In a neon-drenched city where reality is filtered through screens and mirrors hold more than reflections, a glitch is born.

Her name is Skye — an unregistered orphan, tech-savvy, emotionally guarded, and haunted by a childhood she can’t fully recall. All she knows is this: she doesn’t fit. Not in the foster system, not in the digital landscape of Elowen, and definitely not in a world where The Circle, a shadowy techno-cult, decides who matters and who vanishes.

Skye's life begins to spiral the moment she survives a system crash that kills dozens — including people standing right next to her — leaving her untouched and… changed.


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Volume 1: Into the Mirror (Chapters 1–10)

Skye’s transformation isn’t immediate — it’s subtle. She starts seeing fragments of code overlaying people’s faces, hearing voices in the static, and feeling drawn to a place that doesn’t exist on any map: The Mirror Tower. Each chapter in this first arc functions like a standalone thriller short story, building a mosaic of tension, identity, and discovery.

Through close calls with street gangs, corrupt AI enforcers, and haunted tech devices, Skye begins to realize she isn’t entirely human anymore. The “ghost” inside her — later revealed as Ilyra, a sentient remnant from an older digital realm — begins to awaken. But is Ilyra friend or foe?

Skye’s only real connection is Nova, a sarcastic, ride-or-die hacker who thinks Skye is just "a cute mess with trust issues and bad taste in headphones." Their banter hides a growing bond. Nova helps Skye navigate the strange visions and decode the truth behind the Circle’s hidden agenda: they’re rebooting the world.

And Skye is the key.

By Chapter 10, Skye uncovers a memory fragment: a flicker of a girl — her — inside a white room of mirrors. A voice warns: "If you glitch the world, it will glitch you back." It’s unclear whether Skye is the weapon… or the firewall.


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Volume 2: Root Access (Chapters 11–20)

The second volume dials the tension up. Skye learns that the Mirror System isn’t just software — it’s a living, thinking framework that’s kept Elowen functioning for centuries. The Circle didn’t create it. They only learned to speak its language.

But now, the language is speaking back. Through Skye.

Chapter 11 introduces Eren Kai, a disillusioned ex-architect of the Mirror System who believes Skye’s existence threatens the balance of everything. He builds a mirror-nullifier — a device designed to wipe out all reflective anomalies… including Skye herself.

As the reboot countdown ticks down, factions form: those who want to destroy Skye, those who want to use her, and those — like Nova — who just want to save her.

Skye faces betrayal, loss, and the terrifying truth: Ilyra is not just a ghost. She’s Skye’s original self, split during a past reboot cycle and now attempting to recombine. If they merge, Skye will either ascend to root user status — capable of rewriting all reality — or collapse into digital madness.

In Chapter 19, Skye walks into the Signal Core, absorbing the nullifier and transforming it into a codex key — unlocking the Archive of All Paths, a multiverse library showing every version of herself. Warrior, villain, victim, queen. But one thing is constant: each path ends in destruction… or Nova’s death.

Skye makes a third choice.

She rewrites the code, not to rule it — but to release it.

In Chapter 20, Elowen reboots. Not into control. Not into chaos. But into freedom. The Mirror System is no longer a surveillance tool. It’s an interaction-based learning mirror, reflecting identity, possibility, and potential.

Skye disappears.

But her legacy remains — not as a myth, or a program, but as a symbol.

Of what?

Of a girl who glitched the world… and made it better.

Rain slicked the concrete like oil. The city glowed in soft reds and static blue, pulsing like it had a heartbeat.


Nova hunched beneath the hood of her synth-jacket, the stolen MAEVRA_0.HEX drive tucked into her boot. She hadn't slept. Not after that voice. Not after the screen blinked at her like it was alive.


She whispered under her breath, "Glitch or ghost, whatever this is—I'm not dying over a file."


So she climbed the fire escape of an abandoned signal tower—one of the few places in the city where the old WatchNet satellites couldn't reach. She needed to decode the file. On her terms. In her space.


As she hacked into her portable reader, she didn't notice the camera watching her from across the alley.


Didn't hear the mirror behind her shiver.


Skye's reflection wasn't behaving. Again.


She stood in her bathroom, staring herself down. Same face. Same tired eyes. But tonight, her reflection didn't yawn with her.


Skye stumbled back. "Nope. Nope, we're not doing this."


But the mirror's surface rippled—like water. A hand pressed out. Her hand. Only it was older. Paler. Tainted with a faint static.


And then—words scrawled across the glass, backwards but readable:


Her heart nearly exploded. She slammed the light off. The mirror went dark.


When she turned it back on—everything was normal.


Now, in the corner of the mirror, flickering faintly in red:


The faceless man stood before a room of glitching screens. Beside him: a sleek android assistant with glass skin and no eyes.


"She's seeing the Mirror Code," he said calmly. "Exactly on schedule."


The android tilted its head. "Should we notify the Council?"


"No. Maevra's rebirth must occur organically. If the host accepts the code, she'll awaken. If she resists… we activate Nova."


He turned, pulling a data shard from his pocket.


Carved on the surface: the same spiral Skye had drawn in her sleep.


Her decoder finally cracked part of the file.


Lines of code spilled across her screen—mixed with voice clips, distorted footage, and coordinates.


And a single name repeated in the metadata:


A girl—Skye—strapped into a chair, eyes glowing faintly, whispering:


"They lied. Maevra isn't dead. She's in me."


"Okay. Nope. No more ghosts-in-the-machine crap."


But before she could shut it down, her portable scanner pinged.


Outside her window: lightning. Inside her room: mirrors all buzzing. No storm. Just… noise.


Chapter 12 - Chapter 12: Mirror Protocol