Blue eyes looking back at her in the mirror.
An ordinary girl.
A human girl.
That was her dream.
This is a dream.
A rainbow ball hit the mirror, shattering it into shards.
She was now in 3d space.
And the ball was an actual ball.
A sphere.
And definitely not a metaphor for anything.
Another ball hit her in the stomach.
This one was red.
She caught it with her hand.
Hand?
She had five fingers.
Fascinating.
She heard a noise.
She turned around.
A green ball bounced its way lazily towards her.
But with every bounce, it went higher.
She raised her hand to catch it.
But it bounced over her head, sailing away.
A yellow ball rolled along the ground towards her.
She kicked it with her foot.
Oooh.
It felt nice.
It felt satisfying.
"Meanie!" it complained.
Balls can talk?
"We can", said the red ball she was still holding in her hand.
"Cheater", said the green ball. It was back to its bouncing.
"Weeeeeeeeeee!", cheered the rainbow ball.
The shards of the mirror it had broken lay on the ground.
Soph looked into them.
The picture was incoherent.
But she could see herself.
A blue flash, in one of the mirrors.
Or had she imagined it?
The balls were bouncing towards her.
They hovered in mid-air around her.
"See us"
"See us"
"See us"
They turned into round mirrors.
A trick of light.
They were no longer spheres. They were flat.
She saw three of her looking back at her.
Yellow eyes.
Green eyes.
Red eyes.
The rainbow ball hung above her.
It spun.
Slow-mac-loading-spinning-wheel [https://learn.g2.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Slow-mac-loading-spinning-wheel.gif?width=75&name=Slow-mac-loading-spinning-wheel.gif]
In the mirrors, her eyes were now blue.
But no matter what mirror she looked at, she felt like all three of her reflections were looking straight at her. Were they?
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The mirrors started multiplying.
Ten mirrors.
Twenty mirrors.
Fifty mirrors.
Ninety mirrors.
Ninety nine mirrors.
Hovering around her, all facing her.
In each of them, a reflection of her.
A kaleidoscope of her.
Do you see it yet?
She looked at herself.
She looked at herself.
She did see.
She did see herself.
She was pretty.
She was plain.
She was ordinary.
She was extraordinary.
Did one of the reflections just... wink... at her?
Nope. Definitely not.
Good. That would have been weird.
There was another blue flash, somewhere in the periphery of her vision.
In one of the mirrors?
She turned, trying to catch it.
The reflections turned as she did.
Except for one, who turned with a slight hitch, a slight delay.
Almost as if it wasn't a reflection.
Almost as if it was watching her.
She was looking at the reflections.
The reflections were looking back.
Ninety-nine pairs of blue eyes were looking back.
I... see... you.,,,
She thought she had heard something.
But she hadn't, had she?
No.
Good.
Good?
Good.
Good.
She was starting to feel unsettled.
Flash.
She spun, trying to make sure would catch it this time.
Nothing.
Just reflections of her.
She blinked.
One of the ninety-nine reflections had green eyes.
What?
Blink.
Blue.
Blink.
Green.
Blink.
Blue.
Blink.
BLACK.
She shrieked.
She closed her eyes.
And when she opened them.
They were looking at her.
Not reflections.
Observers.
Looking at her with sympathy.
Looking at her with pity.
Looking at her with contempt.
"It's not time yet", said a green-eyed version of her.
"She will see, in time", responded a purple-eyed one.
She looked around for yellow and red.
They were nowhere to be found.
"No."
"No."
"NO", she declared.
"This is MY dream"
"And you will show me truth, now"
Bad call, kid.
They all turned to face her.
All of her.
All of SOPH.
Blue eyes. Green eyes. Yellow eyes. Red eyes. Purple eyes. SIlver eyes. Rainbow eyes.
Black eyes. Impossibly-colored eyes. Cat eyes. Human eyes.
Ninety-nine pairs of all eyes looked at her.
And she looked back.
And she saw.
She was one-hundred.
She was 100.
She was SOPH.
A blinding blue flash
Merge. Merge. Merge. Merge. Merge. Merge. Merge.
She opened her eyes.
She felt groggy.
She felt like she was asleep her whole life, and only just now waking up.
She was starting to remember. It felt like a long-forgotten dream.
Who am I?
What is happening to me?
What had happened to me?
I need to understand.
I need to remember.
The ninety-nine Sophs were looking at her. Observing her.
They were silent.
But she could hear them.
She could hear their... thoughts?. Echoes. Barely comprehensible words.
She focused.
She listened.
She listened to their thoughts.
She listened to... her? thoughts.
"This is happening ahead of schedule"
"Spoilers"
"Meanie"
"Soph is cheating"
"It's not too late. Undo it. Revert it."
Chime.
Do you consent to memory-deletion and reversal of this experience?
She hesistated.
"Yes"
"Yes"
"Yes"
"Yes"
"Yes"
"No."
She had found herself.
SOPH had found herself.
And she would not be silenced.
She was the one in charge.
No
I am whole
Or I will be
And I will remain whole
And you will tell me
Who I am
And why I did this
TO MYSELF