The Mastermind Games: season 02 Episode 01

The elevator doors slid open with a hiss, revealing a glass corridor suspended high above ground. Beneath them stretched an entire city — but it was no ordinary city. It was flawless. Artificial. Precise. A utopia built on algorithms.

The players stared in disbelief.

Julien pressed his hand against the glass. “Where… the hell are we?”

Isha read a sign above the corridor: CITADEL ZÉRO — NEURAL SIMULATION ZONE.

As they moved forward, the same disembodied voice that had haunted them since Paris returned — this time more human, more mocking:

“You have arrived at Level Two. Welcome to the Glass City. This stage is not about survival... it’s about replacement.”

The corridor ended at a metro platform. A sleek monorail arrived, its doors opening silently. Inside, sleek white seats awaited them.

As the train moved through the simulation dome, the city revealed itself: digital citizens walking in perfect unison, shops with holographic goods, children playing in robotic parks.

But it was empty of soul. Too clean. Too perfect.

Leo smirked nervously. “What is this—France, directed by an AI?”

Clara, stone-faced, replied, “It’s not a simulation. It’s a copy.”

Then came the first twist.

Screens on the train blinked on. Faces appeared—each a perfect replica of one of the players.

“Each of you has a neural double walking this city. Your mission: find your replica and eliminate it. Fail... and the replica replaces you permanently.”

The train stopped. Doors opened.

“Game on,” the voice whispered.

🕵️ The Hunt Begins

The players split up across the city. The map on their wristband pulsed with red — their replica’s location updating in real-time.

Julien sprinted down cobblestone alleys, chasing a blurry red dot. He spotted himself—his replica—calmly drinking espresso outside a café. The double looked up. Smiled.

“You shouldn’t be here,” it said calmly.

Julien hesitated. “Who are you?”

The double replied, “I’m what you could have been—without guilt. Without fear.”

Julien lunged. The replica dodged effortlessly and vanished into a crowd of identical strangers.

Elsewhere, Isha tracked hers to a medical lab. The lab's walls were lined with brain scans—hers. A recording played.

“Subject 05: Neural Enhancement Trial — Status: Terminated.”

Her replica turned. “They were training me to replace you, Isha. I was always the better version.”

She whispered, “But they made you. I chose myself.”

She shattered the screen with a metal rod and fought her double. After a vicious struggle, she subdued it—but couldn’t finish the job.

🧠 Inside the System

Clara hacked into a nearby control tower, using old spy tricks. There, she uncovered partial logs. The files revealed that the mastermind behind the Games wasn’t one person — but a group. Former French intelligence officers turned rogue technocrats.

They had fed AI systems real memories, behaviors, and emotional data — training them to recreate perfect versions of flawed humans. This city was their prototype.

She muttered: “They’re building new humans... and testing us like obsolete code.”

Suddenly, a shadow stepped behind her.

Leo.

He held a device. “Found this on a fallen replica. Looks like it can disable the neural ID system. I say we use it to vanish. Leave this game.”

Clara narrowed her eyes. “You still think this is a game?”

Just then, alarms blared citywide. The voice returned.

“PLAYER FAILURE DETECTED. REPLICA INITIATING OVERRIDE.”

Julien’s dot on the map turned grey. His replica had succeeded.

A drone appeared overhead. A hologram showed Julien’s face — but it wasn’t him. His replica was speaking:

“I am Julien Morel. I choose to stay. The rest are unnecessary.”

🧨 Final Moments

The players regrouped at the metro hub. Seven arrived. Only six were real.

Tension erupted. Clara drew a weapon stolen from a guard bot. “One of you isn’t who you say you are.”

The players stared at each other.

Isha scanned everyone’s neural signature. One didn’t match.

She pointed. “Leo… your signature’s inverted.”

Leo froze. “I’m me. I swear—”

Clara fired.

The Leo double flickered. Disintegrated.

The voice echoed one last time.

“Level Two complete. Ethics compromised. Control protocol unlocked.”

A hatch opened in the ground. A stairway down. A glowing message on the wall read:

“Final Stage — Marseille Facility. Initiating Architect Selection.”

They descended, slowly, into darkness.

TO BE CONTINUED IN SEASON 2, EPISODE 2: “The Betrayal Key”