Do you ever wonder what your past (or future) self would say to you if you could speak to them through a mirror? This is the story of Alistair S. Winters, who glanced at the mirror one ordinary night and was irrevocably changed. People who claimed to know him previously (whether back in university as an English literature major or throughout those ephemeral school years as a child, although bluntly speaking, those who truly knew him could be counted on one hand) says that he's been possessed, others who are bolder claimed that he was taken. This story has never made it to any newspaper, and his parents could be suspected to have something to do with it since they were quite influential — although the fact that they had absolutely nothing to say about it also says something.
Alistair lived his life normally after graduation. He grew out his hair, dyed it red, and chose to work as a private eye in a small office in Oxford. He lived nearby, in a flat that reflected his parents' status or at least their so-called 'level of concern' for him — since they still sent him money regardless of his age or private income — although one might wonder why the rent price there suddenly plummetted after he'd started living there. He had one roommate, a lad by the name of Every Finch (yes, Every with an E).
On the surface, things looked very normal, putting aside Alistair's side gig of…investigating paranormal occurrences and whatnot (even if he never made it public, and the business operated by hearsay). Indeed, everything looked very normal, putting aside the occasional complaints from neighbours about loud noises coming from his flat at three in the morning and the occasional strange sounds and flickering lights. Yet—
…
It doesn't actually have a name.
We called it 'number four', although there is another term for it—
Mirror's Edge.
Our reality isn't the only observable reality. There are countless other worlds and dimensions, and timelines where 'you' made different choices, lived out different lives.
Occasionally, creatures — anomalies — who could bear witness to these other timelines come into existence. The unique thing about Mirror's Edge is that 'it' could only bear witness to 'its' own timelines, all the other lives that 'it' was living regardless of form, species, gender, truth, or reason — through a mirror. It was still unknown what 'its' purpose was, or if 'it' could even interfere in these parallel timelines.
All that we know is that 'it' already made 'its' way here, existing in this very timeline.
Ⓒ @nevergilded, 2025. any and all sort of plagiarism is prohibited. AI training is prohibited.