Chapter 24 · Neon Deadline: Glitch Hunt - Chapter 24: Mirror War

"You’re not even real," Seth spat, his voice echoing like a glitch in a dead server. "You're just a fucking echo of everything they wanted me to be."

The man standing across from him didn't blink. He looked exactly like Seth—same jagged scar running through the left eyebrow, same cold, predatory stance, same obsidian-black tactical gear. But his eyes weren't human. They were glowing with a sterile, corporate blue light, devoid of the simmering rage that usually defined Seth’s presence.

"I am the version of you that doesn't hesitate," the mirror said. His voice was smooth, devoid of the rasp Seth had earned from years of screaming into the void. "I don't feel the itch of a curse. I don't let a gutter-rat hacker compromise my mission. I am the perfect tool."

Seth lunged.

It wasn't a tactical strike; it was raw, desperate violence. He slammed his shoulder into the clone, sending them both crashing through a shimmering wall of data. They tumbled across a floor that looked like cracked glass, shards of forgotten memories flying up around them.

Seth didn't wait for the clone to recover.