Reborn at a cost

a's

looks exact

t terri

lective surface throwing back a thousand hurried strangers

building reflecti

with takeaway coffees and pressed suits, laug

ines and weekend plans. It felt obscene, like the world had e

eep breath and cro

uilding, my reflection war

of this place." I

ag until the leather creaked, groundi

y blazer a

lemon air freshener. A massive digital screen scrolls through company achievement

it mat

dge stil

e security gate mak

r that the system still recognized me. My pulse

bing my arms. Someone shouting m

ia

t me like mu

cking the floor, her bleached blonde hair perfect,

s. Recognition.

on. All

me first. Sweet jasmine l

Perfume hits me. Sweet, floral and the sam

g her back

een a ghost," she says

rms squeezed with practiced affection that now felt

e. "I just did

she relaxes, looping her arm through mine like nothing hap

forward. My muscles tensed, ready to p

hat cappuccino that has ca

nside. The mirrored walls trapping us togeth

, dark circles under whiskey eyes, lips pressed thin

e," Lucy continues. "Something a

lse s

" I echo, keepin

know management.

ed prison. I can su

and we step onto o

f keyboards. Phones ring, chairs squeak, and laughter

ws across every face. The air carried the faint burn of overheated pr

s....

p from his desk the

ady pushing back his chair. "L

towards me. He steps

owering. He leaned in just enough to invade my sp

n," I say, sid

own my body, the

e was stiff, careful, and unreadable

e says, voice lowerin

mething unspoken; his gaze lingered on m

gaze. "You tell every l

thered. "Just b

ne

that

exactly where I left it: monitor, chipped mug, sticky

stes bitter

gged

oards populate, numbers align. Data doesn't lie. It doesn't chea

lightly grimy from a thousand shared touches.

ut of place. An

nne

voice cuts the a

d over a pot belly that was straining against

arms of his shirt despit

ce. N

I muttered

lass walled room. He do

rday," he says. "Skip

n't aware that

department, visibility matt

disguised as a ca

at in mind,"

to the office outside, scanning, calculating. He step

mach t

d sparks. He knows something. Or wants me to think

analysis," he continued,"I wa

s s

h a thin smile,

d me; his stare burned into my b

ds tremble slightly as

er?" She asked softly. "There is this really

w my morning goes. Graham alre

ughed acro

ed and t

rmissions change. Almost invisible. A file

the metadata. Cleaned. It was g

ingly. A cold sweat prickled along my spine,

hs at what Ethan from HR said by t

not looking. Graham paces inside his glass office. The rest of my

ted. The room pressed in, walls closing with the h

ed me. One of th

ow breath a

Invisible safeguards. Traps disguised as routine proces

my menta

oo sweet, always clos

, awkwardly confide

ling, temperamental, sk

after I rejected his off

hates this place but is still t

e real mastermind is already moving.

hum of traffic in the distance, the clack of keyboa

, nothi

anym

Hands firm on the desk.

tching me, fi

, I'm wat