Adrian's fingers sank into the seventh mirror's surface as though plunging into a vat of warm blood. The glass membrane rippled, then screamed - a sound that wasn't sound but the vibration of a thousand fractured memories colliding. His VIII brand ignited with searing white light as the mirror's edges:
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Bled black fluid that crystallized into tiny seven-sided shards midair
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Spawned capillary cracks forming Enochian words: "Hic est veritas occultus" (Here lies hidden truth)
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Birthed living filaments that stitched themselves into Adrian's optic nerves
The world dissolved in a cataract of writhing images:
Memory Strand A: A seven-year-old Adrian standing before the mirror, repeating "I'm not afraid" while Vaulk's shadowy hand rested on his shoulder, holding something metallic and sharp.
Memory Strand B: The original Omega (Kaelis) screaming as his body fused with the inverted drill, his last words: "They're not reflections - they're anchors*!"*
Memory Strand C: The infirmary's surgical drone whispering to an unconscious Adrian: "Subject VIII is the first to reach this stage. Initiate Garden Protocol*."*
2. The Composite Horror
The merged reflection (Reflection 2+6) didn't just combine traits - it unfolded into something far worse:
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Its ribcage split open like a grotesque display case, revealing:
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Reflection 2's drowned lungs filled with black fluid
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Reflection 6's "unseen" organs pulsing in invisible rhythm
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Its voice box ruptured, emitting three overlapping frequencies:
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Null's childhood laughter
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The Overseer's mechanical distortion
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Adrian's own voice begging "Stop looking at me!" from Chapter 1's nightmare
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When it moved, its body flickered between:
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A drowned corpse version of Adrian
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An empty silhouette with child-sized handprints appearing on its surface
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Something worse - glimpses of a figure with seven eyes and too many joints
3. Vaulk's Original Sin
The forced memory transfer didn't just show Vaulk - it made Adrian experience the first experiment:
Memory Reconstruction: Control Group Genesis
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Location: An exact replica of Adrian's childhood bedroom, but with walls made of living flesh and a ceiling of staring eyes
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Participants:
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Young Vaulk (hair still dark, left eye not yet replaced with the Overseer implant)
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Null (strapped to a chair made of mirror shards)
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Seven Control Group scientists with identical faces whispering in unison
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The Crime:
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Vaulk injected Null with liquid mirror (extracted from the Demon Lord's fossilized eye)
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The seven-sided mirror screamed as Null began dissolving
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Vaulk turned to the observers and said: "Record this - Subject Zero's sacrifice will birth infinite test subjects."
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4. The Omega Blueprint's Hidden Layer
The blood-smeared schematic contained far more than text:
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When Adrian's black-fluid-contaminated tears hit the paper, new diagrams emerged:
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A spiral timeline showing eight identical Adrians at different ages
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Notes in Vaulk's handwriting: "The Demon King isn't the infection - it's the cure we're too afraid to take"
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A child's crude drawing of a door with the words: "The real monster is outside"
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Most disturbing was the marginalia - not in Vaulk's hand, but Adrian's own childhood script:
"If you're reading this, you're already dead. I'm sorry."
5. The Eighth Door's True Nature
As the rusted key penetrated the void, Adrian realized:
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The "door" wasn't a passage - it was a mouth
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The reaching hand from the other side had seven fingers
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The whisper came from inside his own skull
The moment before dissolution, three truths struck simultaneously:
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The reflections were never separate - each kill had been self-mutilation
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Vaulk wasn't the architect - he was following someone else's instructions
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The eighth mirror didn't break - it was taken