.
“That's it?”
“For now.”
The lights above them flickered.
Wemmbu glanced upward.
When he looked back—
The figure was gone.
Wemmbu froze.
“...What?”
He spun around.
Nothing.
The corridor stretched endlessly behind him.
He looked ahead.
Empty.
He ran toward the corner.
Nothing.
He checked the nearest doorway.
Empty.
Another.
Empty.
Another.
Empty.
“No.”
Wemmbu's breathing had become quicker.
“No, no, no.”
He backed into the wall.
He looked around.
There was nowhere to hide.
Nowhere to go.
Then he noticed something.
The camera.
There was a small black camera mounted near the ceiling.
It was pointed directly at him.
Wemmbu stared at it.
Slowly, he raised his hand.
He waved.
The camera didn't move.
Wemmbu lowered his hand.
“...You've gotta be fucking kidding me.”
He walked closer.
The camera followed him.
Just slightly.
Wemmbu stopped.
The camera stopped.
He stepped left.
The camera turned.
He stepped right.
It followed.
Wemmbu stared at it.
“You're not even trying to hide it anymore.”
The camera remained fixed on him.
Then the small red light on it turned off.
Wemmbu blinked.
“...What?”
The camera turned away.
Not toward the hallway.
Toward a door.
Wemmbu followed its movement.
There was a door he hadn't noticed before.
It was completely black.
No handle.
No window.
No label.
Just a single word carved into the surface.
OBSERVATION.
Wemmbu stared at it.
He slowly approached.
His hand reached toward the surface.
Then stopped.
Something was written underneath the word.
Much smaller.
Almost invisible.
Wemmbu leaned closer.
He read it.
SUBJECTS ARE NOT THE ONLY ONES BEING OBSERVED.
Wemmbu's eyes widened.
He stepped away.
The door clicked.
Wemmbu froze.
Slowly—
the black door opened by itself.
Only an inch.
Darkness waited on the other side.
Wemmbu stared into it.
Something inside the room moved.
He raised his mace.
Then looked back at the camera.
"Do you seriously think I will enter?”
No answer.
Then, from somewhere deep inside the darkness, a familiar voice whispered:
“Wemmbu.”
His eyes widened.
He knew that voice.
He hadn't heard it in this place.
But he knew it.
Wemmbu stepped closer.
“...Wifies?”
The door slowly began to close.
Wemmbu reached for it.
He caught the edge.
“Wait.”
The door stopped.
For a moment, there was silence.
Then the voice came again.
Much quieter this time.
“Don't let him find you.”
Wemmbu's expression changed.
“Who?”
The door slammed shut.
Bang.
Wemmbu jumped backward.
The lights above him went out.
One by one.
Until the entire corridor was dark.
And somewhere behind him—
something started walking.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Like it had all the time in the world.
Something started walking.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Like it had all the time in the world.
Wemmbu didn't move.
He listened.
Step.
Silence.
Step.
Silence.
Another step.
Closer.
Wemmbu's fingers tightened around his mace.
He couldn't see anything.
The darkness was complete.
Not normal darkness.
There wasn't even enough light to make out the outline of his own hand.
“Okay.”
His voice sounded strangely small in the corridor.
“That's enough.”
The footsteps stopped.
Wemmbu waited.
Nothing.
He took one careful step backward.
Nothing.
Another.
Still nothing.
Wemmbu's confidence returned slightly.
“See?”
He whispered to himself.
“We're good.”
He took another step.
Step.
Something answered from behind him.
Step.
Wemmbu spun around.
He swung.
WHOOM.
The mace cut through empty air.
Nothing.
Wemmbu froze.
He lowered the weapon slightly.
“...I hate this place.”
A tiny light appeared in the distance.
Wemmbu stared at it.
It was red.
Small.
Flickering.
He recognized it.
A camera.
Its red indicator light was pointed directly at him.
Wemmbu stared at it for several seconds.
Then he raised his middle finger.
“Fuck you.”
The light disappeared.
Wemmbu blinked.
“...Did you just—”
A light above him turned on.
Then another.
Then another.
The corridor slowly became visible again.
There was nobody behind him.
No clone.
No person.
No creature.
Nothing.
Wemmbu stared at the empty hallway.
He slowly lowered his mace.
“I am going to lose my fucking mind.”
He turned toward the black door.
It was still closed.
The words were still carved into it.
OBSERVATION.
Wemmbu didn't like it.
Not because of the door itself.
Because of what had been behind it.
Wifies.
Or something pretending to be Wifies.
And the warning.
Don't let him find you.
Wemmbu stared at the door.
“Who the hell is him?”
The facility didn't answer.
Of course it didn't.
Wemmbu sighed.
“Fine.”
He turned away.
“I'll figure it out myself.”
He walked down the corridor.
He didn't notice the camera above the black door turning back toward him.
He didn't notice the tiny green light appearing beneath the lens.
And he definitely didn't notice that somewhere else in the facility, another pair of eyes had opened.
The clone walked.
Unlike the others, it didn't wander aimlessly.
It knew where it was going.
The corridors changed around it.
Doors opened before it reached them.
Lights activated as it passed.
It didn't need a key.
It didn't need permission.
The facility recognized it.
Eventually, it reached a narrow staircase.
The clone stopped at the top.
It looked down.
Darkness.
It descended.
One floor.
Two.
Three.
Four.
The walls changed as it went deeper.
Metal became concrete.
Concrete became stone.
Stone became something that didn't look like any material the clone recognized.
It reached the bottom.
A door waited there.
No label.
No lock.
The clone placed its hand against it.
The door opened.
Inside was a room filled with monitors.
Hundreds of them.
Some displayed corridors.
Others showed laboratories.
Some showed empty rooms.
Some showed places that the clone had never seen.
And one showed Wemmbu.
He was walking through the factory.
The clone stepped closer.
A figure sat in front of the monitors.
White coat.
Dark hair.
Wifies' face.
But not Wifies.
Not quite.
The figure didn't turn around.
“Well?”
The clone stopped.
“He's still moving.”
“I know.”
The figure changed the monitor.
Wemmbu appeared on another screen.
Then another.
Then another.
Different cameras.
Different angles.
Always Wemmbu.
The figure smiled.
“What did he find?”
The clone hesitated.
“The generation room.”
The figure's smile faded slightly.
“That quickly?”
“He broke the door.”
Silence.
Then a quiet laugh.
“Of course he did.”
The clone continued.
“He accessed the failed-instance records.”
“Did he read them?”
“Some.”
“Which ones?”
“The termination logs.”
The figure leaned back.
“Interesting.”
He looked at the screen.
Wemmbu had stopped walking.
He was staring at a door.
“Did he see the observation room?”
“Yes.”
“Did he enter?”
“No.”
The figure smiled again.
“Smart.”
The clone looked at him.
“Should we stop him?”
“No.”
“Should we bring him here?”
“No.”
The clone frowned.
“Then what do you want us to do?”
The figure turned toward it.
For the first time, his expression became completely serious.
“Keep watching.”
The clone nodded.
“Why?”
The figure looked back at Wemmbu.
“Because I want to know what the factory does with him.”
The clone stared at him.
“The factory?”
“Yes.”
The figure was silent.
The clone looked at the monitors.
Wemmbu was still walking.
“Then why let him continue?”
The figure's smile returned.
“Because it hasn't behaved like this in years.”
The clone looked confused.
“What changed?”
The figure pointed toward the screen.
“Him.”
Wemmbu walked past another camera.
The screen flickered.
For one second, the camera feed wasn't Wemmbu.
It showed an empty laboratory.
Then it returned to Wemmbu.
The figure frowned.
“Did you see that?”
The clone nodded.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
The figure leaned toward the monitor.
“Because that shouldn't be possible.”
Wemmbu had no idea any of that was happening.
He was too busy trying to find an exit.
The corridor eventually opened into a much larger room.
Wemmbu stopped.
“What the hell?”
This wasn't another laboratory.
It was a factory floor.
Actually a factory.
Conveyor belts stretched across the room.
Large metal arms hung from the ceiling.
Glass chambers stood along the walls.
There were pipes everywhere.
Some were empty.
Some were filled with a strange pale liquid.
Others pulsed faintly with light.
Machines sat dormant beneath layers of dust.
But some were running.
Wemmbu stared at the moving conveyor belt.
There was nothing on it.
It just kept moving.
Slowly.
Relentlessly.
“Okay.”
He walked closer.
There were labels on the machinery.
FORMATION.
STRUCTURE.
MEMORY.
BEHAVIOR.
RECOGNITION.
Wemmbu's eyes narrowed.
He looked from one machine to another.
“So this is how they made them.”
He walked along the line.
Formation.
Structure.
Memory.
Behavior.
Recognition.
Then there was one final station.
It was different from the others.
There was no label.
Only a black circle painted on the metal.
Wemmbu stepped closer.
Inside the station was a small glass chamber.
Empty.
He looked through it.
There were scratches on the inside of the glass.
Hundreds of them.
Some were shallow.
Others were deep enough to distort the glass.
Wemmbu frowned.
“Someone was trapped in here.”
He looked around.
No doors.
No controls.
Nothing.
He touched the glass.
A screen beside it suddenly activated.
Wemmbu jumped.
“JESUS!”
The screen displayed a diagram.
It wasn't a Wifies.
It was a blank human silhouette.
Different sections of the body were highlighted.
Then the image changed.
Wifies.
Then another person.
Then another.
Wemmbu watched.
“Wait.”
The images kept changing.
Wifies.
Wifies.
Wifies.
Then—
Wemmbu.
He froze.
His own model stared back at him from the screen.
Not an exact image.
More like a schematic.
There was a label underneath it.
UNREGISTERED.
Wemmbu stared.
“...What?”
The screen flickered.
The label changed.
UNSUPPORTED.
Wemmbu frowned.
“Unsupported?”
Another flicker.
INCOMPATIBLE.
“With what?”
The screen went black.
Wemmbu waited.
“Come on.”
Nothing.
“You can't just say incompatible and turn off.”
Still nothing.
“That's bad writing.”
The screen came back on.
Wemmbu stared.
A new message appeared.
REASSESSMENT REQUIRED.
He stopped smiling.
“Reassessment?”
Another line appeared.
PRIMARY TEMPLATE MAY BE INCORRECT.
Wemmbu's stomach dropped.
He looked at the Wifies diagram.
Then his own.
Then back at the Wifies diagram.
“You were making Wifies wrong?”
The machine hummed.
The screen changed.
NOT WIFIES.
Wemmbu blinked.
“What?”
The words remained.
NOT WIFIES.
Wemmbu stared at them.
Then another message appeared beneath it.
WIFIES WAS THE CLOSEST SUCCESSFUL MODEL.
Wemmbu's expression went blank.
“...Oh.”
He slowly stepped away from the machine.
“That's significantly worse.”
The machine went silent.
Wemmbu looked around the factory floor.
Suddenly the hundreds of clones didn't look like the end goal anymore.
They looked like attempts.
Copies of something else.
Something that the facility had never managed to create correctly.
He looked back at the empty chamber.
The scratches suddenly seemed much more important.
“What were you trying to make?”
A speaker crackled overhead.
Wemmbu looked up.
Static filled the room.
Then a voice.
Not Wifies.
Something completely different.
Flat.
Mechanical.
“Iteration complete.”
Wemmbu froze.
“What?”
The voice repeated.
“Iteration complete.”
“What iteration?”
Silence.
Then:
“Candidate acquired.”
Wemmbu's eyes widened.
“Candidate?”
The factory lights suddenly came on.
All of them.
The entire room illuminated.
Machines began activating one after another.
CLUNK.
CLUNK.
CLUNK.
Conveyor belts started moving.
Pipes opened.
Steam poured into the room.
Metal arms lowered from the ceiling.
Wemmbu backed away.
“No.”
One of the machines began scanning the room.
A red beam passed over him.
Wemmbu looked down at himself.
“No, no, no.”
The beam passed over him again.
A screen appeared.
SUBJECT LOCATED.
Wemmbu raised his mace.
“I'm not your fucking subject.”
The machine ignored him.
IDENTITY CONFIRMED.
Wemmbu's eyes widened.
“How?”
The screen changed.
WEMMBU.
Then:
The screen flickered.
UNMATCHED.
Another flicker.
UNREGISTERED.
Another.
UNEXPECTED.
Then the screen went black.
Wemmbu stared.
“Okay.”
He slowly backed toward the entrance.
“That's enough science for today.”
A metal arm moved.
Wemmbu looked up.
It wasn't reaching for him.
It pointed toward a door on the opposite side of the factory.
The door unlocked.
Click.
Wemmbu stared at it.
Then at the machine.
“You're telling me to go in there?”
The machine said nothing.
Wemmbu sighed.
“I really hate when buildings give me directions.”
He walked toward the door.
Halfway there, he noticed something on the floor.
A clipboard.
He picked it up.
Most of the pages were blank.
The final page wasn't.
There was handwriting.
Recent handwriting.
Wemmbu's eyes narrowed.
He read it.
DO NOT ALLOW THE SUBJECT TO REACH THE LOWER LEVELS.
Wemmbu looked toward the door.
Then back at the note.
“Why?”
There was a second line.
THE FACTORY DOES NOT KNOW WHAT HE IS.
Wemmbu stared.
A third line had been written underneath.
WE DON'T EITHER.
He slowly lowered the clipboard.
“...Oh, fuck.”
Something moved inside the room beyond the door.
Wemmbu raised his mace.
The door opened.
Nothing was there.
Just stairs.
Going down.
Wemmbu stared at them.
“Of course.”
He looked upward.
He couldn't see the surface.
He looked downward.
Darkness.
He sighed.
“Why is everything underground?”
He started down.
Above him, a monitor flickered.
The figure in the observation room watched the feed.
His expression had changed.
He wasn't smiling anymore.
He was staring at the clipboard in Wemmbu's hand.
“That's not supposed to be there.”
The clone stood beside him.
“What is it?”
The figure didn't answer.
He switched to another camera.
Wemmbu was descending the stairs.
Lower.
Lower.
Lower.
The figure's hand moved toward the controls.
He stopped.
He could close the door.
He could lock the stairs.
He could send the security units.
Instead, he watched.
“He's going down.”
The clone looked at him.
“You said not to stop him.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you worried?”
The figure stared at the screen.
“Because I didn't know the factory would recognize him.”
The clone was silent.
“Recognize him as what?”
The figure's eyes remained on Wemmbu.
“That's what I'm trying to find out.”
Wemmbu reached the bottom of the stairs.
The air had changed.
It was colder.
Much colder.
His breath fogged slightly in front of him.
He rubbed his arms.
“Okay.”
He looked around.
The walls down here were older.
Much older.
There were no clean metal panels.
No modern machines.
No screens.
Instead, there were markings carved directly into the stone.
Some were symbols.
Some were numbers.
Some looked like names.
Wemmbu walked closer to one.
He recognized the name.
Wifies.
He stared.
There were dozens of them.
Different handwriting.
Different dates.
Different styles.
But always the same name.
WIFIES.
Wemmbu touched one of the carvings.
It was ancient compared to everything upstairs.
“You weren't the first.”
He looked down the corridor.
“Were you?”
A sound came from somewhere ahead.
Tick.
Wemmbu froze.
Tick.
Again.
He followed the sound.
The corridor ended at a massive circular door.
There was no handle.
No keypad.
Only a small indentation in the center.
Wemmbu stared at it.
“What opens you?”
The door clicked.
Wemmbu jumped.
The indentation lit up.
It wasn't a keyhole.
It was a handprint.
Wemmbu slowly looked at his own hand.
“No.”
The handprint pulsed.
He stepped backward.
The door remained still.
“Absolutely not.”
He turned around.
He took one step away.
The door opened behind him.
Wemmbu stopped.
He looked over his shoulder.
Darkness waited inside.
But something else was there.
A sound.
Breathing.
Slow.
Steady.
Human.
Wemmbu slowly raised his mace.
“Who's in there?”
No answer.
Then a voice.
Quiet.
Almost familiar.
“Wemmbu.”
His eyes widened.
It wasn't Wifies.
It wasn't Evilfies.
It was his own voice.
Wemmbu stared into the darkness.
His voice spoke again.
“You're late.”
Wemmbu's expression went completely blank.
“...What?”
The door opened wider.
Something inside moved.
And for the first time since he entered the factory, Wemmbu had the distinct feeling that he wasn't exploring it anymore.
It was exploring him.
The thing inside moved again.
Wemmbu didn't.
For several seconds, neither of them made a sound.
The circular doorway stood open.
Beyond it was darkness.
Not the ordinary kind.
Not a room with the lights turned off.
There was something about the darkness itself that made Wemmbu uncomfortable.
It seemed deeper than the space behind the door should have allowed.
Like the room continued far beyond the walls.
Like the darkness wasn't hiding the room.
Like the darkness was the room.
Wemmbu tightened his grip around his mace.
“Okay.”
His voice echoed.
Then echoed again.
And again.
But the last echo didn't sound like him.
It sounded lower.
Farther away.
Wemmbu stared into the doorway.
“I'm just going to say this once.”
Nothing answered.
“Whatever you are...”
He lifted the mace.
“...don't make me come in there.”
A pause.
Then something made a noise.
Click.
Wemmbu's eyes narrowed.
It sounded almost like a tongue clicking against teeth.
Except there was no way to tell where it came from.
Another click.
Then another.
Closer.
Wemmbu took one step backward.
The darkness shifted.
Something emerged.
Wemmbu's stomach dropped.
At first, he thought it was a person crawling.
That was the closest shape his brain could assign to it.
Two arms.
Two legs.
A head.
A body.
But the longer he looked, the less sense it made.
It was too thin.
Not thin like a person.
Thin like something that had never been meant to have a body in the first place.
Its limbs bent in places they shouldn't.
Its hands were long and narrow, each finger ending in a blunt, black point.
Its head was tilted forward.
There was no face.
No eyes.
No nose.
No mouth.
Just smooth, pale material stretched over the front of its skull.
Wemmbu stared.
“...What the fuck?”
The creature stopped.
Its head tilted.
Not toward the sound.
Toward him.
Wemmbu stepped backward again.
The creature followed.
One hand touched the floor.
Then the other.
Its body unfolded upward.
It wasn't standing.
It was assembling itself.
Its legs extended.
Its spine straightened with a series of quiet clicks.
Its head lifted.
And suddenly it was almost as tall as Wemmbu.
Almost.
Wemmbu didn't move.
The creature didn't move either.
They stared at each other.
Except Wemmbu had eyes.
The creature didn't.
“You don't have a face.”
It tilted its head.
“That's...”
Wemmbu swallowed.
“That's actually worse than having a face.”
The creature raised one hand.
Its fingers spread.
Something appeared beneath its skin.
Light.
Thin lines of pale blue travelled through its arm.
They moved like veins.
Then the light reached its chest.
For a moment, Wemmbu saw something inside.
Not organs.
Not bones.
Something geometric.
A cluster of shifting shapes.
It looked almost like a blocky skeleton that couldn't decide what shape it was supposed to have.
Wemmbu's expression changed.
“You're not a clone.”
The creature's head tilted again.
“Are you?”
Silence.
Then the creature opened its mouth.
Except there hadn't been a mouth there a second ago.
The smooth surface of its face split.
Not vertically.
Horizontally.
A black line opened across its entire face.
Wemmbu immediately raised his mace.
The creature made a sound.
Not a roar.
Not a growl.
A voice.
Wemmbu's voice.
“You're late.”
Wemmbu's blood ran cold.
“Stop doing that.”
The creature repeated it.
“You're late.”
“I heard you the first time.”
“You're late.”
“I KNOW.”
The creature became still.
Wemmbu stared at it.
Then something behind the creature lit up.
A wall.
There were hundreds of symbols carved into it.
Most had been scratched out.
Some had been covered with black paint.
One symbol remained illuminated.
Wemmbu recognized it.
It was the same symbol from the factory floor.
The black circle.
Except now there was something inside it.
A small shape.
Almost like an eye.
Wemmbu stared.
“What is that?”
The creature turned toward the symbol.
It reached toward it.
Its fingertip touched the wall.
The entire room shuddered.
THOOM.
Wemmbu nearly lost his balance.
The creature didn't react.
The symbol changed.
Lines appeared around it.
Then words.
ORIGINAL PROCESS.
Wemmbu frowned.
More text appeared.
FAILED.
Then:
REPLICATION PROCESS INITIATED.
Wemmbu looked at the creature.
Then at the words.
Then back at the creature.
“Wait.”
His voice lowered.
“You were here first.”
The creature turned toward him.
“The Wifies clones...”
Wemmbu's eyes moved across the wall.
“They weren't the beginning.”
The creature didn't answer.
Wemmbu took another step toward the wall.
There were more records.
Much older ones.
Before the numbered instances.
Before the generation rooms.
Before the factory had even been built into the shape he'd seen upstairs.
And beside every failed record was the same symbol.
The circle.
“They were trying to copy you.”
The creature slowly turned its head.
Wemmbu's expression fell.
“Oh.”
He looked at it again.
“That's bad.”
The creature took one step forward.
Wemmbu raised his mace.
“Don't.”
It stopped.
Wemmbu stared at it.
“Good.”
He glanced toward the doorway.
“We're going to have a very healthy relationship where you stay over there and I stay over here.”
The creature didn't move.
Wemmbu started backing toward the door.
One step.
Another.
Another.
The creature watched him.
Then it did something that made Wemmbu stop.
It pointed at him.
Not his chest.
Not his head.
His back.
Specifically, somewhere near his shoulder.
Wemmbu frowned.
“What?”
The creature pointed again.
Wemmbu reached behind himself.
His fingers touched something.
He froze.
There was a small mark on the back of his jacket.
He couldn't remember putting it there.
He pulled at it.
A tiny black piece came loose.
It looked like a shard of glass.
Except it was warm.
Wemmbu stared at it.
“What is this?”
The creature stepped backward.
For the first time, it looked afraid.
Wemmbu noticed.
“You're scared of this?”
The creature didn't answer.
The lights in the room went out.
Wemmbu cursed.
“Oh, come on.”
Something slammed into the circular door.
BANG.
Wemmbu jumped.
Another impact.
BANG.
The creature turned toward the door.
Its body changed.
The strange blue lines inside it flared brightly.
It moved.
Not toward Wemmbu.
Toward the door.
It pressed both hands against it.
The impacts stopped.
Silence.
Wemmbu stared.
“What was that?”
The creature slowly turned its head.
It pointed toward the shard in Wemmbu's hand.
Then toward the door.
Then toward Wemmbu.
Wemmbu understood none of it.
“You are terrible at explaining things.”
The creature's face opened again.
This time, when it spoke, the voice wasn't Wemmbu's.
It was another voice.
Older.
Distorted.
Almost mechanical.
“He knows.”
Wemmbu stared.
“Who knows?”
The creature pointed upward.
“Wifies.”
Wemmbu went still.
“The real Wifies?”
The creature nodded.
Then the lights came back on.
The creature was gone.
Wemmbu stared at the empty room.
“...I really need Egg.”
He looked down at the black shard.
It pulsed once.
Wemmbu immediately shoved it into his inventory.
“And I'm absolutely not telling him about this.”
He paused.
“Actually, I'm definitely telling him about this.”
He ran.
Far above the lower levels, another room had just gone completely silent.
Wifies stood in front of a monitor.
He hadn't touched it.
He didn't need to.
The screen had activated on its own.
Parrot was visible on the feed.
He was outside.
Alive.
Moving.
Wifies watched him for several seconds.
Then the feed changed.
Wemmbu.
Wifies' expression changed immediately.
“No.”
The screen flickered.
Wemmbu appeared again.
Then the lower level.
Then the circular door.
Then static.
Wifies stepped closer.
“What did you do?”
A voice came from behind him.
“I didn't do anything.”
Wifies turned.
Evilfies stood in the doorway.
Wifies stared at him.
“You brought him here.”
“No.”
“Then why is he here?”
Evilfies looked toward the monitor.
“He fell.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expect you to believe what happened.”
Wifies looked back at the screen.
Wemmbu was running through the facility.
“How long?”
“Since the beginning.”
Wifies went quiet.
“You've been watching him since he arrived?”
“Yes.”
“And you didn't stop him?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Evilfies smiled faintly.
“Because the factory wants him.”
Wifies' expression hardened.
“The factory doesn't want anything.”
“You sure?”
The monitor flickered.
For one second, the screen displayed a symbol.
The black circle.
Wifies immediately looked away.
Evilfies noticed.
“You know what that is.”
Wifies didn't answer.
“Wifies.”
“Don't call me that.”
“What should I call you?”
Wifies looked back at the screen.
“Someone who's leaving.”
He turned toward the door.
Evilfies stepped aside.
“You're going to him?”
Wifies stopped.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Wifies looked at him.
For a moment, his expression was unreadable.
Then he said:
“Because Parrot would.”
Evilfies smiled.
“That's not the only reason.”
Wifies' eyes narrowed.
“You don't know me.”
“I know enough.”
Wifies walked away.
He didn't answer.
But as he disappeared down the corridor, his hand slipped into his pocket.
His fingers touched something.
A small spyglass.
Old.
Worn.
Still carrying a memory he had never managed to get rid of.
Parrot.
Wifies closed his hand around it.
“Idiot.”
He whispered the word.
He wasn't talking about Wemmbu.
Wemmbu kept running.
The facility seemed to know where he was going.
Doors opened before he reached them.
Lights came on ahead of him.
Hallways shifted.
Twice, he passed the same room from opposite directions.
He didn't stop.
He wasn't interested in understanding it anymore.
He just wanted out.
Then he heard something.
“Wemmbu!”
He stopped so abruptly that his boots slid across the floor.
He knew that voice.
He turned.
Wifies stood at the end of the corridor.
Actually Wifies.
Wemmbu stared at him.
“...You.”
Wifies looked at him.
Then at the hallway behind him.
His eyes narrowed.
“What did you find?”
Wemmbu didn't answer immediately.
He looked at Wifies.
Then at the walls.
Then back at Wifies.
“I found a lot of things.”
Wifie's expression tightened.
“Did you go below the factory floor?”
Wemmbu went silent.
Wifies noticed.
“You did.”
“How do you know?”
Wifies took a step closer.
“Because nobody comes back from there.”
Wemmbu's eyes widened.
“Nobody?”
Wifies didn't answer.
Instead, he looked at Wemmbu's shoulder.
His expression changed.
“Where is it?”
Wemmbu froze.
“Where's what?”
“The shard.”
Wemmbu stared at him.
“How do you know about that?”
Wifies didn't respond.
Wemmbu slowly stepped backward.
“Wifies.”
“Give it to me.”
“Why?”
“Because you shouldn't have it.”
“That's not an explanation.”
“It's the only one you're getting right now.”
Wemmbu narrowed his eyes.
“You know what's down there.”
Wifies' silence answered for him.
Wemmbu swallowed.
“What is it?”
Wifies looked toward the darkness behind Wemmbu.
His voice became quieter.
“It's not a clone.”
Wemmbu nodded slowly.
“Yeah.”
“It's not a person.”
“Yeah.”
“And it isn't supposed to be awake.”
Wemmbu's expression fell.
“...That's a pretty important detail you could've mentioned earlier.”
Wifies looked at him.
For the first time, there was something almost human in his expression.
Concern.
Real concern.
“I didn't know you were going to find it.”
“Well, I did.”
“I know.”
“And it spoke to me.”
Wifies froze.
“What did it say?”
Wemmbu hesitated.
“It said you knew.”
Wifie's face went completely still.
Somewhere behind them, deep inside the facility, a machine activated.
CLUNK.
Then another.
CLUNK.
Wifies looked over his shoulder.
Every light in the corridor turned red.
Wemmbu slowly raised his mace.
“What's happening?”
Wifies stared into the darkness.
“It knows you're here.”
“The creature?”
“No.”
Wifies' eyes moved toward the ceiling.
Every camera had turned toward them.
Every single one.
“The factory.”
Wemmbu's stomach dropped.
Wifies grabbed his arm.
“Run.”
Wemmbu blinked.
“Wait, what?”
“Run.”
Wifies pulled him down the corridor.
Behind them, something began opening.
Not a door.
Not a machine.
Wifies pulled him down the corridor.
“Run.”
Wemmbu ran.
Not because he understood what was happening.
Not because he trusted Wifies.
And definitely not because Wifies had given him enough information to make this feel remotely reasonable.
He ran because the sound behind them was getting louder.
It wasn't footsteps.
It wasn't machinery.
It wasn't anything Wemmbu could identify.
It was a deep, grinding sound that seemed to come from the walls themselves.
Like something enormous was moving underneath the facility.
The floor shook.
Wemmbu nearly stumbled.
Wifies caught his arm.
“Keep moving.”
“I am moving!”
Another tremor ran through the corridor.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Wemmbu looked back.
The hallway behind them was empty.
Completely empty.
“What the hell was that?”
“Don't worry about it.”
“That's not an answer.”
“It's the answer you're getting while we're running.”
“You're really bad at explaining things.”
“So I've been told.”
Wemmbu stared at him.
Even while running, Wifies looked unnervingly calm.
Not relaxed.
There was a difference.
Wifies was tense.
Wemmbu could see it in the way his shoulders were held.
In the way his eyes kept moving toward the ceiling.
In the way he occasionally looked over his shoulder without ever fully turning around.
But he wasn't panicking.
He knew this place.
He knew what the sounds meant.
And that made Wemmbu trust him slightly less.
Because Wifies was acting like someone who had already survived this before.
Wemmbu's thoughts raced.
He had seen the real Wifies before.
Everyone had.
Wifies had been dead.
That was the problem.
The person running beside him shouldn't have been here.
And yet every little thing about him felt familiar.
The voice.
The mannerisms.
The way he looked at things before speaking.
The way he seemed to already know exactly which turns to take.
It was Wifies.
Actually Wifies.
Or at least as close to actually Wifies as anything could possibly be after what had happened to him.
Wemmbu suddenly realized something.
Wifies hadn't asked where he was.
He hadn't asked how Wemmbu had gotten there.
He hadn't asked how long he'd been wandering.
He hadn't asked why Wemmbu had gone into the lower levels.
He'd asked what Wemmbu had found.
That meant Wifies already knew most of what had happened.
“Stop.”
Wifies kept moving.
“What?”
“I said stop.”
“We can't.”
“Then I'm stopping myself.”
Wemmbu planted his feet.
His boots scraped against the floor.
Wifies took several more steps before realizing Wemmbu wasn't following.
He stopped.
Turned.
“What are you doing?”
“Asking questions.”
“Now?”
“Yes, now.”
Wemmbu raised his mace slightly.
“Because apparently I'm the only person in this entire building who thinks information is important.”
Wifies stared at him.
For a moment, neither moved.
The facility groaned around them.
Something metallic shifted somewhere far below.
Neither looked away.
“What is this place?”
Wifies' expression tightened.
“You already know.”
“No, I don't.”
“You know what the factory does.”
“I know what it looks like.”
Wemmbu took a step closer.
“There's a difference.”
Wifies didn't answer.
“Why are there so many Wifies?”
Silence.
“Why were they making them?”
Nothing.
“What was the original process?”
Still nothing.
Wemmbu's voice became sharper.
“What were they trying to make?”
Wifies looked away.
That was an answer.
Wemmbu noticed immediately.
“You know.”
“I know enough.”
“Then tell me.”
“Not here.”
“Why?”
Wifies looked down the corridor.
“Because it's listening.”
Wemmbu went still.
“The factory?”
Wifies didn't answer.
“The thing below?”
Nothing.
“Both?”
Wifies finally looked at him.
“Maybe.”
Wemmbu stared.
“You don't know?”
“I know what I've seen.”
“And what have you seen?”
Wifies hesitated.
“Enough.”
“You're doing it again.”
“Doing what?”
“Being mysterious for no fucking reason.”
For the first time, something almost resembling amusement crossed Wifies' face.
Almost.
“You're still like this.”
Wemmbu's expression shifted.
“Like what?”
“You ask questions when you should be running.”
“That's because nobody tells me anything.”
“Maybe there's a reason.”
“Maybe you're all terrible communicators.”
Wifies almost smiled again.
Then the expression disappeared.
Another tremor moved through the floor.
This one was stronger.
The walls groaned.
Something far below them made a sound like stone grinding against stone.
Wifies immediately turned toward the corridor.
“We have to go.”
“Wait.”
Wemmbu reached into his inventory.
He pulled out the black shard.
Wifies froze.
It was subtle.
But Wemmbu noticed.
His eyes went straight to the shard.
“What is it?”
Wifies didn't answer.
“You know what it is.”
“Put it away.”
“Why?”
“Because I said so.”
“That's not a reason.”
“Wemmbu.”
“No.”
Wemmbu held it between his fingers.
The shard was small.
Almost insignificant.
Black enough to absorb the dim light around it.
But every few seconds, something moved inside it.
Not light.
More like a distortion.
A tiny shift in the space around it.
“The thing downstairs reacted to this.”
Wifie expression changed.
“You touched it?”
“It was stuck to me.”
“How long?”
“I don't know.”
“Did it change?”
“What?”
“The shard.”
Wemmbu looked at it.
“I don't think so.”
Wifies stepped closer.
“Give it to me.”
Wemmbu pulled his hand away.
“Why?”
“Because you shouldn't have it.”
“That's not an explanation.”
“It's the only one you're getting right now.”
“You said that already.”
“Because it's still true.”
Wemmbu narrowed his eyes.
“What is it?”
Wifies looked toward the ceiling.
“A piece of the old system.”
Wemmbu blinked.
“What system?”
“The one that existed before the factory.”
“Before the factory?”
“Yes.”
“So the factory wasn't the original thing?”
“No.”
Wemmbu lowered the shard slightly.
“Then what was?”
Wifies looked at him.
“That's the problem.”
“What?”
“Nobody knows.”
Wemmbu stared at him.
“You just told me you knew enough.”
“I know enough to know that I don't know.”
“That's the most Wifies answer I've ever heard.”
Wifies' expression changed slightly.
“You really do know me.”
Wemmbu paused.
“Yeah.”
Something about the way Wifies said it made Wemmbu uncomfortable.
Not because it was threatening.
Because there was something sad underneath it.
Wemmbu looked away first.
“You're still avoiding questions.”
“Because some questions shouldn't be answered here.”
“Why?”
Wifies looked upward.
Wemmbu followed his gaze.
The cameras were still there.
Every single one was pointed toward them.
None of them had been there a minute ago.
Wemmbu's eyes narrowed.
“Those weren't there before.”
“No.”
“How long have they been following us?”
“Since you stopped.”
Wemmbu looked at Wifies.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“And you didn't tell me?”
“You would've looked at them.”
“I am looking at them.”
“Exactly.”
Wemmbu slowly turned toward the nearest camera.
Its lens rotated.
It followed him.
Wemmbu raised his mace.
“What happens if I break it?”
“Don't.”
“Why?”
“Because then he'll know you're aware.”
Wemmbu's grip tightened.
“Who's he?”
Wifies didn't answer.
That was the first time Wemmbu realized something important.
Wifies wasn't merely refusing to tell him.
He was afraid to say the name.
Wemmbu lowered his mace.
“Who?”
Wifies remained silent.
“Wifies.”
Nothing.
“Who is watching me?”
Wifies looked directly at him.
“Someone who shouldn't know you're here.”
“That's still not a name.”
“It doesn't matter.”
“It matters to me.”
“It shouldn't.”
“Everything in this place matters to me because everything in this place is trying to kill me.”
Wifies' eyes narrowed.
“He's not trying to kill you.”
Wemmbu blinked.
“Then what does he want?”
Wifies didn't answer.
Wemmbu's voice lowered.
“Me?”
Silence.
That was enough.
Wemmbu's stomach tightened.
“Why?”
Wifies looked away.
“Because you're something he hasn't had before.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“No.”
Wifies looked back at him.
“I'm not.”
Before Wemmbu could answer, a sound came from behind them.
Click.
Wemmbu froze.
Wifies did too.
Neither turned.
Another sound.
Click.
Wemmbu's eyes slowly moved toward the floor.
There was a shadow.
It stretched across the wall beside them.
Long.
Distorted.
But there was nothing standing between them and the light.
The shadow moved.
Wemmbu's breathing stopped.
Wifies whispered:
“Don't turn around.”
Wemmbu stared forward.
“Is that the thing?”
“No.”
“Then what is it?”
“Don't.”
“Wifies.”
“Don't turn around.”
The shadow grew larger.
It crawled up the wall.
Past Wemmbu's shoulder.
Past Wifies' head.
Until it covered half the ceiling.
Wemmbu's hand tightened around his mace.
“How close?”
Wifies didn't answer.
“Wifies.”
“Very.”
A voice came from behind them.
“You two seem busy.”
Wemmbu's entire body went rigid.
He didn't recognize the voice.
That was somehow worse.
It was calm.
Amused.
Almost conversational.
But there was something underneath it.
Something intensely focused.
Wifies' face changed immediately.
All the remaining color seemed to drain from it.
Wemmbu looked at him.
“Who is that?”
Wifies didn't answer.
The voice came again.
“Don't worry, Wemmbu.”
Wemmbu's stomach dropped.
“How does he know my name?”
Wifies moved.
He stepped between Wemmbu and the voice.
“Don't speak to him.”
“Why?”
“Just don't.”
A quiet laugh came from the darkness.
“You're protective.”
Wifies' jaw tightened.
“Leave him alone.”
“I can't.”
“You can.”
“No.”
The voice became quieter.
“Not this one.”
Wemmbu slowly raised his mace.
“Okay.”
He stared into the darkness.
“I think I'm allowed to know who the fuck is talking about me.”
A figure stepped into the light.
Wemmbu had never seen him before.
That was immediately obvious.
He wasn't a clone.
He wasn't the creature.
He wasn't some distorted copy of Wifies.
He looked like a person.
Which, somehow, was almost reassuring.
Almost.
He stopped several blocks away.
He wasn't carrying a weapon.
He wasn't rushing.
He wasn't even particularly threatening in his posture.
He was simply looking at Wemmbu.
And he had been looking at him for a long time.
Wemmbu could tell.
There was too much familiarity in the stare.
Like the person in front of him had already memorized things Wemmbu hadn't even said.
Wemmbu tightened his grip.
“Who are you?”
The figure smiled.
“Evilfies.”
Wemmbu stared.
“Never heard of you.”
“I know.”
“Should I have?”
“No.”
Evilfies took one slow step forward.
Wifies immediately stepped in front of Wemmbu again.
“Don't.”
Evilfies stopped.
“You're making this difficult.”
“Good.”
“Move.”
“No.”
Evilfies' expression changed.
It wasn't anger.
It was something colder.
“You know what he is.”
Wifies didn't answer.
“You know what the factory sees.”
Still nothing.
“You know why I brought you back.”
Wemmbu's eyes widened.
He looked at Wifies.
“Brought you back?”
Wifies' expression tightened.
Evilfies smiled.
“He hasn't told you?”
“Told me what?”
Wifies looked away.
“Wifies.”
Silence.
Wemmbu looked between them.
“You died.”
Wifies finally looked at him.
“Yes.”
“And he brought you back?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Evilfies answered.
“Because he was the closest thing to success.”
Wifies' expression hardened.
“Don't talk about me like that.”
“It's true.”
“That doesn't make it yours to say.”
Wemmbu stared at Wifies.
“You're one of the experiments.”
Wifies didn't deny it.
“Yes.”
“The failed ones?”
Wifies' jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
Evilfies smiled faintly.
“The most successful failure.”
Wifies turned toward him.
“I said don't.”
Evilfies ignored him.
His attention returned to Wemmbu.
“You were never supposed to see him.”
Wemmbu frowned.
“Why?”
“Because he isn't supposed to be here either.”
Wifies looked at him.
“And yet I'm still here.”
“Because I allowed it.”
“You allowed me to exist.”
“Yes.”
“You didn't allow me to become what you wanted.”
Evilfies went quiet.
Wemmbu noticed.
There was something strange between them.
Not friendship.
Not hatred.
Something far more complicated.
Evilfies had made Wifies.
Or brought him back.
And Wifies had somehow become something Evilfies hadn't intended.
A person.
Someone with memories.
Someone with choices.
Someone who could disobey.
Wemmbu looked at Wifies.
“What was he trying to make?”
Wifies didn't answer.
Evilfies did.
“Something that could be reproduced.”
Wemmbu frowned.
“That's vague.”
“It's accurate.”
“And Wifies was close?”
“Very.”
“But failed.”
“Yes.”
Wifies looked away.
Wemmbu went quiet.
Wifies continued.
“They could reproduce my body.”
He glanced at the corridors around them.
“They could reproduce my voice.”
“My habits.”
“Some memories.”
“But they couldn't reproduce the things that made me choose.”
Evilfies' expression remained unreadable.
Wifies looked at him.
“They couldn't reproduce Parrot.”
That changed something.
Not just in Wifies.
In the entire conversation.
Wemmbu noticed it.
Evilfies didn't smile anymore.
Wifies' eyes lowered for half a second.
Then he looked back at Wemmbu.
“That's where the experiment failed.”
“You got attached.”
“Yes.”
“To Parrot.”
“Yes.”
Wemmbu nodded slowly.
“And he didn't want that.”
Wifies didn't answer.
Evilfies did.
“Attachment wasn't part of the objective.”
Wifies looked at him.
“Maybe that was the problem.”
Silence.
Then Evilfies looked back at Wemmbu.
And the entire atmosphere changed.
Because until that moment, he had been speaking about the factory.
About Wifies.
About the experiments.
But now his attention was entirely on Wemmbu.
“You.”
Wemmbu frowned.
“Me?”
“You're different.”
“I've heard that before.”
“Not like this.”
Evilfies took another step.
Wifies moved with him.
“Stop.”
Evilfies ignored him.
His eyes remained fixed on Wemmbu.
“The factory didn't recognize anyone like you before.”
“Why does that matter?”
“Because everything here was built around failure.”
Wemmbu's expression tightened.
“And I'm what?”
“A new variable.”
Wemmbu grimaced.
“That's an awful way to describe a person.”
“You're not just a person to the factory.”
“I'm not a fucking machine either.”
“I know.”
Evilfies' voice became quieter.
“That's why you're interesting.”
Wemmbu felt a chill move through him.
Not because of the words themselves.
Because Evilfies didn't sound curious.
He sounded invested.
Like Wemmbu was the answer to a question he had been asking for years.
Like finding Wemmbu had changed something.
“What do you want?”
Evilfies smiled.
“To understand you.”
“No.”
Wemmbu shook his head.
“That's not what you mean.”
Evilfies didn't respond.
“You want to study me.”
Silence.
“You want to see what happens if I stay here.”
Still silence.
Wemmbu's grip tightened.
“I'm your subject.”
Evilfies smiled.
“Yes.”
Wemmbu's stomach dropped.
“No.”
He raised his mace.
“I'm not.”
Evilfies tilted his head.
“You are now.”
Wemmbu swung.
WHOOM.
Evilfies moved.
Fast.
The mace struck the wall.
BOOM.
Stone cracked.
Wemmbu spun around.
Evilfies was already several blocks away.
He hadn't attacked.
He hadn't even drawn a weapon.
He was simply watching.
Wemmbu's eyes narrowed.
“You're testing me.”
Evilfies smiled.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to know how you react.”
“To what?”
“Fear.”
Wemmbu stared.
“You want to know if I'm scared?”
“No.”
Evilfies' gaze moved over him.
“I want to know what you do when you're scared.”
Wemmbu's expression darkened.
“I'm not your experiment.”
“Not yet.”
Wifies stepped forward.
“Enough.”
Evilfies finally looked at him.
“You should be more careful.”
“About what?”
“Getting attached again.”
Wifies went still.
Evilfies looked toward Wemmbu.
“You already know how that ends.”
Wifies' expression hardened.
“You don't get to use him to prove a point.”
“I'm not.”
“Then leave him alone.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Evilfies' answer came immediately.
“Because he's mine to study.”
Wemmbu's eyes widened.
“Absolutely fucking not.”
He charged.
Evilfies moved.
Wemmbu swung again.
CRACK.
The mace missed.
Evilfies slipped past him.
Wemmbu turned.
He couldn't see him.
“Where did you—”
Something struck him from the side.
Wemmbu slammed into the wall.
He caught himself before falling.
“Oh, you fucking—”
Wifies shouted
“Wemmbu!”
Wemmbu looked up.
Evilfies stood several blocks away.
His expression had changed.
The amusement was gone.
He was studying Wemmbu.
Not his face.
His movements.
His balance.
His reaction.
His recovery.
Wemmbu realized what he was doing.
“Stop.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm telling you to.”
Evilfies smiled.
“That's useful.”
Wemmbu's expression became furious.
“What is wrong with you?”
“Nothing.”
“You're treating me like a lab rat.”
“No.”
Evilfies' eyes stayed on him.
“A lab rat is replaceable.”
Wemmbu went quiet.
Wifies looked sharply at Evilfies.
“Don't.”
Evilfies didn't even look at him.
“You don't understand what you are yet.”
Wemmbu's voice was quieter.
“Neither do you.”
Evilfies smiled.
“Exactly.”
Wemmbu charged again.
Evilfies disappeared around the corner.
“Coward!”
Wemmbu chased him.
“Wemmbu, wait!”
Wemmbu ignored Wifies.
He rounded the corner.
Empty.
Nothing.
No Evilfies.
Wemmbu stopped.
“Where did he go?”
Wifies reached him.
“You shouldn't have followed him.”
“Why?”
“Because that's what he wanted.”
Wemmbu's expression fell.
“Oh.”
He looked behind him.
The corridor had changed.
The doorway they had entered through was gone.
Wemmbu stared.
“...Wifies.”
“I know.”
“The door.”
“I know.”
“It's gone.”
“Yes.”
Wemmbu slowly raised his mace.
“Did Evilfies do that?”
Wifies looked toward the ceiling.
“Not directly.”
“What does that mean?”
“He doesn't have to control the factory.”
Wemmbu stared at him.
“Then who does?”
Wifies didn't answer.
Something clicked behind them.
Wemmbu turned.
Nothing.
He looked at Wifies.
Wifies was staring at the ceiling.
Wemmbu followed his gaze.
One of the cameras had changed.
It wasn't watching them anymore.
It was watching the wall.
Specifically, the empty space where the door had been.
Wemmbu's face went still.
“It's not watching us.”
Wifies whispered:
“No.”
“It's watching the door.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Wifies looked at him.
“Because something is trying to open it.”
Wemmbu stared at the wall.
Then he heard it.
A knock.
From the other side.
Knock.
Silence.
Knock.
Wemmbu's eyes widened.
Another knock.
This time, the wall bent inward slightly.
Wifies grabbed Wemmbu.
“Run.”
“Where?”
“Anywhere.”
“That's not a fucking direction!”
The wall cracked.
Wifies pulled him forward.
They ran.
Behind them, something pushed against the corridor.
The entire wall bowed.
Metal screamed.
Concrete split.
Wemmbu glanced over his shoulder.
For a moment, he saw Evilfies.
He was standing far behind them.
Not attacking.
Not chasing.
Watching.
His eyes were fixed on Wemmbu.
Not Wifies.
Not the wall.
Not the creature.
Wemmbu.
Evilfies slowly raised one hand.
He didn't wave.
He simply pointed.
At the corridor ahead.
Wemmbu's stomach dropped.
Wifies saw him.
“Don't look back.”
“He's there.”
“I know.”
“He's pointing at us.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
“Because he wants you to know he's still watching.”
Wemmbu turned forward again.
They kept running.
The corridor changed around them.
Lights shut off behind them.
Doors slammed.
Something metallic moved inside the walls.
Wemmbu could hear the factory reacting to their movement.
Every step seemed to trigger something.
Every door they passed activated.
Every camera tracked them.
But there was another feeling now.
Something had changed.
The factory wasn't simply observing anymore.
It was adjusting.
Learning.
Predicting.
Wemmbu suddenly stopped.
“Wait.”
Wifies turned.
“What?”
“The factory knows where we're going.”
“Yes.”
“Then why are the doors opening?”
Wifies froze.
Wemmbu pointed.
Every door ahead of them was open.
One after another.
A perfect path.
Leading deeper.
Not toward the exit.
Deeper.
Wemmbu's expression slowly changed.
“It's herding us.”
Wifies looked down the corridor.
“Yes.”
“Toward what?”
“I don't know.”
“You don't know.”
“No.”
“Great.”
Wemmbu looked at the open doors.
“Then we're going the other way.”
He turned.
Wifies caught his arm.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because that's what it wants.”
Wemmbu stared at him.
“So what do we do?”
Wifies looked around.
Then his eyes settled on something.
A maintenance panel.
Half-hidden behind a support beam.
Wifies walked toward it.
“Stay here.”
“Why?”
“Because I need to do something.”
“What?”
“Cheat.”
Wemmbu blinked.
“You can do that?”
Wifies opened the panel.
Inside were wires.
Not normal wires.
Some were copper.
Some were black.
Some seemed to move slightly when Wifies touched them.
Wemmbu leaned closer.
“Are those supposed to move?”
“No.”
“Cool.”
Wifies pulled one loose.
The lights flickered.
Every open door slammed shut.
Wemmbu jumped.
“What did you do?”
“Made it blind.”
“For how long?”
Wifies looked at him.
“Not long enough.”
They ran.
For the first time since Wemmbu had entered the facility, the cameras stopped following him.
The lights stopped changing.
The doors stopped moving.
For several seconds, the factory seemed completely unaware of them.
Wemmbu almost smiled.
“That was actually pretty good.”
Wifies glanced at him.
“Don't compliment me yet.”
“Why?”
“Because I don't think it worked.”
Behind them, a single camera turned.
Then another.
Then another.
Wemmbu's smile disappeared.
“Oh.”
Wifies looked back.
“Keep moving.”
They turned another corner.
And Wemmbu stopped.
A wall had split open beside them.
Not broken.
Opened.
Like a door that had never existed before.
Beyond it was a room.
Wemmbu stared.
“That wasn't there.”
Wifies' face went pale.
“No.”
“What's inside?”
“Nothing good.”
Wemmbu looked through the opening anyway.
The room was enormous.
Much larger than the factory floor above it.
Hundreds of chambers lined the walls.
Most were empty.
Every chamber had a name.
Not numbers.
Names.
Different names.
Hundreds of them.
Wemmbu stepped closer.
“These aren't Wifies.”
“No.”
“Who are they?”
“I don't know.”
Wemmbu looked at him.
“You seriously don't?”
“I never came this far.”
That answer frightened Wemmbu more than anything else.
Wifies had been brought back by Evilfies.
Wifies knew the factory.
Wifies knew the lower levels.
Wifies knew about the old system.
And even he had never seen this.
Wemmbu slowly walked toward the opening.
“There's something in there.”
Wifies grabbed his shoulder.
“Don't.”
“I just want to look.”
“That's how this started.”
Wemmbu stopped.
“Fair.”
But he looked anyway.
At the end of the room was one chamber that wasn't empty.
Something stood inside.
Humanoid.
Still.
Facing away from the glass.
Wemmbu's blood ran cold.
“Wifies.”
“Don't look.”
“That's the thing.”
“I know.”
“There are more.”
Wifies pulled him backward.
“I know.”
“How many?”
“I don't know.”
The silhouette inside the chamber moved.
Slowly.
Its head turned.
Wemmbu saw the smooth pale surface of its face.
No eyes.
No mouth.
Nothing.
Then the surface split.
Wemmbu froze.
A voice came through the opening.
His voice.
“You're late.”
Wemmbu's stomach dropped.
Wifies grabbed him and pulled him away.
“Don't listen.”
“It keeps saying that.”
“I know.”
“Why does it know me?”
Wifies didn't answer.
“Wifies.”
Nothing.
“Why does it know me?”
Wifies looked at him.
His expression was frightened.
Not for himself.
For Wemmbu.
“I don't know.”
Wemmbu swallowed.
Behind them, footsteps sounded.
Slow.
Calm.
Wemmbu looked down the corridor.
Evilfies appeared.
He wasn't running.
He didn't need to.
He simply walked toward them.
His eyes were fixed on Wemmbu.
Wifies stepped in front of him again.
“Stop.”
Evilfies stopped.
“Move.”
“No.”
“Wifies.”
“No.”
Evilfies' expression hardened.
“You are interfering with my subject.”
Wifies' voice was quiet.
“He's not yours.”
“The factory identified him.”
“That doesn't make him yours.”
“I found him.”
“He fell into the facility.”
“And I chose to keep him here.”
Wemmbu stepped forward.
“You don't get to choose that.”
Evilfies looked at him.
His expression softened.
That was somehow more unsettling.
“You really don't understand.”
“No shit.”
“You're the first thing this place has shown interest in since the original process.”
Wemmbu frowned.
“And that means?”
“It means you're important.”
“To you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Evilfies looked toward the chamber.
Then back at Wemmbu.
“Because I spent years trying to make something that could do what you did in minutes.”
Wemmbu's expression changed.
“What did I do?”
Evilfies smiled.
“You survived being recognized.”
Wemmbu didn't understand.
Wifies did.
His eyes widened.
“No.”
Evilfies looked at him.
“Yes.”
“You don't know what that means.”
“Neither do you.”
Wifies stepped closer.
“Then stop pretending you do.”
Evilfies' eyes narrowed.
“You should be careful.”
“I'm done being careful.”
“You weren't careful when you chose Parrot either.”
Wifies went completely still.
Wemmbu looked at him.
Then at Evilfies.
There was something deeply personal in the way Evilfies had said it.
Not an insult.
A reminder.
A reminder that Evilfies knew exactly what Wifies had become.
Wifies looked away.
“Leave Parrot out of this.”
“Then stop interfering.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Wifies looked at Wemmbu.
“Because I know what happens when someone stays here too long.”
Evilfies' voice was quiet.
“You stayed.”
“I died.”
Silence.
Wifies continued.
“You brought me back because I was useful.”
“Because you were close.”
“And I wasn't what you wanted.”
“No.”
Wifies nodded.
“Exactly.”
He looked at Wemmbu again.
“I'm not letting him become another version of me.”
Evilfies' eyes narrowed.
“He isn't like you.”
“I know.”
“He's something else.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you protecting him?”
Wifies hesitated.
Wemmbu watched him.
For a moment, Wifies looked almost lost.
Then his eyes moved toward the corridor leading upward.
“Because Parrot would.”
Evilfies stared at him.
“That's still not the whole reason.”
Wifies' expression hardened.
“It's enough.”
Evilfies didn't move.
“You really did change.”
Wifies looked at him.
“No.”
He glanced toward Wemmbu.
“I remembered.”
Evilfies said nothing.
Wifies grabbed Wemmbu's arm.
“Run.”
Wemmbu looked at him.
“Again?”
“Yes.”
They ran.
Behind them, Evilfies didn't immediately chase.
He stood in the corridor.
He watched them disappear.
Then he looked toward the chamber.
The pale thing inside had turned toward him.
Evilfies stared at it.
“You recognized him too.”
The creature said nothing.
Evilfies smiled faintly.
“Good.”
He turned away.
Farther down the corridor, Wemmbu and Wifies kept running.
Neither spoke for several seconds.
Then Wemmbu finally looked at him.
“You really came back.”
Wifies didn't look over.
“Apparently.”
“And he brought you back.”
“Yes.”
“Because you were the closest thing to success.”
“Yes.”
“And then you got attached to Parrot.”
Wifies' pace slowed slightly.
“Yes.”
Wemmbu looked ahead.
“Do you regret it?”
Wifies was silent for a long time.
Then
“No.”
Wemmbu nodded.
“Good.”
Wifies looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because if that's what made you fail...”
Wemmbu shrugged.
“Then maybe failing was the point.”
Wifies stared at him for a moment.
Something in his expression softened.
“You really shouldn't say things like that.”
“Why?”
“Because someone might believe you.”
Wemmbu gave him a confused look.
“Was that supposed to be profound?”
“No.”
“Good.”
They kept moving.
Then Wemmbu stopped.
Wifies stopped too.
“What?”
Wemmbu looked behind them.
Nothing.
“He's not following.”
Wifies looked back.
“No.”
“Why?”
Wifies' expression darkened.
“Because he doesn't need to.”
Wemmbu's stomach dropped.
“What does that mean?”
Wifies looked toward the ceiling.
The cameras had returned.
Every one of them was pointed directly at Wemmbu.
Not Wifies.
Wemmbu.
Wemmbu stared.
“He's watching.”
“Yes.”
“Through the cameras.”
“Yes.”
“And he knows where I am.”
“Yes.”
“So why isn't he chasing us?”
Wifies looked at him.
“Because he doesn't want you to escape yet.”
Wemmbu's expression fell.
“Yet?”
Wifies didn't answer.
Wemmbu stepped closer.
“What happens when he does?”
Wifies looked down the corridor.
“Then he'll stop watching.”
“And?”
Wifies' voice became barely audible.
“Then he'll come get you.”
Wemmbu looked toward the cameras.
One of them rotated.
Its lens focused directly on him.
Wemmbu raised his mace.
“Well.”
He stared at it.
“He's going to have to fucking try.”
Wifies looked at him.
And for the briefest moment, he smiled.
Not because he thought Wemmbu was safe.
Not because he thought they had won.
But because Wemmbu was still himself.
Still stubborn.
Still impossible.
Still refusing to behave like a subject.
Behind them, somewhere deep inside the factory, a door opened.
Then another.
Then another.
And somewhere below the lowest level, something that had been silent for years made a sound.
Click.
Wifies' smile disappeared.
Wemmbu heard it too.
They both looked toward the darkness.
Another click.
Closer.
Wifies grabbed Wemmbu's arm.
“Don't turn around.”
Wemmbu swallowed.
“Why?”
Wifies stared into the darkness.
“Because this time...”
He tightened his grip.
“...I don't think it's Evilfies.”
Something moved behind them.
Neither of them turned.
And somewhere far above, in a room filled with monitors, Evilfies watched Wemmbu freeze.
His hand rested against the screen.
His eyes never left the image.
“Don't turn around.”
He repeated the words quietly.
Then he smiled.
“Let's see what you do.”
The screen flickered.
For less than a second, something else appeared behind Wemmbu.
Something tall.
Something pale.
Something that shouldn't have been there.
Evilfies' smile disappeared.
Because he hadn't put it there.
He hadn't activated it.
He hadn't summoned it.
The factory had done that on its own.
And for the first time since Wemmbu arrived, Evilfies looked genuinely uncertain.
“No.”
He stared at the screen.
“Not yet.”
The image returned to normal.
Wemmbu and Wifies were still standing in the corridor.
Still unaware of what was behind them.
Evilfies immediately reached for the controls.
Every security system in the facility activated.
Doors locked.
Lights changed.
Containment protocols began.
Not to protect Wemmbu.
To protect the factory from whatever had just awakened.
And below them all, the thing in the dark opened its mouth.
In Wemmbu's voice, it whispered:
“You're late.”
Wemmbu heard it.
Wifies heard it.
Neither of them turned around.
They ran.
Something ran behind them.
Wemmbu didn't look back.
Neither did Wifies.
They didn't need to.
The sound was enough.
It wasn't the creature from the lower chamber.
At least, Wemmbu didn't think it was.
This was different.
Faster.
Heavier.
Whatever was behind them wasn't stumbling through the corridors.
It knew exactly where its feet were landing.
THUD.
THUD.
THUD.
Wemmbu pushed himself harder.
“You said he wasn't chasing us!”
Wifies didn't slow down.
“He's not.”
“THEN WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?”
“I don't know!”
Wemmbu stared at him.
“You don't know?”
“No!”
“You're supposed to know this place!”
“I know the factory!”
“THAT THING IS PART OF THE FACTORY!”
“No, it isn't!”
Wemmbu nearly stopped.
“What?”
Wifies grabbed his shoulder and forced him forward.
“Keep running!”
Another impact shook the corridor behind them.
The ceiling cracked.
Dust exploded across the floor.
Wemmbu coughed as they passed through the cloud.
“You could've mentioned that!”
“I just did!”
“THAT WAS NOT HELPFUL!”
Wifies actually laughed.
It was short.
Almost involuntary.
Then his expression immediately became serious again.
They rounded another corner.
Wifies stopped.
Wemmbu almost ran straight into him.
“What?”
Wifies stared ahead.
There was a wall.
Just a wall.
No door.
No corridor.
No exit.
Wemmbu looked at him.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me.”
“It wasn't there before.”
“Of course it wasn't.”
Wemmbu turned around.
The corridor behind them was empty.
The running had stopped.
Silence.
Wemmbu slowly raised his mace.
“I don't like this.”
“Neither do I.”
“Good.”
Wemmbu pointed at the wall.
“Move.”
Wifies frowned.
“What?”
“I'm breaking it.”
“That won't work.”
“Everything breaks.”
Wemmbu stepped back.
He swung.
BOOM.
The mace struck the wall.
The impact shook the corridor.
But the wall didn't crack.
Not even slightly.
Wemmbu stared at the weapon.
Then at the wall.
“...Okay.”
He swung again.
BOOM.
Nothing.
Wemmbu's expression slowly became offended.
“What is this made of?”
Wifies walked toward it.
He placed one hand against the surface.
“It's not stone.”
“I gathered that.”
“It's not metal either.”
“Very useful.”
Wifies closed his eyes.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the wall pulsed beneath his hand.
Once.
Twice.
Like something breathing.
Wifies immediately pulled away.
“We need another route.”
Wemmbu stared at the wall.
“That thing just breathed.”
“I know.”
“Walls shouldn't breathe.”
“I know.”
“This place is horrible.”
“I know.”
“I hate it.”
“I know.”
Wemmbu looked at him.
“You keep saying you know.”
“Because I do.”
“Then why did you come back?”
Wifies didn't answer.
Wemmbu waited.
“Wifies.”
“I didn't come back willingly.”
That stopped Wemmbu.
“What?”
Wifies looked toward the ceiling.
“I woke up here.”
Wemmbu's expression changed.
“After you died?”
“Yes.”
“You didn't choose this?”
“No.”
“Then why stay?”
Wifies looked at him.
“I didn't.”
Wemmbu stared.
“I left.”
“But you're here.”
“Because it brought me back.”
Wemmbu's eyes narrowed.
“The factory?”
Wifies shook his head.
“Something older.”
Before Wemmbu could ask anything else, the wall behind them made a sound.
Click.
Both turned.
A thin line appeared across the surface.
Then another.
Then another.
The wall unfolded.
Not outward.
Inward.
Sections of it folded into themselves with impossible precision.
Behind it was another corridor.
Wemmbu stared.
“Did you do that?”
Wifies shook his head.
“No.”
“Did the factory?”
“I don't know.”
Wemmbu sighed.
“You know, for someone who's been here this long, you say that a lot.”
They entered.
The corridor was different from everything above.
There were no lights.
No machinery.
No cables.
No cameras.
The walls were made from smooth black material that swallowed the light from Wemmbu's torch.
Even their footsteps sounded wrong.
Every step came back slightly delayed.
Wemmbu took three steps.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Then, half a second later:
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Wemmbu stopped.
The delayed footsteps continued.
Wifies stopped too.
They listened.
Nothing.
Then the delayed footsteps changed.
There were now four.
Wemmbu's eyes widened.
“Those aren't ours.”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I didn't move.”
The footsteps continued.
Closer.
Wemmbu gripped his mace.
Wifies whispered:
“Don't attack it.”
“Why?”
“Because it isn't here.”
Wemmbu looked at him.
“What does that even mean?”
Wifies pointed at the floor.
Their shadows were wrong.
Wemmbu's shadow was facing forward.
Wifies' shadow was facing forward.
The third shadow between them was facing backward.
Wemmbu slowly looked up.
There was nothing there.
The footsteps stopped.
Then something whispered directly beside his ear.
“Subject.”
Wemmbu spun around.
Nothing.
His heart hammered.
“Okay.”
He swallowed.
“I officially hate this place.”
Wifies grabbed his wrist.
“We need to move.”
They continued down the corridor.
Wemmbu kept looking at the floor.
The extra shadow was gone.
For now.
They eventually reached a small room.
There was a table.
Two chairs.
And an old terminal.
Wifies stopped.
“I've never seen this room.”
Wemmbu walked toward the terminal.
“That's reassuring.”
He touched the keyboard.
The screen activated immediately.
There was no startup sequence.
No password.
Just a single line.
WELCOME, WEMMBU.
Wemmbu stared.
“Oh, fuck off.”
Wifies stepped closer.
The screen changed.
IDENTITY CONFIRMED.
Wemmbu looked at Wifies.
“You said it didn't know what I was.”
“I said Evilfies didn't know.”
“That's worse.”
The screen changed again.
ORIGIN: UNKNOWN.
MODEL: NONE.
REPLICATION: IMPOSSIBLE.
Wemmbu blinked.
“Replication impossible?”
Wifies read the next line.
OBSERVATION: ACTIVE.
Then:
REPLICATION ATTEMPT: DENIED.
Wemmbu frowned.
“Why would it deny replication?”
Wifies didn't answer.
The terminal changed.
WARNING.
SUBJECT CANNOT BE DUPLICATED.
SUBJECT CANNOT BE RECONSTRUCTED.
SUBJECT CANNOT BE STORED.
Wemmbu stared.
“Stored?”
Another line appeared.
SUBJECT MUST REMAIN IN MOTION.
Wifies went completely still.
Wemmbu noticed.
“What?”
Wifies whispered:
“That's new.”
“What's new?”
“That instruction.”
“What does it mean?”
“I don't know.”
Wemmbu rubbed his face.
“I swear to god, if I hear that one more time...”
The terminal went black.
Then a new line appeared.
EVILFIES HAS REQUESTED ACCESS.
Wemmbu's expression hardened.
“No.”
The terminal beeped.
REQUEST DENIED.
Wemmbu looked at Wifies.
“Did you do that?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
Wifies stared at the screen.
“The factory.”
A second line appeared.
EVILFIES ACCESS: RESTRICTED.
Wemmbu smiled.
“That's hilarious.”
Wifies didn't smile.
“Don't celebrate.”
“Why?”
“Because it means he doesn't control this place.”
“I thought that was obvious.”
“No.”
Wifies looked at him.
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
“Evilfies built the systems you saw upstairs.”
Wemmbu's smile disappeared.
“But not this?”
“No.”
“Then what is this?”
Wifies looked at the terminal.
“The part he couldn't control.”
A noise came from the corridor.
Metal scraping against black material.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Wifies immediately shut the terminal off.
“We have to go.”
Wemmbu stood.
“Evilfies?”
“Probably.”
“Probably?”
“Maybe.”
“You are genuinely terrible at this.”
Wifies opened the door.
They stepped outside.
Someone was standing at the end of the corridor.
Evilfies.
Wemmbu raised his mace.
Wifies stepped in front of him.
“Don't.”
Evilfies smiled.
“You found one of the old rooms.”
Wemmbu stared at him.
“You can't access it.”
Evilfies' eyes moved toward Wifies.
“Neither can you.”
Wifies said nothing.
Evilfies looked back at Wemmbu.
“Come with me.”
“No.”
“You don't know where this corridor leads.”
“Neither do you.”
Evilfies smiled faintly.
“True.”
“Then we're even.”
“Not quite.”
Evilfies took a step forward.
Wifies immediately moved.
He pulled a small device from his pocket.
He slammed it against the wall.
CRACK.
The corridor lights exploded into darkness.
Wemmbu heard Wifies shout:
“MOVE!”
They ran.
Behind them, Evilfies didn't shout.
He didn't chase.
Instead, his voice carried calmly through the darkness.
“You can't keep doing that.”
Wifies didn't answer.
“Every time you interfere, the factory learns another way around you.”
Wemmbu glanced back.
He saw nothing.
“Is that true?”
“Yes.”
“Great.”
“Keep running.”
“I am!”
The corridor suddenly split.
Three paths.
Wifies stopped.
“Left.”
Wemmbu followed.
They took the left passage.
It immediately began narrowing.
Wemmbu looked at Wifies.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
The ceiling lowered.
The walls shifted closer together.
Wemmbu ducked.
“This doesn't look like an exit.”
“It isn't.”
“Then why are we here?”
“Because Evilfies thinks we'll choose the widest route.”
Wemmbu stopped.
“You knew he'd think that?”
“He's predictable.”
A metallic sound echoed behind them.
Wemmbu smiled.
“So are you.”
Wifies looked at him.
“What?”
Wemmbu pointed ahead.
“That's a dead end.”
Wifies looked.
There was a wall.
Again.
He frowned.
“It wasn't supposed to be.”
Wemmbu's expression changed.
“Wifies.”
“I know.”
“This isn't Evilfies.”
“No.”
The walls began closing in.
Slowly.
Not enough to crush them.
Enough to remove every alternative.
Wemmbu looked behind them.
The corridor had sealed itself.
He turned forward.
Wifies was staring at the ceiling.
“What?”
“It's choosing.”
“Choosing what?”
“Where you go.”
Wemmbu looked at the walls.
Then at the black shard inside his inventory.
Something occurred to him.
“It wants the shard.”
Wifies looked at him.
“Maybe.”
“No.”
Wemmbu pulled it out.
The corridor immediately stopped moving.
Wifies stared.
“Put that away.”
“Wait.”
Wemmbu held it toward the wall.
The black material rippled.
Not toward the shard.
Away from it.
Wemmbu's eyes widened.
“It's scared.”
Wifies stepped closer.
“What?”
“The wall.”
He moved the shard closer.
The wall recoiled.
Wemmbu stared.
“The factory isn't trying to get me.”
Wifies' expression changed.
“What?”
“It's trying to get me away from something.”
Silence.
Wifies slowly looked down the corridor.
“The lower levels.”
Wemmbu nodded.
“Whatever is down there.”
Wifies' face tightened.
“Put the shard away.”
“Why?”
“Because if you're right...”
Wifies looked at the walls.
“...then the factory is afraid of what happens if you go back down.”
Wemmbu stared at the corridor.
For the first time, he wasn't thinking about escaping.
He was thinking about the thing underneath them.
The creature.
The old system.
The impossible records.
The instruction that said he couldn't be duplicated.
And the voice that kept telling him he was late.
Something about all of it was connected.
Wemmbu suddenly understood one thing.
He didn't know what he had walked into.
But the people who built it didn't seem to understand either.
That frightened him more than Evilfies did.
A sharp noise came from behind them.
CLACK.
Wemmbu turned.
The corridor had reopened.
Evilfies stood on the other side.
He looked at the shard.
For the first time, his expression changed.
“Where did you get that?”
Wemmbu smiled.
“Wouldn't you like to know?”
Evilfies' eyes narrowed.
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
“Wemmbu.”
“Still no.”
“You don't know what you're carrying.”
“Neither do you.”
Evilfies' expression hardened.
“I know more than you think.”
“Cool.”
Wemmbu pocketed the shard.
“Then you can figure it out from over there.”
Evilfies moved.
Fast.
Wemmbu barely raised his mace in time.
CLANG.
The impact threw him backward.
His boots left the ground.
He slammed against the wall.
Wifies shouted his name.
Wemmbu pushed himself upright.
His shoulder hurt.
His expression was furious.
“Okay.”
He rolled his shoulder.
“Now I'm pissed.”
Evilfies advanced.
Wemmbu swung.
Evilfies ducked.
The mace smashed into the floor.
BOOM.
The black material cracked for the first time.
Evilfies paused.
Wemmbu saw it.
So did Wifies.
The floor wasn't immune to the mace.
It had simply been reinforced.
Wemmbu grinned.
“Oh.”
He raised the mace.
“That's useful.”
He struck again.
BOOM.
The crack spread.
Evilfies moved toward him.
Wemmbu swung sideways.
Evilfies jumped backward.
Wemmbu struck the floor a third time.
CRACK.
The ground beneath them broke.
Wemmbu's eyes widened.
“Uh.”
Wifies looked down.
“Move!”
The floor collapsed.
All three dropped.
Wemmbu fell through darkness.
He twisted in midair.
His mace slipped from his hand.
He reached for it.
Missed.
Then something caught his wrist.
Wifies.
“I've got you!”
Wemmbu looked down.
Far below them was darkness.
Not a floor.
Not another level.
Nothing.
Just an enormous vertical shaft.
Wemmbu looked upward.
Evilfies was still falling too.
He had grabbed a metal beam.
For one second, all three hung in silence.
Then the shaft moved.
Something enormous shifted below them.
The darkness opened.
Not like a mouth.
Like a door.
Wemmbu's eyes widened.
“Oh, you've got to be kidding me.”
Wifies looked down.
His face went pale.
“Don't let go.”
“Wasn't planning on it!”
Evilfies looked downward.
For the first time, he looked afraid.
Not curious.
Not fascinated.
Afraid.
“Close it.”
Wifies looked at him.
“What?”
“Close it.”
“I can't.”
“Then make it close.”
“I told you I can't!”
The darkness below them opened wider.
Something pale moved inside.
Wemmbu stared.
“Is that...”
Wifies interrupted.
“Don't look.”
“You keep telling me not to look at things!”
“Because everything you look at makes this worse!”
Wemmbu looked at him.
“That's not my fault!”
Evilfies suddenly dropped from the beam.
He landed on a narrow ledge beside them.
Wemmbu stared.
“You can just do that?”
Evilfies ignored him.
He reached for Wemmbu.
Wifies shoved his arm away.
“Don't touch him.”
Evilfies grabbed Wifies instead.
Wemmbu reacted immediately.
He lunged.
His shoulder slammed into Evilfies.
Evilfies staggered.
Wifies pulled free.
“Run!”
“WHERE?”
Wifies pointed.
A narrow bridge extended from the ledge.
It hadn't been there before.
Wemmbu stared.
“The factory made that?”
Wifies nodded.
“Why?”
“Because it wants us moving.”
“That is somehow worse!”
They ran across the bridge.
Behind them, Evilfies followed.
This time, he was chasing.
Not observing.
Not testing.
Chasing.
Wemmbu could hear him behind them.
His footsteps were controlled.
Measured.
He wasn't trying to outrun them.
He was trying to herd them.
Wemmbu realized it halfway across.
“He's pushing us toward the end.”
Wifies looked ahead.
There was a door.
At the far side of the bridge.
“Yes.”
“Is that an exit?”
Wifies stared.
“I don't know.”
“Please stop saying that.”
They reached the door.
Wemmbu grabbed the handle.
Locked.
He pulled harder.
Nothing.
Behind them, Evilfies stopped.
He was standing halfway across the bridge.
“Wemmbu.”
Wemmbu turned.
“What?”
Evilfies looked past him.
At the door.
“Open it.”
Wemmbu frowned.
“You know what's behind it?”
“Yes.”
“Then why don't you open it?”
Evilfies didn't answer.
Wemmbu slowly smiled.
“You're scared of it.”
“Open the door.”
“You're actually scared.”
“Wemmbu.”
“That's hilarious.”
Evilfies' expression hardened.
“Open. The. Door.”
Wemmbu turned toward it.
“No.”
He stepped backward.
“If you're scared of what's behind it, I'm definitely not opening it.”
Wifies suddenly looked at the door.
His expression changed.
“Wait.”
Wemmbu looked at him.
“What?”
Wifies walked closer.
There was something carved into the metal.
Three words.
NOT AN EXIT.
Wemmbu stared.
“Oh.”
He stepped away.
“Then we're not opening that.”
Evilfies smiled.
“You misunderstand.”
Wemmbu looked at him.
“What?”
Evilfies pointed behind Wemmbu.
The bridge had disappeared.
Wemmbu's stomach dropped.
There was nowhere to go.
Wifies looked around.
“No.”
Evilfies took a step closer.
“Now you understand.”
Wemmbu tightened his grip.
His mace was gone.
His sword was still in his inventory.
He drew it.
Wifies looked at him.
“What are you doing?”
“Buying time.”
“Against him?”
“Against everything.”
Wemmbu stepped forward.
Evilfies stopped.
“You can't win.”
“Maybe.”
Wemmbu raised his sword.
“But you don't know that yet.”
Evilfies smiled.
“That's what I wanted to hear.”
He moved.
Wemmbu met him.
CLANG.
The sword struck against Evilfies' weapon.
Wemmbu twisted.
Another strike.
Evilfies blocked.
Wemmbu kicked him backward.
Evilfies staggered.
Wemmbu advanced.
Strike.
Block.
Strike.
Duck.
Turn.
Counter.
Wemmbu's boots scraped against the narrow platform.
The drop beneath them was endless.
Evilfies was fast.
Too fast.
But Wemmbu had fought people faster than him before.
He changed his rhythm.
Stopped trying to match Evilfies' speed.
Started forcing him to react.
Evilfies blocked high.
Wemmbu kicked low.
Evilfies stumbled.
Wemmbu swung.
CRACK.
The sword struck his shoulder.
Evilfies stepped back.
Wemmbu smiled.
“Got you.”
Evilfies looked at the cut.
Then at Wemmbu.
“Good.”
Wemmbu frowned.
“What?”
“You changed your fighting style.”
“Yeah?”
“Why?”
“Because you were learning.”
Evilfies smiled.
“Exactly.”
Wemmbu's stomach dropped.
He understood.
Evilfies hadn't been trying to beat him.
He had been trying to make Wemmbu change.
Every strike.
Every dodge.
Every reaction.
Another piece of data.
Another answer.
Another thing to learn.
“You bastard.”
Evilfies advanced.
“Again.”
Wemmbu stepped backward.
“No.”
“Again.”
“Fuck you.”
Wemmbu threw his sword.
Evilfies instinctively dodged.
Wemmbu lunged past him.
He grabbed the edge of the platform.
Then pulled himself toward the door.
Evilfies realized too late.
Wemmbu slammed both hands against the metal.
“Wifies!”
Wifies understood.
He pulled the black shard from Wemmbu's inventory pouch.
Held it against the door.
The metal screamed.
SKREEEEEE.
The door opened.
Not inward.
Downward.
The entire doorway folded into the floor.
Beyond it was a narrow passage filled with white light.
Wemmbu stared.
“That's new.”
Wifies grabbed him.
“Go!”
They crossed the threshold.
Evilfies reached them.
His hand caught Wemmbu's jacket.
Wemmbu twisted.
The fabric tore.
Wemmbu stumbled into the white corridor.
Wifies slammed the shard against the edge of the doorway.
The opening collapsed.
Evilfies was left on the other side.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then his voice came through the sealed wall.
“You can't keep him away from me.”
Wifies stared at the wall.
“Watch me.”
Silence.
Then Evilfies spoke again.
“You're making the same mistake.”
Wifies froze.
The white corridor began moving.
Not them.
The walls.
The entire passage rotated.
Wemmbu stumbled.
“What the hell?”
Wifies grabbed him.
The floor became a wall.
The wall became a ceiling.
Gravity shifted.
Wemmbu slammed against the side.
“I HATE THIS PLACE!”
Wifies held onto a seam.
“Don't fight it!”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN DON'T FIGHT IT?”
“It'll stop!”
“WHEN?”
“I DON'T KNOW!”
Wemmbu groaned.
“You are absolutely useless!”
The corridor suddenly stopped.
Wemmbu dropped.
He landed hard.
Silence.
Then a small sound.
Ping.
A door opened ahead.
Beyond it was sunlight.
Real sunlight.
Wemmbu stared.
His eyes widened.
“Is that...”
Wifies stepped forward.
Warm air entered the corridor.
Grass.
Wind.
Birds.
The outside world.
Wemmbu nearly laughed.
“We're out.”
Wifies didn't move.
Wemmbu looked at him.
“We're actually out.”
Wifies expression remained uncertain.
“Don't celebrate yet.”
“Why?”
Wifies pointed.
There was something wrong with the landscape.
The trees were too still.
The clouds weren't moving.
The grass didn't react to the wind.
Wemmbu stepped closer.
The sunlight felt warm.
But the shadows were completely black.
Every single one.
Wemmbu stopped.
“This isn't outside.”
Wifies shook his head.
“No.”
The sky flickered.
For one second, there was no sky.
Only darkness.
Then the world returned.
Wemmbu stared.
“Where are we?”
Wifies whispered:
“I don't know.”
A voice came from behind them.
Not Evilfies.
Not the creature.
Not the factory.
Wemmbu's own voice.
“You're late.”
Wemmbu slowly turned.
Wifies grabbed his shoulder.
“Don't.”
Wemmbu stared at the fake sky.
Something moved between the trees.
Then another shape.
Then dozens.
All of them had the same silhouette.
Wemmbu.
Wemmbu looked at Wifies.
“Tell me those aren't clones.”
Wifies stared into the impossible landscape.
“They're not.”
“Then what are they?”
Wifies didn't answer.
Behind them, the corridor door slowly closed.
And somewhere on the other side of it, Evilfies whispered one final thing.
“Now you see why I couldn't let you leave.”
The door shut.
The fake sky went dark.
And every figure between the trees turned toward Wemmbu at exactly the same time.
The figures between the trees moved.
Not toward Wemmbu.
Not away from him.
They simply changed positions.
One stood beside a tree.
Then it was standing beside another.
Wemmbu blinked.
“Okay.”
He slowly lowered his sword.
“That's new.”
Wifies didn't answer.
He was staring at the forest.
More specifically, he was staring at the sky.
The fake sky had darkened considerably since they stepped through the doorway. What had looked like afternoon was now something closer to evening, except there was no sun.
There wasn't even a point where the sun should have been.
Just endless blue.
Perfectly smooth.
Too smooth.
“Wifies.”
Nothing.
“Wifies.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
Wemmbu looked at him.
“Because you have the face of someone who absolutely does not know.”
Wifies finally looked over.
“I know where we are.”
That got Wemmbu's attention.
“You could've mentioned that earlier.”
“You were busy running.”
“You were also running.”
“Exactly.”
Wemmbu stared.
“I hate you.”
“You don't.”
“Give me five minutes.”
“We're not going to have five minutes.”
Something moved behind them.
Wemmbu spun.
Nothing.
The doorway was still there.
Except it wasn't.
The white corridor had disappeared.
In its place was another stretch of forest.
Same grass.
Same trees.
Same impossible blue sky.
Wemmbu slowly turned back toward Wifies.
“Tell me that's normal.”
“It isn't.”
“Great.”
“But it's expected.”
“That's somehow worse.”
Wifies started walking.
Wemmbu followed.
They passed between the trees.
The first thing Wemmbu noticed was the grass.
It was too uniform.
Every blade was the exact same height.
There were no flowers.
No insects.
No broken leaves.
No random patches of dirt.
Nothing had ever lived here.
It was a copy of a world made by something that had never actually experienced one.
“This isn't outside,” Wemmbu said.
“No.”
“It's a model.”
“Closer.”
Wifies stopped beside a tree.
He placed his hand against the bark.
The tree didn't feel like wood.
Wemmbu could see it now.
There were tiny geometric patterns beneath the surface.
Not veins.
Not cracks.
Lines.
Perfectly straight lines.
They formed a repeating structure beneath the bark.
“This place doesn't copy objects,” Wifies said quietly.
“Then what does it copy?”
“Expectations.”
Wemmbu frowned.
“What?”
“It doesn't know what a forest is.”
Wifies looked around.
“It knows what someone expects a forest to look like.”
Wemmbu's expression changed.
That explained the emptiness.
The trees weren't trees.
They were someone's idea of trees.
The grass wasn't grass.
It was someone's idea of grass.
The sky wasn't a sky.
It was what the system believed a sky should be.
“So this is...”
“A reconstruction layer.”
“Reconstruction of what?”
Wifies hesitated.
“Reality.”
Wemmbu stared at him.
“That's not a reassuring word to hear underground.”
“We're not underground anymore.”
“You know what I mean.”
Wifies did.
He started walking again.
Wemmbu followed more carefully this time.
They crossed a small hill.
On the other side was a structure.
A house.
Wemmbu immediately recognized it.
“That's my house.”
Wifies stopped.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Look closer.”
Wemmbu did.
It was his house.
Except it wasn't.
The doorway was wrong.
The roof was slightly too steep.
The windows were in the wrong places.
There were no signs of anyone ever living there.
But the shape was unmistakable.
Someone had reconstructed it from memory.
“Why would it have my house?”
Wifies didn't answer.
Wemmbu stepped closer.
The door opened.
He froze.
Inside was a table.
Two chairs.
A furnace.
A chest.
Everything looked almost right.
Almost.
Then Wemmbu noticed something sitting on the table.
A piece of paper.
He picked it up.
There was one sentence written on it.
WHO WOULD YOU COME BACK FOR?
Wemmbu's face went blank.
“Wifies.”
“Don't answer it.”
“I wasn't planning to.”
“Good.”
“But that's a pretty specific question.”
“It learns from answers.”
“And if I don't answer?”
“It learns from that too.”
Wemmbu dropped the paper.
It disappeared before it hit the floor.
“I really don't like this place.”
“Neither do I.”
That was the first time Wifies had sounded genuinely afraid.
Wemmbu noticed.
He didn't comment.
They left the house.
Behind them, one of the windows changed.
It became a different window.
Then another.
Then the entire house shifted.
By the time Wemmbu looked back, it was gone.
“It's adapting,” Wifies said.
“To me?”
“To us.”
“That's worse.”
“Yes.”
A voice came from the trees.
“Wemmbu.”
He stopped.
Wifies did too.
It was Evilfies.
But the voice wasn't coming from one direction.
It came from everywhere.
“You really should stop running.”
Wemmbu looked around.
“No.”
A laugh echoed through the forest.
“You're making this difficult.”
“Good.”
“You know...”
The voice became closer.
“I was willing to let you explore.”
Wemmbu's grip tightened around his sword.
“How generous.”
“I wanted to see what you would do.”
“And?”
Silence.
Then
“I like watching you.”
Wemmbu's expression hardened.
Wifies looked toward the trees.
“Don't listen to him.”
“I'm not listening.”
“You are.”
“I'm literally standing here.”
“Exactly.”
The trees behind them bent.
Not from wind.
There was no wind.
Something had passed between them.
Fast.
Too fast to see.
Wemmbu raised his weapon.
“Come out.”
“Why?”
“So I can hit you.”
“That's exactly why.”
Something grabbed Wemmbu's wrist.
He jerked around.
Evilfies was suddenly standing beside him.
There had been no footsteps.
No warning.
One moment there was empty space.
The next, there was a person.
His hand was wrapped around Wemmbu's wrist.
Not painfully.
Firmly.
Deliberately.
Wemmbu immediately tried to pull free.
Evilfies didn't let go.
“There.”
He looked at Wemmbu's hand.
Then his shoulder.
Then his face.
Like he was checking that every part was still there.
“You're real.”
Wemmbu stared at him.
“You need to let go.”
Evilfies didn't.
“I've watched recordings.”
His thumb moved slightly against Wemmbu's wrist, feeling his pulse.
“I've watched reconstructions.”
“That's creepy.”
“I've watched the factory try to understand you.”
His eyes stayed on Wemmbu.
“But none of them were this.”
Wemmbu yanked his arm again.
This time he broke free.
“I'm not a fucking science project.”
“I know.”
Evilfies smiled.
“That's the problem.”
Wifies stepped between them.
“Leave him alone.”
Evilfies' attention shifted.
“You keep saying that.”
“Because you keep ignoring me.”
“Because you're interfering.”
“Yes.”
“You don't get to decide what happens to him.”
“Neither do you.”
Evilfies looked back at Wemmbu.
“He doesn't belong to you.”
Wemmbu's eyebrows rose.
“I am standing right here.”
Neither listened.
“He belongs nowhere,” Wifies said.
“That's what you think.”
Evilfies stepped closer.
Wemmbu immediately moved backward.
Evilfies noticed.
His expression changed.
Not anger.
Interest.
“You move away when I'm close.”
“Because you're weird.”
“You moved away before I touched you.”
Wemmbu's expression tightened.
Evilfies smiled again.
“You knew.”
“I didn't.”
“You did.”
“No.”
“You did.”
Wifies grabbed Wemmbu's shoulder.
“We're leaving.”
Evilfies reached out.
His hand caught the back of Wifies' coat.
Wifies stopped.
“Let go.”
“You always run.”
“And you always chase.”
“Because you keep taking things from me.”
Wifies looked back at him.
“He's not yours.”
Evilfies released him.
“I know.”
His eyes returned to Wemmbu.
“That's why I want him.”
Wemmbu's stomach dropped.
Not because of the words.
Because Evilfies didn't sound angry when he said them.
He sounded fascinated.
As if he'd finally found the answer to a question he had spent years asking.
Wifies pulled Wemmbu away.
“Don't talk to him.”
“Wasn't planning to.”
They ran.
Again.
But this time the forest didn't chase them.
It changed.
The trees vanished.
The ground became stone.
The fake sky folded upward like a sheet being pulled from underneath.
And suddenly they were standing in a massive underground chamber.
Wemmbu stopped dead.
“What the hell...”
The room was enormous.
There were no machines.
No cylinders.
No control panels.
Instead, the walls were covered in writing.
Hundreds of names.
Some crossed out.
Some circled.
Some rewritten so many times they were almost unreadable.
Wemmbu walked closer.
Wifies followed.
“They're people.”
“Yes.”
“Were they experiments?”
“Some.”
“Some?”
Wifies didn't answer.
Wemmbu found another wall.
There was a list.
MEMORY.
IDENTITY.
ATTACHMENT.
CHOICE.
INSTINCT.
FEAR.
LOYALTY.
LOSS.
Each word had a number beside it.
Most numbers were low.
One wasn't.
ATTACHMENT — 99.8%
Wemmbu stared.
“What does that mean?”
Wifies went completely still.
“Wifies?”
“That's mine.”
Wemmbu looked at him.
“What?”
Wifies pointed at the number.
“That result.”
He swallowed.
“That's my result.”
Wemmbu stared at the wall.
“So they succeeded?”
“No.”
“Then what happened?”
Wifies' eyes lowered.
“I died.”
Wemmbu said nothing.
Wifies continued.
“That was the problem.”
“Because they couldn't keep you alive?”
“Because they couldn't reproduce what made me me.”
Wifies looked toward the ceiling.
“They could bring back the body.”
His voice became quieter.
“They could bring back the memories.”
“But not the person.”
“Exactly.”
A light appeared above them.
Then another.
Then another.
The chamber illuminated itself.
Wemmbu looked up.
Every light was pointing toward him.
Not Wifies.
Him.
A screen emerged from the wall.
ATTACHMENT TEST — SUBJECT WEMMBU.
Wemmbu's face fell.
“Oh, you've got to be kidding me.”
Another line appeared.
ENVIRONMENTAL RECONSTRUCTION COMPLETE.
Another.
PRIMARY EMOTIONAL REFERENCES IDENTIFIED.
Then a list began appearing.
EGGCHAN.
FLAMEFRAGS.
PARROT.Wemmbu's expression changed.
“How does it know them?”
Wifies didn't answer.
The next line appeared.
CONNECTION STRENGTH: INCOMPLETE.
Then:
OBSERVATION REQUIRED.
Wemmbu backed away.
“No.”
The chamber changed.
The walls disappeared.
For a fraction of a second, Wemmbu saw something else behind them.
A huge empty space.
Black.
Endless.
And thousands of thin white lines stretched across it.
Like threads.
Connected to nothing.
Then the walls returned.
Wifies looked horrified.
“It isn't trying to copy you.”
“What?”
“It's trying to figure out what makes you impossible to copy.”
Silence.
Wemmbu slowly looked toward him.
“Why?”
Wifies didn't know.
For once, there was no answer waiting.
Then the chamber's speakers activated.
Evilfies' voice filled the room.
“Because that's what I've been trying to understand.”
Wemmbu looked upward.
“Of course you're listening.”
“I'm always listening.”
“That's not healthy.”
“Probably not.”
There was something different about his voice now.
Less amused.
More intense.
“Do you know what happened when I brought Wifies back?”
Wifies looked away.
“Don't.”
“He remembered everything.”
Evilfies continued.
“Every conversation. Every betrayal. Every mistake. Every person.”
Wemmbu looked at Wifies.
“But something was missing.”
Wifies' jaw tightened.
“It wasn't missing.”
“Then why did you leave?”
Wifies said nothing.
“Why did you choose Parrot?” Evilfies asked.
Wifies finally looked up.
“Because I wanted to.”
The chamber went silent.
Evilfies laughed softly.
“Exactly.”
Wemmbu understood.
That was the answer.
Not memory.
Not intelligence.
Not personality.
Choice.
Something no machine could manufacture.
Something the factory couldn't predict.
Something Wifies had done simply because he had wanted to.
And now Evilfies had found someone else the factory couldn't predict.
Wemmbu.
“You don't want to copy me,” Wemmbu said.
Evilfies didn't answer.
“You want to figure out why you can't.”
Silence.
Then:
“Yes.”
Wemmbu smiled bitterly.
“Well, good luck.”
Wifies grabbed his arm.
“We're leaving.”
They ran toward the far side of the chamber.
A door appeared.
Wemmbu reached for it.
It opened.
Beyond it was sunlight.
Real sunlight.
Wemmbu stopped.
He could feel warmth.
Actual warmth.
Wind touched his face.
There were sounds outside.
Water.
Leaves.
Something real.
Wifies stepped beside him.
“Go.”
Wemmbu looked at him.
“You're not coming?”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
Wifies smiled faintly.
“Because I'm still part of this place.”
“Then I'll get you out.”
“No.”
“Wifies—”
“Wemmbu.”
He looked directly at him.
“You need to understand something.”
Wemmbu waited.
“I didn't help you because I think I can save everyone.”
“Then why?”
Wifies hesitated.
“Because Parrot would have.”
Wemmbu's expression softened.
Wifies looked toward the sunlight.
“And because...”
He stopped.
“Because I want to see him again.”
That was the most honest thing Wemmbu had heard from him.
“Then come with me.”
Wifies looked back at the factory.
“I can't yet.”
“Why?”
“Because if I leave without finishing this...”
The lights behind them flickered.
“It follows.”
Wemmbu looked toward the doorway.
“What follows?”
Wifies didn't answer.
Something moved inside the chamber.
Not Evilfies.
Not the creature.
Something much quieter.
The factory had stopped moving.
Every machine was silent.
Every light was fixed.
Every screen was black.
Then one screen turned on.
EXIT PROTOCOL.
Wemmbu stared.
SUBJECT MAY LEAVE.
“That's suspicious.”
Wifies nodded.
“Very.”
The next line appeared.
SUBJECT WILL BE PERMITTED TO RETURN.
Wemmbu frowned.
“Return?”
Wifies went pale.
“Don't step through yet.”
The final line appeared.
RETURN CONDITION: ATTACHMENT ESTABLISHED.
Wemmbu stared at it.
“What does that mean?”
Wifies looked at him.
“It means the factory doesn't need to keep you here.”
“Why not?”
“Because it thinks you'll come back.”
Wemmbu's stomach sank.
“It thinks I'll come back for someone.”
Wifies nodded.
“Or something.”
Behind them, a familiar voice spoke.
“Not thinks.”
Wemmbu turned.
Evilfies stood at the other end of the chamber.
He wasn't smiling anymore.
He was looking at Wemmbu with an intensity that made the entire room feel smaller.
“Knows.”
Wemmbu raised his sword.
“Stay back.”
Evilfies stepped forward.
Wemmbu stepped toward the exit.
Evilfies followed.
One step.
Then another.
“You keep moving away from me.”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Because I don't want you near me.”
Evilfies stopped.
For a moment, something unreadable crossed his face.
Then he nodded.
“Good.”
Wemmbu frowned.
“What?”
“That's a real choice.”
His expression became fascinated again.
“And the factory can't make it for you.”
Wifies grabbed Wemmbu.
“Go.”
Wemmbu stepped backward through the doorway.
The sunlight hit him.
The warmth was real.
The wind was real.
The world beyond looked real.
He took another step.
Then another.
Wifies remained inside.
Evilfies remained behind him.
For one second, all three looked at one another.
Then Wifies said something so quietly Wemmbu almost didn't hear it.
“Don't come back for me.”
The door slammed shut.
Wemmbu was alone.
He stood in the grass.
He looked around.
A river flowed nearby.
Birds flew overhead.
Clouds moved naturally across the sky.
He could see the server in the distance.
Actual terrain.
Actual structures.
Actual life.
He laughed.
“Holy shit.”
He was out.
Actually out.
He turned around.
There was no door.
No factory.
No forest.
Nothing.
Just a hillside.
Wemmbu stared at it.
Then he smiled.
“Egg is going to kill me.”
He started walking.
For several minutes, nothing happened.
Then he heard footsteps.
Wemmbu stopped.
He looked behind him.
Nothing.
He kept walking.
Another sound.
A voice.
Very quiet.
“Wemmbu?”
He froze.
It was Eggchan.
Wemmbu turned so quickly he nearly fell.
“Egg?”
Egg wasn't there.
But the voice came again.
“Wemmbu?”
It sounded exactly right.
Same voice.
Same tone.
Same little uncertainty.
Wemmbu's smile disappeared.
“No.”
He stepped backward.
“No, no, no.”
The landscape flickered.
For one frame, the grass became white tiles.
For another, the sky became a ceiling.
Then everything returned.
Wemmbu stared.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me.”
A message appeared in the air.
ATTACHMENT ESTABLISHED.
Another.
RETURN PATH AVAILABLE.
Then one final line.
SUBJECT WILL RETURN.
Wemmbu looked toward the horizon.
Something was standing there.
Someone.
It looked like Egg.
But it was too far away to see properly.
Wemmbu didn't move.
The figure raised a hand.
And waved.
Wemmbu's blood ran cold.
Because he had never told the factory how Egg waved.
The figure on the horizon disappeared.
Not walked away.
Not faded.
Just—gone.
Wemmbu stood there for several seconds.
The wind moved through the grass.
Birds called somewhere beyond the trees.
Everything looked normal.
Too normal.
He turned around.
The factory wasn't behind him.
Neither was the fake forest.
There was only open land.
Rolling hills.
A river.
A few scattered trees.
And absolutely nothing that could explain where he had been for the last several hours.
Wemmbu slowly looked down at his hands.
Then at the mace hanging at his side.
Then back at the empty horizon.
“...You're fucking kidding me.”
He started walking.
Fast.
Then faster.
He knew this landscape.
He knew where he was.
Or, at least, he thought he did.
The server wasn't far.
Egg wasn't far.
He just needed to get back.
That was it.
No more factories.
No more clones.
No more Wifies.
No more Evilfies.
He was done.
Completely, absolutely, spectacularly done.
He reached the river.
Stopped.
Looked at the water.
His reflection stared back.
Normal.
Lavender hair.
Same clothes.
Same stupid face.
Wemmbu narrowed his eyes.
“Don't.”
The reflection didn't move.
Wemmbu waited.
Nothing.
“Okay.”
He sighed.
“I'm officially losing my mind.”
He turned away from the river.
And walked.
For nearly an hour.
Then two.
Eventually, something began bothering him.
There should have been signs.
A path.
A structure.
A mountain.
Anything.
Instead, the landscape seemed to repeat.
The same hill.
The same river bend.
The same three trees.
Wemmbu stopped.
He stared at them.
“No.”
He turned around.
Walked back.
Thirty blocks.
Forty.
Fifty.
He reached the same three trees.
Wemmbu's expression flattened.
“Oh, fuck off.”
A voice came from behind him.
“You finally noticed.”
Wemmbu spun around.
Nothing.
His hand went to his mace.
“Evilfies?”
No answer.
Then another voice.
“Not him.”
Wemmbu froze.
“Wifies?”
The grass behind him moved.
Wifies stepped through it.
He looked exhausted.
Not physically.
Something deeper.
His eyes immediately went toward the horizon.
“You're still here.”
“Apparently.”
“Then it worked.”
Wemmbu stared.
“What worked?”
Wifies didn't answer immediately.
He looked at Wemmbu.
Then at the landscape.
Then back at him.
“It didn't let you leave.”
Wemmbu's stomach dropped.
“But I'm outside.”
“No.”
Wifies shook his head.
“You're somewhere the factory considers outside.”
Wemmbu looked around.
“So this is another layer?”
“Not exactly.”
“That's not comforting.”
“It wasn't meant to be.”
Wifies stepped closer.
His voice became quieter.
“The factory doesn't need to keep you in a room anymore.”
Wemmbu frowned.
“Why?”
“Because now it knows what you do when you think you're free.”
Silence.
Wemmbu looked at the landscape again.
The same hills.
The same trees.
The same river.
“It copied the world.”
“No.”
Wifies looked almost frightened.
“It copied your idea of the world.”
Something moved far away.
Wemmbu immediately reached for his weapon.
Wifies grabbed his arm.
“Don't.”
“What?”
“Look.”
Wemmbu followed his gaze.
A figure stood on the hill.
Not Egg.
Not Flame.
Not Parrot.
Not anyone he recognized.
It simply stood there.
Watching.
Then another appeared.
And another.
And another.
Hundreds.
All across the horizon.
Wemmbu swallowed.
“Those aren't clones.”
“No.”
“Then what are they?”
Wifies stared at them.
“Possibilities.”
Wemmbu slowly looked at him.
“What?”
“The factory stopped trying to recreate people.”
Wifies' voice was barely audible.
“Now it's recreating outcomes.”
The figures began moving.
Not toward them.
Away.
Some walked toward the river.
Some toward the hills.
Some simply disappeared.
One remained.
It stood directly across from Wemmbu.
Then it raised its hand.
Wemmbu stared.
“What the hell is that?”
Wifies didn't answer.
The figure lowered its hand.
And suddenly Wemmbu understood.
It wasn't waving.
It was pointing.
Behind them.
Wemmbu turned.
There was a door.
Standing in the middle of the grass.
Black.
Industrial.
Completely impossible.
Wemmbu's expression fell.
“No.”
Wifies closed his eyes.
“Yeah.”
“I'm not going back.”
“I know.”
“Then why is there a door?”
Wifies looked at him.
“Because it isn't asking.”
The door opened.
There was no darkness behind it.
There was light.
Cold white light.
And somewhere inside, someone laughed.
Wemmbu's grip tightened around his mace.
“Evilfies.”
“Yes.”
A voice came from the doorway.
“Wemmbu.”
He didn't move.
“You've been very difficult to keep.”
Wemmbu glared into the light.
“Good.”
A pause.
Then
“I thought you'd say that.”
Something stepped into view.
Evilfies.
He looked different.
Not physically.
His expression was different.
He wasn't amused anymore.
He looked genuinely fascinated.
His eyes never left Wemmbu.
“Do you know what the factory discovered?”
Wemmbu said nothing.
Evilfies stepped closer.
“It can't reproduce you.”
Another step.
“It can't predict you.”
Another.
“It can't contain you.”
He stopped.
“So it did the only thing it could.”
Wemmbu frowned.
“What?”
Evilfies smiled.
“It kept watching.”
Wemmbu felt a chill run through him.
Behind Evilfies, something shifted.
Thousands of lights.
Thousands of chambers.
Thousands of little screens.
All displaying the same thing.
Him.
Different moments.
Different choices.
Different versions of the same impossible person.
Evilfies glanced at the screens.
“You're the first thing it couldn't turn into something else.”
His eyes returned to Wemmbu.
“And I want to know why.”
Wifies stepped in front of Wemmbu.
“Enough.”
Evilfies looked at him.
For the first time, something like anger crossed his face.
“You're still doing this.”
“Yes.”
“Even now?”
Wifies glanced back at Wemmbu.
“Especially now.”
Evilfies went quiet.
Then he smiled again.
“Fine.”
Wemmbu narrowed his eyes.
“Fine?”
“You can both stay.”
Wemmbu blinked.
“...What?”
“You heard me.”
Evilfies stepped backward.
“The factory has already decided.”
The door began closing.
“You aren't prisoners anymore.”
Wemmbu stared at him.
“Then what are we?”
Evilfies smiled through the narrowing gap.
“Subjects.”
The door slammed shut.
Silence.
Wemmbu stood completely still.
Then he looked at Wifies.
“I hate your life.”
Wifies sighed.
“You have no idea.”
Far away, beyond the hills, something enormous moved beneath the ground.
Neither of them spoke.
Neither noticed the small black mark appearing beneath Wemmbu's feet.
It spread outward.
One line.
Then another.
Then another.
Until the shape was complete.
A symbol Wemmbu had seen before.
The factory's symbol.
And somewhere impossibly far away, on the surface of the server, Eggchan stopped walking.
“Wemmbu?”
Flame looked over.
“What?”
Egg didn't answer.
He was staring at the ground.
“Something's wrong.”
Flame frowned.
“We've been looking for him for hours.”
“I know.”
Egg's voice cracked slightly.
“But this is where he fell.”
They were standing at the edge of the abandoned settlement.
The exact place Wemmbu had disappeared.
Egg looked around.
There should have been ruins.
There should have been broken blocks.
There should have been the hole.
There should have been something.
Anything.
Instead...
There was land.
Grass.
Stone.
A few trees.
Nothing else.
No ruins.
No entrance.
No hole.
No evidence that anything had ever been there.
Flame slowly looked around.
“...Where the hell did he go?”
Egg didn't answer.
He crouched.
Pressed his hand against the ground.
Nothing.
“Wemmbu?”
The wind passed over the grass.
Silence.
Then Egg stood.
His face had gone pale.
“He's still here.”
Flame stared at him.
“What?”
Egg looked at the empty land.
“I don't know how.”
He swallowed.
“But he's still here.”
Far beneath them, something heard him.
And somewhere that wasn't beneath the earth, wasn't above it, and wasn't anywhere either of them could reach...
Wemmbu opened his eyes.
He was back inside the factory.
Wifies was gone.
The lights were on.
The walls were silent.
And directly in front of him was a screen.
One line of text appeared.
OBSERVATION CONTINUES.
Wemmbu stared at it.
Then another line appeared.
SUBJECT: WEMMBU.
A pause.
STATUS: STILL MOVING.
Wemmbu slowly smiled.
“Yeah.”
He lifted his mace.
“You better keep watching.”
He turned toward the corridor.
And started walking.