Echoes Beyond

Lucy froze, her hand still on the keyboard.
Daniel: “This is a joke, right? Someone from the team messing with remote access?”
Lucy: “No one except us and Harris has access to this terminal…”

Almost without thinking, Lucy typed:
WHO ARE YOU?

Seconds of silence. Then a new line appeared:
NOT IMPORTANT. I AM HERE.

Daniel tried to shut down the system, but the controls didn’t respond.
Daniel: “This is impossible… power to this section is completely cut!”

Lucy typed again:
WHAT DO YOU WANT?

This time, the reply came instantly:
TO LEAVE.

They exchanged a glance.
Lucy: “Leave? From where?”
The answer appeared:
FROM YOU.

Suddenly, the headphones on the desk lifted on their own and settled over Lucy’s ears. The whispers were clearer now—not one voice, but dozens, maybe hundreds. All speaking together:
“Open the door.”

The whispers in Lucy’s ears became a wave of voices. Some sounded like words, others just like breathing in the dark.

Lucy (under her breath): “What door? Where is it?”
The voice replied: “Inside you.”

Her vision went black, and an image burst into her mind—a narrow hallway made of blue light, its walls resembling neural fibers. At the end of the hallway floated a door, suspended in midair, with no frame or wall.

When Lucy came to, Daniel was shaking her shoulder.
Daniel: “Hey! You were out for a minute. You’re sweating.”
Lucy’s voice trembled. “I… I was inside my own head. I saw a hallway. Like… a neural network. And at the end, there was a door.”

Daniel went silent, his face losing color.
Daniel: “Months ago… Harris told me some signals, when merged with a human brain, create a virtual construct. A place… only the mind can enter.”
Lucy asked softly, “And if they want me to open it…?”

The monitor behind them lit up on its own, displaying a new message:
KEY DETECTED. UNLOCK SEQUENCE STARTING.