The Step After

Chapter Three

Reality was slipping now, faster with each passing moment. Elias could sense it, as acutely as a fish feels water slipping past its gills. Each missed step pulled him into a world that was almost, but not quite, the same as the one before. The people were still there, the places unchanged, yet something was always slightly off—as if the universe had rearranged the furniture of his mind, and laughed.

Then came the Echoes. The first one appeared in his apartment, seated on the green sofa as though it had always been that color. This Elias Wren radiated a confidence that Elias had never possessed—his posture relaxed, his eyes clear, his brow conspicuously absent. In fact, he was completely bald, sphinx-like. He carried himself with the assuredness of someone who had stopped worrying about missed steps.

"You're not the only one, you know," the Echo said, his voice smooth, eyes reflecting a depth of understanding that Elias found unnerving. "There are others—other versions of you who've traveled this path. It doesn't end well."

Elias blinked, his own eyes searching the Echo's face for any sign of insincerity but finding only a solemn truth and no hair of any kind. He chose not to mention it. "What are you saying? That I should stop? That I should let it happen?"

The Echo's expression softened, absently, as if he were recalling something long buried. "You can't control what's already set in motion. Every time you slip, you lose a piece of yourself. Eventually, there won't be anything left to hold onto."

Elias opened his mouth to argue, to insist that there had to be a way. But the words faltered, caught in his throat.

"You're obsessing," Miranda repeated, her voice carrying a weight of concern that she rarely showed. "You need to take a break, Elias. You're chasing shadows."

What was the point of all of this?