Chapter 22 · Mirror Lies

"So, which one of us is the mistake?"

The voice didn't just sound like me. It was my voice. Same rasp, same cadence, same exhausted edge. I didn't move. I couldn't. I was staring at a man who wore my face, my scars, and my exact expression of disgust, sitting cross-legged on a chrome chair in the center of the vault.

"Get up," the other Kael said. "Or do you prefer staring? I know I do. It’s the first time I’ve seen a version of me that looks like he’s been chewed up and spat out by the protocol."

I stepped forward, my boots clicking on the metallic floor. Every muscle in my body was screaming. The sensory glitch from the previous room hadn't fully faded; the edges of my vision were still fraying into static.

"Who are you?" I asked. My voice sounded thin.

"I'm you, idiot. Just the version that didn't get caught in the loop as late as you did," he replied. He leaned back, crossing his arms. He looked too comfortable. Too clean. "You’re the glitch. The anomaly. The one Mord is actually interested in. Me? I’m just the backup. The control group.