The quiet, lifeless noise of the city outside crept through the thick glass windows of Mara' apartment. Sitting by her desk, she could see the tall buildings of Vesper reaching up into the key, covered in bright neon lights and glowing digital signs that lit up the night with a fake rightness. The city was always awake, but inside her small, softly lit apartment, it felt like time ad stopped. The only sounds in the room were the gentle tapping of her fingers on the keyboard and the occasional beep from her computer, letting her know when tasks were done.

Mara stared at the holographic image in front of her—a calm beach at sunset. It was a memory he had to look over for a rich client who wanted it improved. The waves softly touched that and, and the sky turned into warm shades of orange and purple as the sun disappeared. I looked perfect. Peaceful. Every part of it seemed just right.

But then, as her fingers danced over the keyboard, something shifted.

A small, almost invisible glitch appeared in the image, breaking the smooth flow of the video. I as a tiny change, but it was definitely there. Mara stopped, her hands still over the keyboard,

and replayed the part with the glitch. She noticed a faint figure at the edge of the screen. For a second, it looked like the person was about to come into view, but then the image suddenly wen lack. The video jumped back to the start, showing the horizon again. No one had been there,

but something about it didn’t feel right.

Mara played the sequence again and zoomed in, looking closely at the spot where the glitch happened. She frowned. The figure had been hard to see before, but now it was even clearer. I seemed like someone had intentionally removed the person from the memory. There was missing piece in the image, like a hole in a photo that had been neatly cut out.

She felt a cold shiver. Her memory wasn’t just unclear—it had been changed. But why? Who would mess with such a peaceful, private moment?

She played it back once more, looking for something, anything that could explain the strange vent. But there was nothing. Just a quick glimpse of a person standing by the water's edge,

their presence barely noticeable, like a shadow in a dream.

Mara sat back in her chair, looking at the paused image. Her heart started beating faster. Terror, the shadowy shape, the strange interruption—it all seemed too much like something she ad seen before.

She shut the file, her hand shaking a little. Her thoughts were moving fast, taking her back to another time. Another memory. From long ago, hidden deep in her past.

Even though she knew it wasn't a good idea, Mara decided to look through her private files.

Her fingers stayed above the keys as her memories appeared on the screen—bits of he childhood, faces of old friends, and places she had once known but forgotten. The pictures mad er feel good, until she came across one specific memory. Then, the same strong feeling she ha before came back to her.

In the middle of her childhood memories, there was an empty space—a missing piece. It felt like a whole moment had been erased, as if someone had purposely removed it. It was similar t he figure she saw at the beach and the strange glitch she had just noticed.

She gasped. No, this couldn’t be true. She scrolled through her memories again, checking everything around it, but the gap was still there. Her heart started pounding as she understood:

her memories, her life, had been messed with. Someone had deleted pieces of her past.

Mara’s thoughts froze. The screen in front of her was filled with static and noise. She ha always believed in the memory centre and followed the rules without question. But now, it we obvious—someone had been changing the past, even her own memories. She didn’t know who r who was doing it.

Her fingers tightened on the edge of the desk. Whoever was doing this wasn’t just changing clients’ memories. They were doing it to her too. The bits of memories she couldn’t full remember, the gaps in her life—it was all linked.

Mara turned off the terminal quickly. She couldn’t just sit still anymore. She needed to find out here this control was coming from—she had to discover what had been taken from her and the reason behind it.

Her apartment door was just a few steps away, and for the first time in a long time, she felt strong need to act quickly. Someone was keeping a secret from her. She was determined uncover the truth, no matter what she had to do.