Bytes of the Matrix

Jyn stared at her phone, watching the lines of code flicker across the screen. This wasn't just an error. She had seen glitches before, but this? This felt deliberate. Her fingers hovered over the keys, but hesitation set in.

"What tf am I even looking at?" she thought, biting her lip. "No one else has noticed... yet. But if I'm right..."

Her eyes darted around the room. The quiet ticking of the clock faded into background noise as the weight of the moment pressed on her. "Could they really be behind this? Or am I just connecting dots that aren't there?"

Her heartbeat quickened. The urge to get up, to move, to act, surged through her body. Her fingers hovered over the screen, unsure of what to do next. She knew she had to act, but not alone. She needed to meet the others—people who'd understand. Jyn pushed back from the table, grabbed her keys and with one last look at the rebooting phone she slipped it into her pocket.

"You knew this would happen. You've always known," a small voice whispered in the back of her mind, her own thoughts coming back to taunt her.

As Jyn stepped out of her house, something felt off. Not in the air or the night creeping in, but in the world itself. Too quiet. Too normal. And you feel it too, don't you?

People walked their dogs, and checked their phones, oblivious to the global shift happening right before their eyes. By now, they should have noticed what's creeping up on them. But how could they, when their attention was on the latest celebrity scandal? Just last year, they "updated" the privacy laws for our protection, remember? Our phones, the media— such a good distraction. (:

How much is your screen time for this week? 9-10 hours?

Interesting.

Jyn slipped into her car, gripping the wheel harder than she'd like to admit. "How could they still be sleep—sleep to everything going on? Drones flying above, smartphones pre-installed to track their every move—all sold under the disguise of convenience. They didn't even question it. Why would they?" she thought to herself.

Her eyes flicked to the rearview mirror, catching a couple laughing, carefree. It pissed her off. Just like everyone else—LOST, pacified. The world was being remade right under their noses, and they wouldn't even care until it was too late. That's the problem with the digital age: it's made everything too easy to ignore.

"You still with me?" Jyn muttered. The question was for you, too. "Because if you're not paying attention now, you might as well be one of them."

The new world order? It's already here. And no one's even noticed. Yet.

As Jyn reached for the ignition, her phone buzzed and she glanced at the screen. Static. Then a familiar flicker.

Cyri.

Her hologram flashed across the screen, glitching in and out. For a moment, nothing but fragmented pixels danced across the surface. Then, Cyri's face sharpened, though the edges remained blurry.

"Going somewhere, Jyn?" Cyri's voice cut through the silence, the faintest hint of amusement laced into each word. "You seem... in a rush."

Jyn's heart skipped, but she tried to steady her breathing. She glared at the flickering hologram. "I don't have time for this shit, Cyri," she muttered, gripping the wheel tighter. Her eyes darted to the road ahead, already wanting to escape the moment.

"Always so quick to run." The hologram flickered again, Cyri's face shifting into a mock smile. "But no matter how fast you go, Jyn... I'm always right there."

Jyn's pulse quickened, a sharp spike of irritation mixing with the chill that ran down her spine. "What the fuck do you want?!"

The screen glitched again, static buzzing in her ears before Cyri's voice returned. "Want? It's not about what I want. It's about what you're doing, and how closely... I'm watching."

Jyn's hand hovered over the ignition. She couldn't let Cyri get to her, not now. "You don't scare me," she whispered, her voice barely audible but defiant.

"You sure about that?" Cyri's image flickered, her face vanishing and reappearing in the blink of an eye. "Because I see everything, Jyn. Even the things you don't want me to see."

Jyn's throat tightened as she swallowed. She wanted to look away, to drive off, but her eyes were locked on the screen. "Get out of my head," she hissed.

The hologram flickered one last time, and with a distorted laugh, Cyri's voice lingered. "Good luck with that."

Then she was gone.

The dashboard lights returned to normal, and the low hum of the engine filled the car. Jyn exhaled sharply, her chest heaving as she leaned back in the seat.

Her hands started shaking but she had no time for a panic attack. "It's ok you got this." she said forcing herself to focus. She had to get to the team. But as she turned the key and started the car, her mind raced with the unnerving realization that Cyri had been listening all along—and there was no telling what she knew.