Shattered Symmerty

Chapter 2 Sunaina's Doubts

Another day in Symmetria, and guess what? It's falling apart. Well, not that it wasn't already, but do you ever feel like things are breaking down faster than they're being fixed? Like you try to patch up one issue, and boom, ten others appear? Yeah, that's the kind of vibe Sunaina was getting. She'd lived her whole life in this meticulously crafted city, where everything was so perfect that even the slightest crack was seen as a cosmic offense. But today, those cracks were everywhere-and, honestly, more obvious than ever.

The Grand Hall of Patterns was once flawless, with white marble floors gleaming like a newly polished mirror. Today? The floor looked like someone had taken a bat to it. Cracks twisted and turned, breaking up the symmetry like crooked lines drawn by a kid who just learned how to hold a pencil.

Sunaina stood at the center, hands in pockets, eyes narrowed. "Well, that's not good," she muttered. Not that she needed to say it aloud. It was glaringly obvious.

---

Symmetria, man. This city was built on the idea that everything should be perfectly balanced, like some kind of cosmic jigsaw puzzle where every piece fit snugly into place. If you've ever organized your books or your wardrobe by color, you'll get it. Except here, they took it to a whole new level. Cities, streets, even people had to align with these intricate patterns designed by the Guild of Harmonics. Sunaina had worked her whole life to get into this prestigious group-like those top students you knew in school who practically lived in the library.

People in Symmetria had this thing called "Tuning." It's not as fancy as it sounds. Basically, if you were feeling out of sync-emotionally, mentally, or even physically-they'd use Resonant Machines to adjust your frequencies. Yeah, it's a bit sci-fi, but in Symmetria, it was routine. These machines were supposed to "fix" people, aligning them back with the city's vibes. But lately, the machines were acting up, and people were feeling, well, not fixed. More like broken, actually.

Sunaina had noticed it first in the buildings, but now, even the people were getting... weird.

---

"Jenna," Sunaina called out as she walked into the tuning center. Jenna, her colleague, was the chirpy, glass-half-full type of person. You know the kind-optimistic to a fault.

"Hey, Sunaina! You're looking extra broody today," Jenna grinned, adjusting her tunic that looked just as bright as her personality.

"Yeah, well, things are getting a little too real out there. Cracks everywhere, and people are still feeling off even after their Tunings. Doesn't that scream 'something's wrong' to you?"

Jenna's smile faltered for just a second. "I've heard a few complaints, but the machines are fine, right? It's probably just stress, you know? People need to calm down."

Sunaina raised an eyebrow. "Sure. Because it's not like the entire city is literally cracking apart or anything. Maybe we should slap some meditation posters on the walls next. 'Find your inner peace while your world collapses!'"

Jenna winced. "Okay, okay, I get it. You're worried. But let's not jump to conclusions. Maybe the machines need a little maintenance?"

---

Maintenance, sure. But Sunaina had a gut feeling that it was more than that. The city wasn't just falling apart on the outside. Inside, people were getting restless, too. Ever feel like you're doing all the right things, following the rules, and yet nothing seems to go as planned? Like when you finally follow a study plan to the dot but still manage to bomb the exam? Yeah, it was that kind of off-balance feeling.

Later that afternoon, Sunaina ran into Marcus-your typical, by-the-book guy who thought logic could solve everything. If the world was ending, Marcus would probably suggest writing a detailed report on the reasons why.

"Marcus, tell me you've noticed the cracks."

Marcus, adjusting his glasses like a professor about to give a lecture, glanced at a wall, frowning at the growing fractures. "I've seen them. It's... concerning."

"Concerning? The city's practically coming apart at the seams, and all you've got is 'concerning?'"

Marcus crossed his arms. "Look, we've handled issues before. This might just be a minor glitch in the system. Things break, we fix them. Simple."

Sunaina let out a frustrated sigh. "Yeah, except people aren't being fixed anymore. The Tunings? They're not working. What if this isn't something we can patch up? What if it's deeper than that?"

---

That night, Sunaina sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the intricate geometric patterns on the walls of her room. They used to bring her comfort, a sense of control in a world that demanded precision. But now, all she saw were flaws, cracks in the very fabric of what she believed in.

There was this conversation she overheard earlier in the day-a couple of citizens venting in the marketplace.

"It's like we're being forced into this perfect mold," one of them had said. "I used to feel... alive. Now I feel like a machine."

The other had nodded solemnly. "Even after Tuning, I feel worse. Like I've lost something. Like we're being squeezed into these patterns that don't fit."

Sunaina had felt a pang of guilt when she heard that. She was part of the Guild. She was supposed to help people find balance, not force them into it. Was the system she'd dedicated her life to actually breaking people?

---

The more Sunaina thought about it, the clearer it became. What if the cracks weren't just physical? What if they were a reflection of something deeper, something emotional, psychological? Like when you try to bottle up your feelings, thinking that if you ignore them long enough, they'll go away-only to explode later, ten times worse. The city was the same way. Maybe Symmetria had tried to force perfection for too long, and now the cracks were the world's way of saying, "Enough."

Sunaina knew one thing for sure: something had to change. They couldn't keep patching things up, pretending everything was fine. The system was flawed, and pretending it wasn't wasn't going to fix anything.

She glanced out the window, where the city was bathed in the dim light of a setting sun. The cracks were everywhere now, crawling up the buildings, running through the streets like veins of some sick organism.

And deep down, Sunaina knew-the cracks weren't just in the city. They were in her, too.