《8 or more outcomes of a visit to the ominous valleys》


 VOLUME 1

    VOLUME 1


    (OPENING SCENE) On one of the walls, completely covered with flyers about missing persons, one of which is being carried away by the wind. The detached flyer had information about the disappearance of a guy named A. The announcement drifts through the area of an unknown settlement, landing in one of the alleys. The fallen flyer stated that to this day, A is still considered missing.


    PROLOGUE


    Many offers for renting houses and apartments at a record-low cost start appearing online in a small tourist settlement (Nesemezh), near a small lake, surrounded by a forest somewhere in northwestern Czechia. This enticing offer quickly attracts people from various corners of the old continent, breathing life into the settlement. Responding to one of such offers, B moves into one of the houses on the outskirts of the settlement after arriving. Devoting her plans only to a close friend, B tries to find a way to shake off the nagging anxiety, seeking a change of scenery and some alone time in the hopes of getting rid of strange and surreal nightmares that haunt her. For a while, B manages to forget about her problems, but soon the girl starts experiencing strange nightmares again. In these dreams, she is covered in incomprehensible symbols, moving through a rugged tunnel (in the style of H.R. Giger''s works). One night, B dreams of a figure approaching her from behind with a hood. In fear, she stabs the figure with a knife. Under the hood, B sees her extremely pale copy, choking on blood. In horror, she wakes up in another part of the house, not remembering how she got there. Seeing bloodstains on her hand, B tries not to attach too much importance to it, attributing it to a recent cut and the stress from the abrupt change of environment. Soon, B receives a sudden notification from the house owner with warnings about the imminent arrival of another tenant. This news disappoints B, and she begins to contemplate leaving, but the loosened atmosphere of the settlement makes her reconsider. A few days later, a guy arrives at the settlement and immediately heads to his destination ¨C the house on the outskirts of the settlement.


    1 - 1


    A slacker and a failed student named A, dressed in a constantly unzipped worn dark gray hoodie, baggy sweatpants, and scuffed yellowed sneakers with numerous creases and dents, rents a house in a small settlement with his last bit of money, responding to the last offer online. Upon arrival, A immediately heads to the destination, surveying the settlement and savoring the atmosphere of universal freedom. En route, A meets a group of newcomers who persuade him to visit a local establishment with them.


    From his new acquaintances, A learns about local landmarks and legends. Rumor has it that during World War II, a concentration camp was located in the area where the settlement now stands, and the Nazis conducted experiments on creating portals, creating an extensive network of catacombs in the vicinity.


    Continuing the fun with his new friends, A indulges in alcohol and various substances mixed with it. Only late at night, barely able to stand on his feet, A finally reaches his destination - a house on the outskirts of the settlement, passing out right at the doorstep. (INSERT) In the mist, the outline of a gigantic rugged structure with towers, on the roofs of which busts of humanoid creatures are perched, is visible. Upon waking up, A is bewildered to find an unfamiliar girl in front of him. The girl introduces herself as B and explains the situation, showing messages from the homeowner warning about the imminent arrival of another tenant.


    Trying to coexist, A and B discover different aspects of life in the settlement. A prefers to disappear into various social gatherings until late at night, consuming alcohol and various light drugs, while B tries to isolate herself from the debauched daily life, spending more time alone, enjoying the local nature and the architecture of the Renaissance era, and only maintaining communication about her life here with her close friend. Over time, despite their different lifestyles, the random roommates find common ground, discussing their current lives and each other''s problems.


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    One of their casual conversations about the past brings them even closer. According to B''s story, she was born and spent her entire childhood in Germany, and she came to the settlement to get rid of chronic nightmares that started after she enrolled in the first year of Berlin University. A confesses that he came to the settlement to temporarily forget about his recent failures due to his own carefree lifestyle: born and raised in the Netherlands, he was also sent to study in Germany by his parents but was soon expelled from the University of Cologne for poor academic performance.


    1 - 2


    One night, in his dream, A tries to escape from dark silhouettes chasing him. Soon, these mysterious nightmares become constant, distorting reality and causing persistent paranoia. Waking up once again covered in cold sweat, A notices a silhouette resembling him staring intently into his window.


    After discussing this with his acquaintances, A learns that all newcomers to the settlement have started experiencing similar dreams from time to time. A decides to inquire about this with B. She admits that after a while, her nightmares worsened upon arrival in the settlement, sharing her concerns about her friend named C, who found some information about the settlement online and then disappeared without a trace. (INSERT) In the dream, in dark gray tones, black silhouettes in cloaks, forming a circle, simultaneously detach from the ground and slowly rise higher through the falling snow.


    Soon, the settlement is gripped by rapidly escalating madness. New arrivals start refusing to sleep, suffering from nightmares, bouts of sleepwalking, and paranoia. After just one day in the settlement, all communication is lost, and the first murder occurs, escalating into a mass slaughter. A and B are attacked in their own house by a group of possessed individuals.


    They manage to fend off the maniacs with the help of a middle-aged man who introduces himself as D. D reveals some details about what''s happening, mentioning the closure of the local psychiatric hospital, which coincided with the mass disappearances of newcomers in the settlement. This has been completely ignored by the local authorities. During their conversation, the man does not reveal his identity but mentions that he came to the settlement in search of his missing wife.


    1 - 3


    After lighting a cigarette, D assures them that they need to get to the forest, where they can hide until help arrives. Following the man through the thick fog, A and B notice that the city streets, covered with various symbols of unclear meaning, are littered with corpses, and buildings and trees everywhere are hung with some occult paraphernalia. Hearing how they are surrounded by unknown people, the group rushes on the run, soon finding themselves in the thickets of the forest.


    Moving through the forest thicket, the group was soon attacked by a crowd of distraught people. Trying to fight back, A passes B his hoodie. During the scuffle, the madmen severely injure A and kill D. The death of D gives A and B a chance to escape. On the run, the couple notices how a crowd of madmen is shot by suddenly arriving unknown men in raincoats covered with unknown symbols.


    Terrified, B and exhausted A hide in the thicket of the forest, trying to hide. With the beginning of a light snowfall, B feels a sharp cold snap, falling asleep from impotence and trying to support A.


    The girl opens her eyes to the sounds of footsteps approaching unknown people. Next to her, she is horrified to notice A bleeding and frozen to death. In tears, the girl removes hoodie A from her shoulders, covering his body covered with a layer of frost and ice.


    Suddenly, B discovers the dark silhouettes of some humanoid creatures watching her from the side. After looking closely, the girl does not notice the unknown men in raincoats approaching behind her.


    (INSERT) Through the clouds and falling snow, you can see a huge cooled crater, the edges of which are a mixture of living pulsating flesh, and some mechanisms that feed living tissue with organic liquids.

 VOLUME 2

    2 - 1


    C, at the invitation of her friend B, travels to a small settlement about which she has heard a lot. Upon arrival, C notices that there are frequent communication disruptions in the settlement. She decides to make her own way to the desired location, engaging with the locals and seeking confirmation of all the rumors she had found online about the settlement.


    Not receiving any messages from C about her arrival, B decides to go to the city to look for her. By evening, the exhausted girls finally meet up and head home together.


    In the following days, the girls actively spend their time, attending local events, and interacting with the locals while documenting their adventures on camera. During one of their walks, B notices that at the end of an alley, a dark entity is observing her. Seeing this, B freezes in fear, but C quickly helps her regain her composure. B can''t explain the reason for her sudden fright.


    The two friends were active users of local chat rooms, where they learned about new events and activities in the settlement. In one of the chat rooms dedicated to local legends, C gets acquainted with a certain user. After extended conversations, the new acquaintance invites C and her friend to meet. Unable to stop her friend, B reluctantly decides to accompany her.


    At the agreed-upon location, the girls meet a young man named A, who explains that he came to the settlement for a vacation with his friends. B behaves extremely reserved, unlike C, who readily answers all questions about herself and her friend.


    After meeting, A and his friends announce their plans to visit an abandoned psychiatric rehabilitation center located in the woods on the outskirts of the city, inviting the girls to join them. Despite B''s strong objections, C decides to accept A''s offer, scheduling the meeting for a few days later.


    Soon, messages about strange dreams and persistent paranoia spreading rapidly in the settlement begin to appear in the chat rooms. These news items catch C''s attention, but B encourages her not to take them seriously. (INSERT) In a strange organic device embedded in the wall, a humanoid''s arm gets ensnared, and a mechanism intertwined with tendons inserts into it, causing a liquid to circulate.


    On the appointed day, A arrives at the meeting point alone, looking tired and extremely dejected. When asked about his friends, A brushes off their inquiries, explaining his condition as regular sleep deprivation due to constant late-night parties. The girls realize that he is clearly not telling them everything.


    On the way to the meeting point, A overhears a discussion among his friends about messages from the city chat rooms regarding strange dreams and outbreaks of madness, causing him to change his demeanor dramatically. B notices this, and she persistently asks A to explain why he came alone.


    A tells them about his recent chance encounter with a stranger in a motorcycle jacket who introduced himself as D. D had been persistently questioning A and his friends, asking if they had noticed any strange behavior among the newcomers and mentioning a mass psychosis and a massacre that occurred in the settlement in the 1970s.


    Those who survived the incident were placed in a psychiatric clinic, which the authorities built in an attempt to study the phenomenon of mass madness. However, in the mid-1980s, the rehabilitation center was declared closed due to unethical experiments on patients, and most of the research results were permanently lost. Lighting a cigarette, D leaves, warning that everyone arriving in the settlement is being monitored and urging them to beware of the persistent nightmares, which he claims were the starting point of the previous incident.


    After meeting D, A and his friends start experiencing nightmares in which dark silhouettes pursue them. The group decides to avoid sleep altogether in hopes of getting rid of the nightmares, but this only worsens the situation, leading to bouts of aggression and hallucinations. One of A''s friends eventually makes an unsuccessful suicide attempt before attacking others. Realizing that the situation is quickly spiraling out of control, they isolate the madman in one of the rooms of the house, deciding to keep everything a secret.


    Upon hearing about the strange incidents, B and C become increasingly alarmed, and the reports from the city chat rooms begin to appear more credible. C admits that she had also been in contact with D and was aware of the incident in the 1970s. According to C, one of her main goals for coming to the city was to gather as much information as possible about the 1970s incident.


    This revelation angers B, but A manages to prevent a conflict from escalating between them. The girls confess to him that they, too, have been experiencing strange nightmares. As they approach the building, B once again feels a strong sense of dread, noticing a dark silhouette in one of the windows staring at her.


    2 - 2


    Upon reaching their destination and turning on the camera, the group enters the building. They navigate through graffiti-covered corridors until they stumble upon a video archive containing recordings of brutal interrogations of patients. It becomes evident that these patients exhibited the same symptoms of mass hysteria that their isolated friend A is currently experiencing.


    Capturing fragments of the video archive on their camera, the group heads towards the exit. Along the way, A separates from the girls, finding themselves alone in the dark corridors, realizing that there is no signal inside the building. To reduce stress, A lights up some cannabis they had with them.


    As they continue through the building, A stumbles upon an underground block, discovering the entrance to an extensive network of catacombs. A recalls exploring similar catacombs with friends before, suspecting that they stretch from the hospital to the entire city. Meanwhile, the girls continue to move on the upper levels of the building in an attempt to find A. Spending most of the night in the corridors, the group finally reunites in the central hall of the sanatorium.


    Soon, one of the girls manages to catch a mobile network signal. Scrolling through chats, she sees numerous messages about mass bloody massacres and suicides happening simultaneously throughout the city. The camera captures the approach of an armed group in cloaks.


    Realizing their hostile intentions, all three decide to escape from the building through the catacombs on the lower levels that A had found. The trio rushes into the catacombs, hearing unknown pursuers behind them.


    Their path through the catacombs leads them to rain-soaked streets in the midst of chaos. The group attempts to flee the city, making their way through violence-plagued streets and witnessing numerous murders and suicides of people they know, fully realizing the horror of what is happening.


    Navigating through the downpour, avoiding encounters with the deranged, all three make it to the city''s outskirts. Then, while recording everything, the trio stumbles upon the mutilated body of D, lying in a puddle, with a maniac standing next to him holding a bloodied cleaver. A recognizes this man as their friend, who had been isolated in the house earlier. Ignoring all of A''s questions about what happened to the rest of their group, the maniac quickly heads straight towards A''s camera.


    Trying to restrain the psychopath, A engages in a struggle and sustains multiple injuries. Eventually, A falls to the ground, unable to offer further resistance. Subsequently, a group of armed unknown individuals arrives and shoots the maniac.


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    Bleeding, A urges the girls to leave immediately. As they flee, the girls witness one of the individuals, wearing a cloak and medieval knight-like arm guards, draw a sword and thrust it into A''s throat.


    2 - 3


    (§£§³§´§¡§£§¬§¡) In the midst of a landscape covered in yellowish mist, on an ornate giant chair crafted from a fusion of flesh and iron, a figure in a black raincoat with no visible limbs sits. As the camera approaches, unnatural convulsions suddenly seize the figure.


    Having fled until they were almost out of strength, the soaked-through friends take refuge in one of the houses, watching through a window as an armed group wielding axes and swords slaughters all the madmen in their path. The girls try to compose themselves and come to terms with A''s death while contemplating their next course of action.


    Soon, a small group of survivors bursts into the house. In a state of panic due to fear, C kills one of the group members with a nearby shard of glass. The other arriving strangers immediately try to subdue her. In the next moment, the house is riddled with gunfire, killing C and everyone else present. A stray bullet severely wounds B. From her injury, she collapses to the floor, attempting to staunch the bleeding with her hand.


    A stray bullet severely wounds B, and she falls to the ground, trying to control the bleeding with her hand.


    (§£§³§´§¡§£§¬§¡) Amidst an expansive empty desert space, numerous tombstones buried in snow begin to crack and shatter due to a giant rectangular ribbed sphere rising from beneath the ground. The sphere has many humanoid faces carved into it.


    B, lying amidst the bloodied bodies, feels a sharp cold and gazes into the eyes of the lifeless C through the cracked lenses of her glasses. Through the damaged camera lens, it becomes evident that humanoid figures are slowly approaching B amid the ongoing snowfall.


    2 - 4


    C''s best friend, named B, rarely stayed in touch after moving into a house on the outskirts of a tourist settlement in northwest Czechia. In their messages, B shared moments from her weekdays in the settlement, as well as thoughts and experiences from her life. C made an effort to stay in touch with her friend, discussing the topics that troubled her while also researching all available information about the settlement online.


    One day, while browsing through materials related to cases of mass madness, which had occurred regularly in the town, with the last recorded case in the early 1960s, C stumbled upon detailed descriptions. At that time, the settlement had experienced outbreaks of unexplained insanity and a series of murders, beginning with mass complaints about regular nightmares.


    Using materials from Nazi research on cases of madness during World War II, the authorities established a psychological rehabilitation center to cover up the renewed research program. Years later, the center was closed due to unethical experiments conducted on patients within its walls. Many patients disappeared without a trace, and their fate remains unknown to this day. C also managed to find video recordings of interrogations with some patients who claimed that their own doppelg?ngers were pursuing them.


    C regularly shared the materials she found with her friend. However, B remained skeptical, asserting that it was all just rumors and urban legends. During one of their conversations, B revealed her encounter with a man named A, who appeared in the house in the middle of the night and turned out to be her second tenant.


    Soon after, while registered under the username DORAdude008, C found a message from a user named "mister D," in which he described in detail the escalating symptoms of a certain mental disorder that inevitably turned anyone into a psychopath. Each new entry by D about the town''s horrific past increasingly alarmed C.


    (INSERT) From the frost-covered monolithic wall stretching beyond visible space, irregularities protrude unevenly, resembling the outlines of human faces with various mechanisms and connections concealing various defects and cracks.


    During the next video broadcast, B confessed that, like her neighbor, she too had nightmares in which shadows of familiar people pursued her. C urged her friend to leave the town immediately, recognizing the looming threat.


    Realizing that D clearly knew more about what was happening in the settlement, C conducted her own investigation and found his personal profile on social media. Initially, D refused to engage, but after explaining the situation to B, he agreed to meet with C in the near future.


    A strange young man, who constantly glanced around and never let go of his cigarette, introduced himself as D during their meeting. In the conversation, D confessed that he had previously worked in the police, investigating the incident of mass madness in the settlement that occurred ten years ago, during which his younger sister disappeared without a trace. Official investigations yielded no results, and authorities at all levels sought to cover up the case.


    Disheartened, D left the law enforcement and began his own investigation, using materials he had acquired from the case. He assured that everything happening was not a coincidence, pointing out the complete absence of permanent residents in the settlement since the 1970s, and the ownership of all the settlement''s buildings by a legal entity hidden by the authorities through numerous intermediary companies.


    D noted the constant presence of symbolism from a certain organization in the case materials, referred to as the "Circle of Departure," which sought out specific individuals with a particular form of madness among those arriving in the settlement. Afterward, he showed C a video fragment of an interrogation with one of the patients at the psychiatric hospital in the district of the settlement, who claimed to have contacts with members of the cult and "the pale ones." D warned that it seemed that another outbreak of mass slaughter was imminent in the settlement, and the Circle knew the reason.


    When C asked D how the cult knew where to find the person they needed, D countered with a question about why the settlement was specifically designed for 220 people. C struggled to answer, and D explained that, according to the Circle''s calculated sample over the years of research, with 220 people, one would observe a person with certain pronounced psychological symptoms who would stand out among the rest.


    After everything, C and D agreed to continue their investigation into what was happening in the settlement, collecting and exchanging information they found. C realized that her best friend needed to leave the settlement urgently.


    2 ¨C 5


    During the next contact, B, the friend, informs C about A''s increasingly strange behavior and suspicious visits from the owner of the house, who persistently tries to persuade her to stay in the settlement. C realizes that everything that''s happening aligns perfectly with D''s predictions. C manages to find the owner''s social media accounts, where she discovers symbolism and texts related to the Circle.


    Soon, C receives a call from the owner of the house himself. The man admits to being aware of the suspicions surrounding him, confirming his ties to the cult and threatening to harm B if C continues her investigation. C hangs up, suspecting that all landlords in the settlement are members of the sect. Realizing that dark clouds are gathering over the settlement, C tries once again, unsuccessfully, to contact B in an attempt to warn her of the danger.


    One night, B starts an impromptu live stream, showing the streets of the settlement engulfed in chaos, describing the complete breakdown of transportation within the settlement and severe communication disruptions. She goes on to reveal that she and A, along with a small group, are hiding in a rented house from a mob of psychopaths.


    C promises to help her friend and stay in touch no matter what. When she contacts the police and learns that they are unaware of the existence of the settlement, C becomes even more convinced of D''s words. She reaches out to D again, seeking his assistance.


    Through the live stream, C witnesses A''s sudden bouts of madness. Soon, he kills two people with a kitchen knife and sets the house on fire by throwing a lighter into a canister of gasoline for the generator in the basement. C watches in despair, constantly calling out to her friend, realizing that she is powerless to help.


    B manages to escape from the blazing house, broadcasting how A and everyone else inside the building burn alive. The fire quickly dies down due to a sudden snowfall, causing severe interference during the live stream.


    Afterward, B reports that she noticed humanoid figures of unknown beings slowly approaching her through the ashes and smoke. C doesn''t see anything like that and convinces her friend that it''s just hallucinations caused by smoke inhalation. She urges her to get away from the fire.


    When D arrives, C immediately shows him the footage from the settlement, asking him to go there immediately. In response, D claims to be aware of all the events and unexpectedly accuses C of working for the cult and passing information to the sect''s coordinator.


    C vehemently denies all accusations, but despite this, D shoots her in the head with his revolver. C''s blood-splattered glasses fall to the ground.


    B witnesses the death of her friend live on camera. After everything she has experienced, she completely loses her sanity, falling into a state of shock and ignoring everything around her.


    (INSERT) Resembling ivy-covered mechanical tubes, intertwining at the top to form the silhouette of a female humanoid figure holding a mechanism resembling an embryo pierced by wires from different sides.


    Noticing the ongoing live stream, D watches as an armed group of people in cloaks approaches the girl. After finishing the live stream, he lights a cigarette, gazing at the blood-soaked screen of C''s laptop. Taking a step back, D hears the crunch of glass. Looking down, he notices C''s bloodied glasses, crushed underfoot.

 VOLUME 3

    3 - 1


    Responding to a lucrative offer to rent a house online, A immediately heads to his destination¡ªa small tourist village in Eastern Europe¡ªto gather strength after battling his drug addiction. Upon arriving at his destination, the young man decides to visit a local bar.


    There, he meets a girl named B and spends the evening getting to know each other better while consuming a significant amount of alcohol. A loses control and blacks out.


    (INSERT) Flesh on the face of a humanoid had tightly fused with the metallic shell of a large device with gears that, rotating chaotically, further entwined a piece of skin that had fused with them.


    Upon waking up, A finds himself in an unfamiliar house, with an unfamiliar girl. Introducing herself as B, the girl reminds him of their meeting the previous day, informing him that she is the tenant of this house.


    When A asks B for the address of the house, he finally realizes that he has arrived at his intended destination. After calling the owner of the house, it turns out that due to a mistake, A and B are now roommates. After some time of living together, A and B grow closer. Despite A''s admission that he is a recovering addict, their relationship quickly turns into a romance.


    During one of their dates, the couple meets a smoking man who introduces himself as a journalist named D, writing an article about the history of the settlement. D starts asking them strange questions, inquiring whether they experience symptoms of lunacy, see nightmares and hallucinations in which shadows resembling them and their relatives pursue them. This disturbs B, who quickly rushes to end the conversation with D, pulling A along.


    When A asks B about her actions, she admits that she sometimes sees dreams of strange content in which her surroundings consist of silhouettes. A does not attach much importance to her words and advises her to rest more.


    Sharing her encounter with D with her best friend named C, B complains about constant anxiety, feeling on the brink of despair, and admits that sometimes she sees dark silhouettes not only in her dreams. Upon hearing her friend''s condition, C offers to visit her to provide support, to which B quickly agrees. A also welcomes C''s visit, hoping it might positively impact B''s condition.


    The following week, the group actively spends time together, visiting local attractions and events. During one of their walks, the trio witnesses an attack by a crazed stranger who assaults a random passerby. The psychopath turns out to be D, whom A and B recognize. D addresses the gathered crowd, warning that such incidents in the settlement will only increase, listing the main symptoms that inevitably turn anyone into a bloodthirsty psychopath. After finishing his speech, D quickly disappears from sight.


    This incident worsens B''s psychological state even further. In local chat rooms, users actively discuss the incident, drawing attention to the symptoms listed by D and noticing them among their surroundings. Paranoia quickly engulfs the settlement.


    B''s mental state continues to deteriorate. In a conversation with A, she confesses her suspicions that C is trying to destroy their relationship. A assures B that all her fears are groundless, realizing that she is drifting further away from reality. For the first time in a long while, A relapses and takes a dose to cope with the stress.


    One evening, B overhears a conversation between A and C in which they agree on the need to take B out of the settlement. After hearing this, B''s paranoia intensifies; she becomes more convinced that her boyfriend and best friend intend to get rid of her. Meanwhile, the settlement rapidly descends into mass hysteria, and A and C start experiencing nightmares.


    Following the advice from local chat rooms, A and C decide to avoid sleep as much as they can, keeping an eye on B. After three days of sleep deprivation, their sanity completely deteriorates.


    (INSERT) In the vast, gloomy space, perfectly square icy panels with various ornamental elements move chaotically, constantly forming the contours of various extraterrestrial humanoid beings and parts of their bodies.


    Upon waking up, B immediately sets out to find her friends, noticing the silhouette that has been watching her again. Climbing up to the second-floor bedroom of the house, she catches A and C engaged in a sexual act. What she sees shatters B completely; trying to numb the emotional pain, she wanders the city until dawn, collapsing from exhaustion not far from home.


    3 ¨C 2


    B wakes up to C''s exclamations, inviting her for a walk to help her recover faster. B agrees, secretly hiding a kitchen knife in her belongings.


    During their walk, a conversation ensues in which C expresses her concerns about the unreality of the events happening. Spotting another dark silhouette in the distance, B suddenly accuses her friend of being promiscuous, claiming that she caught her with A.


    C vehemently denies all of B''s accusations, insisting that all suspicions are merely illusions from her dreams. Tearfully, C blames her friend for betrayal and attempts to steal A away from her. Despite C''s attempts to explain herself, B, in a fit of anger, secretly strikes her with the concealed knife.


    Bleeding profusely, C flees from her enraged friend, dropping her glasses along the way, which shatter into pieces. While trying to escape, C trips over a stone, fatally fracturing her skull. Seeing her friend''s lifeless body, B loses consciousness in shock, just after glimpsing another dark silhouette among the trees in the distance.


    Upon waking up in the house with severe amnesia and feeling a sharp cold, B sees A sitting nearby. Noticing B waking up, A informs her that C has been missing for over a day. After a surge of messages in local chat rooms about mass disappearances, A sets out to search for their friends, but his efforts yield no results.


    Returning home, the exhausted A sees B lying unconscious with blood-stained hands. When A inquires about the blood, B immediately tears up, recalling fragmented memories of C''s death. B confesses that she is responsible for C''s death, killed out of jealousy for A. A doesn''t entirely believe B''s words, convincing her that everything she says is a product of her troubled mind. A insists that they urgently need to leave the settlement, explaining to B about the unexplained snowfall and the mass violence taking place in the settlement.


    Wearing jackets they find in the attic of the house and carrying only the essentials, A and B attempt to make their way through the forest to reach the road, hoping to find C.


    On their journey, they come across the scene of C''s death, where B experiences shock from the sudden flood of memories of her friend''s demise. Despite finding fragments of C''s shattered glasses and a bloody trail leading to a snow-covered knife, the pair is unable to locate C''s body, further fueling A''s skepticism about B''s words. B decides to take the knife with her as it is the only thing that connects her to reality.


    (INSERT) In a space with eternal rain where the floor is invisible, small iron sculptures of various humanoid silhouettes are placed on pedestals, depicting scenes of a certain ritual of worship and sex in various positions.


    After several hours of travel, the exhausted couple returns to the starting point of their journey¡ªtheir own home on the outskirts of the settlement. Desperate and doubting their own sanity, A and B decide to take refuge inside.


    3 - 3


    Soon, the snowfall intensifies. Through the snow, B notices a group of unknown individuals surrounding the house. To cope with the tension, A takes substances and goes to investigate the situation, convincing B to find shelter. While waiting for A, hiding on the second floor of the house, B experiences severe panic attacks, seeing mysterious silhouettes everywhere amidst the loud sounds of struggle.


    After a lull, B hears the strangers searching the house for her. In a panic, she grabs the knife she took from the scene of C''s death, preparing to defend herself. Upon hearing footsteps, she secretly strikes the intruder multiple times with the concealed knife. Upon closer inspection, B recognizes the fallen stranger as A.


    Gasping for breath and bleeding, A informs B that he couldn''t find anyone near the house. In horror, B loses her ability to speak. As A is dying, he confesses to B that he relapsed recently but assures her that he has always been faithful to her.


    Overwhelmed by the realization that she is personally responsible for the deaths of everyone dear to her, B succumbs to hysteria. In despair, she begins to smash everything within reach. Suddenly, D bursts into the house in response to the noise.


    Noticing A''s bloodied body, D retrieves a gun and points it at B. Seeing the man, B rushes toward him, begging him to kill her. Instructing her to stay in place, D fires several shots, severely injuring the girl.


    Realizing that B is no longer a threat, D, lighting a cigarette, tells her about the mass slaughter that occurred in the settlement that night, as well as armed members of some cult killing everyone remaining in the town. D admits that he is also suffering from insanity, communicating with his deceased daughter.


    Suddenly, D falls dead from a stray bullet that struck him in the head due to the ongoing shelling of the house. The house, riddled with bullets, is then stormed by a group of armed cultists in cloaks, who notice the girl lying in a pool of blood.


    (INSERT) In a cold, elongated tunnel, the walls of which are evenly lined with hypertrophied busts with extremely long necks, at the end of which are the heads of humanoids without mouths.


    The snowfall intensifies, and the temperature drops to freezing levels. The cloaked cultists surround B, declaring the end of their search for the contactee and the beginning of a certain exodus.


    Freezing and bleeding, B can barely discern dark humanoid silhouettes in the snow, slowly approaching her, while hearing their rapidly growing whispers. When they get very close, she collapses unconscious.


    Among the cultists, there are calls to spare B''s life until she hears the angels'' sermon. Surrounding the girl, the cultists observe as B mutters incomprehensible words to herself.


    3 - 4


    (INSERT) Raindrops fall on a cocoon formed from a mixture of flesh and metal, from which a humanoid figure covered in slime emerges. This figure has numerous metal plates with ribbed ornamentation embedded all over its body, trailing a long umbilical cord.


    Awakening to incessant knocking on the door, B struggles to come to her senses after another nightmare. Rushing to the entrance, she sees a group of strangers gathered outside.


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    Pale with fear, B remembers how they (the group of people who sought shelter in the house with B and C in the second chapter) were ruthlessly gunned down by the cultists. Seeing the girl''s pale face, the group hastily departs, claiming they came to visit B, as they last saw her about three days ago.


    Fully regaining her composure, B immediately calls her best friend, C. In the conversation with her friend, explaining her absence, B tells her about her constant realistic nightmares and visions in which C dies a horrific death countless times.


    However, C doesn''t take her friend''s words seriously, reminding her of their conversation from yesterday. B couldn''t remember a thing about what C said, inquiring about all the recent events. Realizing the apparent cloudiness of her mind, B attributes her behavior to exhaustion, to which C advises her to rest more, promising to visit her soon.


    B heads to the settlement in the hope of learning more about recent events. Along the way, the girl reflects on the origin of her dreams and visions, as well as the recurring character in all her nightmares, a guy named A, whom B had never known.


    Wandering the streets of the settlement, B experiences constant anxiety despite the apparent lawlessness around her. During her journey, she encounters many people she has never met before, yet she inexplicably remembers much about them.


    Numerous moments from her nightmares start resurfacing in B''s mind, in which everyone she encounters meets a horrific end. B experiences severe panic attacks. She leaves the bustling streets, returning to her home. Alone, she begins to seriously contemplate leaving the settlement.


    Soon, the house owner informs B of the imminent arrival of another housemate. Afterward, B sees multiple flashbacks of this message from her nightmares, each time serving as the beginning of dreadful events. She begins to suspect that, in her dreams and visions, she is seeing events from the near future.


    One late evening, a strange guy in an erratic state appears on her doorstep. Upon introducing himself as A, B finally realizes that her nightmares are a sign.


    One night, B has another dream where strange, otherworldly beings in the style of H.R. Giger approach her, whispering incomprehensible words and slowly advancing toward her. C asks the creatures not to come near her, but they ignore her pleas, continuing their approach, causing the girl to wake up covered in cold sweat.


    In the following days, tormented by visions from her nightmares, B avoids any contact with A and doesn''t leave her home, occasionally noticing dark silhouettes outside her window. She manages to contact only C, who is concerned about her friend''s long silence.


    Knowing about the impending nightmare, B tries desperately to prevent her friend from coming to the settlement. She lies, insisting that C shouldn''t visit due to supposed local events. Suspecting foul play, C still plans to head to the settlement, eager to meet B in person.


    B decides on a desperate attempt to persuade the others to leave the settlement. She goes to a local establishment, publicly discussing the impending horrific events. Suddenly, B notices a frightened doppelg?nger of one of the guys in the crowd, pointing to him as proof of the anomaly happening in the city. However, the doppelg?nger disappears in an instant, remaining unnoticed by the others.


    The girl is mocked and leaves the establishment in tears. At the exit, a middle-aged man who was smoking awaited her, stating that he believed in her words. B immediately calls him D - the man hiding his true identity, whom she had seen in her nightmares many times. Astonished, D, who hadn''t introduced himself before, starts asking the girl numerous questions, persistently urging her to tell everything she knows. B asks him to leave the settlement as soon as possible, stating that she doesn''t trust him and is unaware of his true intentions. After hearing this, D grabs the girl abruptly, calling her a contact, and persuading her to go with him. In panic, B breaks free and quickly runs towards her home. D doesn''t pursue her, shouting a warning that the circle will come for her soon.


    Terrified, B heads home, where she meets A at the doorstep. The boy claims he doesn''t consider B crazy and talks about his own nightmares where a shadow with his features repeatedly appears, asking him to end the cycle of endless horror but never fully finishing the sentence. A manages to gain B''s trust. She admits to constantly seeing countless fragments of events from her visions, which, mixing with reality, drive her mad. Begging him to believe her, B recounts numerous encounters with A in her nightmares, each ending with his death. B asks the boy to leave the settlement as soon as possible, assuring him that her nightmares are prophetic.


    Afterward, with tears in her eyes, B rushes to her room. As she ascends the stairs, she once again notices a humanoid silhouette staring at her through the window. A doesn''t pursue her, understanding that B is better off alone.


    The next night, A experiences another nightmare in which a shadow - his doppelg?nger - violently confronts him. In the morning, A decides to learn more about these strange dreams and goes to B''s room, only to find her dead with her wrists slit and blood spilled. In shock, A falls to his knees, recalling B''s words about her persistent visions, realizing that her death was a suicide. Going through her phone, A notices numerous calls from someone named C.


    (NOTE: THE STORY APPEARS TO BE A NARRATIVE OR SCRIPT WITH MULTIPLE CHARACTERS AND EVENTS. IF YOU HAVE ANY SPECIFIC QUESTIONS OR NEED FURTHER ASSISTANCE WITH THIS TEXT, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.)


    3 ¨C 5 (Extra)


    In the next evening news broadcast, it''s reported that a month has passed since the search for all the missing newcomers in the settlement in northwest Czechia began, but the police still have no new information about the missing individuals. The broadcast shows numerous shots of missing persons posters posted around the settlement.


    This news report is then commented on by a female blogger known as GoodArtAss during her live stream. She criticizes the police''s actions and promises to release a second part of her widely talked-about investigation into the mass disappearance of newcomers in the settlement with exclusive details. She pledges to conduct a live broadcast directly from the restricted area in the settlement following the incident.


    On one of the forums, GoodArtAss maintained contact with a user under the name DORAdude008, who told her a lot about illegal research conducted for many years in the settlement by an organization known as the "Circle of Exodus." However, DORAdude008 stopped communicating right after the first information about the mass disappearance incident in the settlement emerged. GoodArtAss reviews fragments of her video investigation that has garnered over a million views, promising herself to uncover the true reasons behind the newcomers'' disappearance, making the next part of her investigation a sensation.


    (In the following events, the perspective is shown through a camera lens.) In the next camera footage, amid the darkness of the night, GoodArtAss appears on screen, greeting thousands of viewers who have tuned in for her live broadcast. She claims that she has almost succeeded in infiltrating the restricted area of the settlement cordoned off by the police. Without much difficulty, GoodArtAss enters the settlement, capturing its deserted streets on camera.


    Inside one of the burned-down buildings, she manages to film the outlines of a mass murder scene, asserting that it is direct evidence of hidden acts of violence in the settlement. The number of viewers of GoodArtAss''s live stream continues to grow, and she proceeds to move through the overgrown areas, eventually entering an abandoned psychiatric hospital.


    The blogger alleges that, according to numerous online accounts, the hospital''s patients were subjected to secret, cruel experiments on the limits of human psyche, which had been ongoing since the time of the Nazis. As she films the dark corridors of the building, she stumbles upon an entrance leading to the lower levels of the structure. Viewers urge her to descend into the catacombs.


    GoodArtAss pauses her live stream and contacts her acquaintance, who is an administrator of her channel, referred to as E. E persuades GoodArtAss to explore the catacombs, emphasizing that their broadcast is breaking all viewership records. Reluctantly, E descends further, capturing the events through the lens of her night vision camera.


    Slowly moving through the tunnel, E senses the presence of others in the catacombs. Frightened, she panics and rushes towards the exit, only to encounter the flashlights of police officers who quickly escort her out. The police force her to stop the live broadcast and accuse E of trespassing on a restricted area.


    Upon arriving at the police station, E is detained indefinitely for questioning. During a phone call with the administrator, E''s acquaintance reassures her that he has used all his connections, and E can be released with only a fine. The administrator then informs E that, based on the comments of the officer who accompanied her, her investigation video contained many falsehoods about the progress of the police investigation, which he has access to and which has not been disclosed to the media. E becomes interested in the work of the police investigation, but the officer refuses to reveal any new details.


    Meanwhile, the officer returns home, where his wife and infant child await. On his laptop, he discovers an email marked with the symbol of the Circle of Exodus, instructing him to eliminate E after a specified signal. Upon reading the email, cold sweat breaks out on the officer''s forehead.


    Simultaneously, E enjoys a sharp increase in the viewership of her live streams and videos, promising to release the second part of her investigation, which will reveal exclusive details. E informs the administrator that the officer who accompanied her has access to secret information about the progress of the investigation and expresses her hope to obtain this information by any means necessary.


    Back at his home, the officer confides in his colleague and close friend about receiving the email, marked with the Circle of Exodus symbolism, instructing him to eliminate E. Upon hearing this, the colleague strongly urges the officer to follow all the Circle''s instructions, reminding him of the recent suicide of the head of one of the police departments after his entire family perished in a fire. Rumor has it that the department head had also received similar letters.


    As the officer approaches his home, he notices E standing nearby, dressed provocatively. Her presence causes the officer extreme stress. She suggests they talk in private, and the officer invites her into his car, driving her to a nearby forest.


    There is an opportunity to try to get copies of the material from Oygerar after the investigation of the incident, which the man has just looked around many times. Realizing that Oygerr does not make contact, he understands this, (sharing my opinion) that he has sex right in the car.


    Having finished, ye once again insistently demands to provide her with the case materials, blackmailing him with what happened, showing a recording of their intercourse taken from afar. The girl threatens that if the man does not give her the information she needs, this record will be sent to his wife.


    Trying to realize the consequences of his act, the officer notices a message on his phone with a circle marking with instructions to eliminate the girl immediately. Taking out a letter from his jacket and appointing it with an irritating hand on the wedding ring, remembering that, after an errand from Krug, his family will dress up in a state of danger. Shocked, she thinks she''s not killing you, trying to hide it from me.


    Perhaps the man lowers the guard by asking her if I can refuse to participate in all international events. The girl calls nick Omaygud19_84 (nickname administrator) one of the messengers. The man removes all possible intangible assets from management at the direction of the address, asks to transfer them to maximum publicity. Ye, in anticipation of the sensation, leaves the car, agreeing never to cross paths with the officer again.


    (the action takes place from the monitor screen) At her next broadcast, she promises that soon the problem with deleting her video for unexplained reasons from all sources will be solved, followed by announcing the imminent release of the sensational second part of her investigation. After the broadcast ends, the administrator informs e via video link about the presence in the transmitted materials of evidence of the connection between the police officer and the circle of outcome. He admires you with delight, a devoted friend of Sensei.


    At the same time, the officer persuades his wife to urgently move to another country. Looking through his laptop, the man notices an empty letter with the symbols of the circle. Sensing something is amiss, the officer runs to his wife, whom he finds in tears, watching a recording of his infidelity with E.


    Having collected her things, the woman and her child are going to leave the house. Trying to stop his wife, the officer points his service pistol at her. The woman immediately calls the police. Before she could finish, she and the child fall dead from several shots that were not fired by an officer.


    Editing of part two Ending the investigation e, the shocked administrator via video link informs the girl about the fact of murder by unknown DUDE008 in the case file, after she disclosed information about the involvement of the circle in the settlement in the incident. The boy should ask and quickly come to him to study the world of safety and security.


    Arriving at the administrator, Ye is horrified to find him strangled, noticing on his computer screen the unfinished processing of the finished second part of her investigation and an unpublished large message with all the details of the investigation material in one of the messengers. He doesn''t notice how you come to him and don''t get involved, you don''t notice in a motorized jacket with a garrote in your hand.


    In another evening news release, it is reported that the police do not yet have any information about the missing blogger girl named Ye, who visited the settlement after the incident. Next comes the news about the recent suicide in prison of an officer convicted of murdering his own wife and child. Before the weather forecast, it is clarified that the investigation of the incident of the mass disappearance of visitors to the settlement continues, showing footage of numerous rallies throughout Europe of relatives of missing persons due to police inaction.

 VOLUME 4

    4 ¨C 1


    A meets the newly arrived C, who had been a childhood friend of B and also a student at the same Berlin university as B. C shares all the information she knows about B''s last days with A: B had constantly insisted that C should never come to the settlement and had revealed all subsequent events to the public. C admits that she initially didn''t believe her friend''s words but felt that she needed help.


    Soon, they discover that after B''s suicide, her body mysteriously disappeared. After this, C shares details with A about a cult called the "Cult of the Exodus," which she suspects is behind many tragic events in the settlement and may have been responsible for the disappearance of B''s body.


    Following news of B''s suicide, there are mass attempts to leave the settlement, all of which fail due to a spatial anomaly. Those trapped within the anomaly quickly realize their hopelessness.


    (INSERT) In the middle of an abandoned room with ridged walls lies a spherical, partially ruined stone object resembling a non-functioning fountain, from which organic matter oozes out of openings.


    After some time, the settlement is plagued by waves of nightmares and episodes of unexplainable madness. This leads to the first outbreaks of violence, escalating into a massacre over the remaining resources. A and C decide to stick together, taking shelter in B''s house.


    Order is eventually restored, and the survivors are organized by a man in a motorcycle jacket named D. He claims to be a retired German police officer and sources indicate that a cult, whose members are landlords of the city''s houses, is behind the events in the city. D shares details of his daughter''s disappearance 15 years ago in the city and is convinced that the cult is responsible, urging the survivors to search for cult members among themselves.


    Initial suspicions of the local bar owner, a close friend of A, being involved with the cult are not confirmed due to his alibi (he arrived in the settlement only a few days before all the events) and he dies from injuries sustained during the group''s interrogation.


    This greatly undermines the trust of the entire group in D. A and C decide to stick together, distrusting the others. They grow closer and eventually engage in a sexual relationship.


    Soon, the settlement is attacked by a group of exact doppelgangers of the survivors, their bodies covered in numerous tattoos depicting dates and a cipher. During the attack, D and most of his followers are killed.


    (INSERT) From cracks in the partially collapsed stone monument shaped like a humanoid head, viscous streams of organic fluid flow, forming a continuous mass.


    A and C manage to survive, thanks to a group of armed individuals in strange cloaks who arrive in time, killing all the doppelgangers. The cloaked figures introduce themselves as members of the "Circle of Exodus," the same organization D had mentioned. They offer to lead the survivors out of the settlement, ignoring questions about their intentions and plans.


    Soon, the temperature in the settlement drops sharply, and snow falls. The members of the Circle begin to provide the group with everything they need: food, warm clothing, and energy from generators, further gaining their trust. However, A and C actively try to convince the others that the cult knows how to leave the settlement but is hiding it for sinister purposes.


    4 - 2


    The cultists continue to interrogate the entire group, asking about their mental states, nightmares, and interactions with B before her suicide. During the questioning, A claims that he didn''t know B well, while C directly accuses the Circle members of kidnapping B''s body.


    (INSERT) On a frozen wall, covered with a continuous living tissue intermixed with organic wires, half of the head of a humanoid frozen in a seated position, with a mouth wide open in horror, has fused.


    After another wave of mass hallucinations and intensified nightmares, the cult forces the group to take a course of a certain drug that suppresses the symptoms of madness. At the same time, the cult intensifies its surveillance of the group, secretly activating cameras in their homes and throughout the city. They kill a couple caught having sex in an abandoned psychiatric clinic building after noticing an activated camera.


    One night, the cultists burst into homes throughout the settlement and, without revealing the reasons, gather everyone in one of the alleyways. Under the threat of execution, the cultists order the group to move in specified directions along the perimeter of the settlement, surrounded by the forest, and administer another dose of the drug.


    A and C, along with the group, follow the chosen path under the escort of Circle members. After several hours, they reach one of the familiar local houses, where the organization''s members instruct them to stay. None of the group understands why they have returned to the settlement. C privately speculates that the cult somehow led them into another reality.


    Soon, the Circle members completely leave the settlement, leaving the group unobserved. Despite C''s suspicions, A and the others immediately begin to prepare a plan to resist the cult.


    4 - 3


    Early the next morning, an armed sect of cultists reappears in the settlement. They split up and begin searching for survivors in the deserted village. During their search, C becomes separated from the group while fending off an attack.


    As the cultists enter houses one by one, they are killed by survivors armed with everyday objects. After removing the hood from one of the slain cultists, the survivors recognize them as exact duplicates of some of their own comrades. Meanwhile, several other survivors are taken hostage by the cultists.


    Eventually, the cult members reach a secret chamber, where they activate surveillance cameras to identify the hidden survivors. Using their communication systems, they demand that the remaining survivors surrender, threatening to execute their captive comrades.


    Realizing the hopelessness of the situation, the entire group, including A, emerges with their hands raised. The cultists remove their hoods, revealing that some of them are precise copies of certain members of the survivor group. Among the cultists is a duplicate of A, who threatens to execute the survivors if they don''t hand over C, taking the captive A as a hostage.


    Discovering the bodies of their comrades, the duplicate A flies into a rage, shooting several members of the survivor group who resist. This prompts the other duplicate cultists to open fire on the survivors, killing several more.


    Suddenly, all the duplicate cultists are killed by precise shots from an unknown direction. Only the duplicate A, who lost his weapon due to a well-aimed shot, is quickly subdued and disarmed by the remaining members of the survivor group.


    Shortly thereafter, C emerges from the foliage along with D, who is armed with an HK SL8 rifle and a cigarette in his mouth. D immediately restrains the duplicate cultist A. C explains that after being separated from the group, she encountered D in the forest. He promptly asked her to take him to the location of the cult''s attack. Upon noticing C, duplicate A addresses her, claiming that she is not the C he came for. His words leave the others baffled.


    Later that evening, D interrogates the duplicate in an empty hangar on the outskirts of the settlement, questioning him about the objectives of his squad''s arrival. Failing to get any answers, D starts torturing the duplicate, persistently asking about the cult''s interest in C and where they had met before.


    A keeps glancing at his watch throughout the interrogation, which raises suspicions for D. Unable to endure the pain any longer, A confesses that he and the other duplicates were sent to the town to find C, who had escaped from the organization. Lighting a cigarette, D realizes that they are talking about a copy of C that is somewhere in this reality.


    As midnight approaches, A suddenly addresses an unknown presence, urging them to leave immediately and do what they both had wanted from the beginning. After that, D carefully scans the area around the hangar but finds no one. With a malicious smile, the duplicate announces that soon there will be only one real A left. Realizing the critical nature of the situation, D quickly kills the duplicate A with a gunshot to the head before hastily leaving the hangar.


    (INSERT) An organic light source embedded in the ribbed ceiling directs its rays onto a figure lying in a liquid-filled basin, connected to a curved, semi-mechanical limb standing on the ground.


    Meanwhile, A and C spend time together on the porch of a house on the outskirts, discussing the events: why the duplicate A became a cultist, what his motives were, and what D hopes to achieve. The couple also recalls the death of D, suspecting that the current D may be his duplicate.


    Afterward, they broach the topic of B''s suicide. C mentions that once, B shared her dreams and visions in which humanoid beings slowly approached her. Speculating about these entities, the couple believes that they were representations of the cultists, whose approach B intuitively sensed. Standing on the porch, the couple both hope that they and the remaining survivors will finally be able to leave the settlement.


    Noticing that it''s almost midnight on his watch, A calls C back into the house. Suddenly, a phantom-like figure resembling C appears in front of her. It grabs C by the head, turning her toward it. Unable to resist the powerful grip, C gazes into the cold, blue eyes and mouth of the phantom, which ignites in blue flames and burns to ashes within seconds. Afterward, the shadow instantly disappears.


    In shock, A rushes to a small pile of ashes¡ªthe only thing left of C. Taking the ashes with trembling hands, A realizes that C is no more.


    4 - 4


    (INSERT) Amidst the gray mist with eternal rainfall, columns of ribbed humanoid busts are randomly stacked on top of each other.


    Holding C''s ashes in his hands, A replayed the moment of her death countless times in his mind. Suddenly, in the distance, A hears a very familiar voice and notices a familiar silhouette approaching him. Upon closer inspection, A, in disbelief, sees C rushing toward him, without her glasses.


    As she approaches, C immediately starts questioning A about what happened. In response, A continues to gaze at the smoldering ashes, stating that the C he knew is dead, and the one before him is just another duplicate.


    Shortly after, D arrives at the scene, quickly realizing that he''s late. Seeing the ashes, D invites C and A into the house to discuss the ongoing situation. As she leaves, C notices slightly burnt and cracked round glasses peeking out from under the scattered ashes. She quietly retrieves them.


    Inside the house, A immediately asks C to share everything she knows about the shadow that killed her. C recalls that during the cult''s briefings, the "bleak" were mentioned as entities formed from some dense, unclear matter, acting like an immune system, destroying foreign objects that enter a specific reality.


    After hearing this, A tries to find out why C became the target of the "bleak" and how they select their victims. C struggles to answer, admitting that she knows very little about the "bleak."


    4 ¨C 5


    At the request of D, the girl remembers that she, a copy of A, and the others were recruited into the Circle of Origin, with promises of help to escape from the settlement. In the cult, during special briefings, the recruits are informed about the existence of countless parallel realities where events unfold in various scenarios, and the fate of the same people can change drastically.


    The Circle knows a way to move between realities from the point of origin, which is the settlement, using Jacob''s scheme. It indicates the paths at given coordinates leading from the point of origin to parallel dimensions.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    From the cult''s archives, C learns about the Contactees - individuals capable of interacting with angels due to their unique brain structure. The angels themselves are poorly understood, but it is known that they are some organic embodiments of higher matter, existing beyond space and time, capable of influencing any other matter and altering reality around them.


    Periodically, angels materialize in one of the realities, a process referred to as the Exodus, lasting about two weeks. The time and place of each Exodus depend on the presence of a Contactee there and are calculated in advance by the cult. The reasons and purposes of the angelic Exodus remain unknown. Everyone in the vicinity of the Exodus starts to contact angels in their dreams and visions, seeing distorted images of events and people significant to them. As the angels materialize in human reality and the Exodus concludes, this effect intensifies, inevitably leading to irreversible loss of sanity and the complete obliteration of all signs of individuality, as only Contactees can truly grasp the essence of the angels.


    C sheds tears ¨C she reveals that she escaped from the cult, discovering the body of B from whom they extracted the brain. After hearing this, A, who had previously considered C''s words as nonsense, bombards the girl with questions about B. C admits that B was also one of the Contactees and suffered from a rare form of madness, likely the reason for her suicide.


    After B''s death, the cult abducted her body for a detailed examination of her brain. After studying its structure in detail, the cult managed to supplement the scheme of Exoduses with new coordinates, gaining the ability to move between realities.


    Following this, C strongly demands that everyone left in the settlement be gathered, asking A and D to keep the death of her copy secret, promising to reveal the secret of her death later, warning that time is running out. When questioned about why they should trust C, the girl responds that the Circle is looking for her specifically, and she is also in danger. She offers them a choice: to give her a chance or to stay here, waiting for the Circle members.


    C informs those gathered about the urgent need to leave the settlement, as the cult will arrive here soon. The girl assures them that she knows a way to move between dimensions, which the cult also uses, suggesting fleeing from the sect to another reality by making a transition. C explains that everyone present needs to go together in the right direction, calculated using a special scheme of Exoduses.


    The group received C''s proposal with skepticism, but D vouched for the girl, lying that this method of transportation was revealed during the interrogation of A''s double, who had committed suicide. To convince the group, C demonstrates a certain scheme ¨C a cryptic drawing with intersecting symbols, axes of coordinates, and numbers, claiming that she can decipher it.


    Despite not fully trusting C''s copy, A decides to support her plan, remembering her promise to reveal the secret of her own copy''s death. A''s support for C''s proposed plan finally convinces the others to follow the girl.


    (INSERT) On organic appendages covered in mucus, tightly interwoven with each other, with visible moving impulses, numerous partially formed and mutilated humanoid heads are located, pulsating constantly.


    After some time, D returns to the hangar, where he interrogated and killed A''s double to dispose of his body. Carrying the corpse to the back yard of the hangar and then lighting another cigarette, D notices C watching him. The man beckons the girl over, stating that A had asked precisely her to finish what was started.


    In response, C simply watches in silence as D pours kerosene over A''s body. Throwing a lit cigarette onto the body, the man asks the girl for forgiveness, saying he had no other choice. Watching the fire from A''s burning body, C assures the man that he doesn''t need to apologize because he did everything possible to protect others.


    Afterward, one of the group members approaches D, inquiring about what to do with the collected bodies of the doubles from the Circle. D demands that they be burned. C continues to silently gaze at the flames of A''s remains.


    Left alone, C tidies up the glasses she had picked up. Approaching the window, the girl, for the first time in a long while, clearly sees through the small cracks in the lenses the streets of the settlement, which have fallen into decay.


    4 ¨C 6


    After a day of preparation, the group follows C towards the forest, noticing armed members of the Circle scouring the area. D demands that they immediately discard all the weapons taken from the shattered group of doubles - the cultists - to expedite their movement. The group manages to remain unnoticed, hiding in the morning mist of the forest.


    (INSERT) On a cracked gray stone slab, a bust of a humanoid with its head tilted upwards is carved, with the upper right part detached, and crossed arms with some missing fingers.


    Emerging from the mist, the group once again enters the settlement, which is now completely deserted. While surveying the area, the group notices traces of recent human presence here.


    Soon, in a pit dug on the roadside, the group discovers a mass grave of their shot doubles, nearly matching the number of members in their group. Each member of the group finds their own copy among the partially decomposed bodies. Nearby, they find the body of A, tortured with stab wounds, and the shot copy of C lying on one of the forest paths leading to the psychiatric hospital. D suggests that the sect members had already been in this settlement, killing all the doubles.


    Following this, C confesses that the transition to this reality was made using coordinates she obtained from the cult''s archive, which led to the settlement and were used by the cult as a testing ground for their experiments. The girl assures them that such a step bought them some time to calculate the next coordinates and find a way out of the settlement.


    As they burn the bodies of the doubles in a makeshift pyre, the group questions why the Circle organization conducts its research, resorting to such mass tortures and killings. C recalls regular meetings within the cult, where the circle''s curator, wearing a mask made of mail without eye holes, explained the main goal of the entire organization - to find a path to a reality where all of society''s global problems are solved, and humanity reaches its peak of development.


    The girl admits that she found the cult''s hypocrisy disgusting from the very beginning. In C''s opinion, the Circle is not worthy of the ideal world it is trying to find, conducting inhumane experiments and committing mass murders in the process.


    According to D, confirmed data on the Circle organization is scarce. According to European intelligence agencies, the organization has a global network of pharmaceutical corporations allegedly conducting various brain disease studies. D recalls a report from one of the investigators who died under strange circumstances, describing a legend of the origin of the Circle''s doctrine found on a little-known Japanese thematic forum.


    (FLASHBACK) From the report: Circle members are followers of a Catholic named Matteo Yakov, a theoretical physicist and mathematician who lived somewhere in Eastern Europe during the late Renaissance. His daughter claimed to regularly communicate with angels in her dreams and visions, who could answer any of her questions and predict the future.


    Based on his daughter''s descriptions, the professor created a scheme that could predict the future of others with high accuracy. The scheme, named after its creator, quickly gained popularity among the upper echelons of society, glorifying the scientist among the intellectual elite.


    Soon, the professor''s daughter was found hanged in a barn due to tormenting visions. The deceased daughter, in the form of a phantom, began to appear in her father''s dreams, telling him about the existence of numerous parallel worlds and predicting the imminent arrival of angels in their world. Reflecting his daughter''s words in the scheme, the scientist mathematically proved the existence of parallel realities within the infinite set, where certain disembodied minds had become aware of themselves and their identity.


    Despite having many supporters among European universities, the theory was rejected by the higher scientific community. In the following years, there were mass murders of opponents of Yakov''s theory among prominent scientists and high-ranking officials across Europe, carried out by unknown individuals in cloaks with crossbows.


    Eventually, Matteo Yakov died of syphilis, and his remains were only recently discovered in one of the Spanish monasteries. Modern research into Matteo Yakov''s biography revealed that his contemporaries considered him mentally unstable, and the existence of his daughter was doubted.


    After learning all of this about the Circle''s actions, the group begins to question how so much information about what was happening in the settlement, had remained largely unnoticed by the public. In response to this, C assures them that such reports on the events in the settlement are soberly assessed only by people suffering from the "rabbit hole syndrome" (persistent, evidence-free, escalating belief that some event is happening according to a preplanned conspiracy).


    (PRESENT TIME) While inspecting the attic of one of the houses, A and D stumble upon a box of unopened alcohol. As they drink and smoke a cigarette, D remembers how his double had terrorized the settlement, brutally killing an innocent person during torture. A then points out that D''s double had used similar methods to deal with his own double.


    Suddenly, D aggressively denies all accusations, claiming that after arriving in the city, he was abducted by unknown assailants and held captive by the Circle, from which he barely managed to escape. Not expecting such a reaction, A immediately tries to calm him down, assuring him that he only blames his own double.


    Regaining his composure, D lights another cigarette, claiming that he feels like his past is not real, and some of his actions feel unconscious, as if driven by an irresistible force. As he leaves, D declares that he is ready to do anything to achieve his ultimate goal - the complete destruction of the Circle organization.


    (INSERT) On the ascending staircase, strewn with stone fragments, numerous open vertical chambers are scattered - spheres with ribbed shells, from which severed tubes protrude, oozing an organic fluid.


    A few days later, a sudden outbreak of madness occurs in the city - one of the group members, experiencing severe hallucinations, kills another. Isolating the murderer, the group agrees that such outbreaks will become more frequent due to the absence of the drug that suppressed the symptoms of madness, previously provided by the cult. The group realizes they need to act quickly before they begin to lose their sanity.


    Over the next few days, the group actively prepares for a new transition while C attempts to calculate the necessary coordinates. Early one morning, a well-armed detachment from the Circle enters the settlement.


    4 ¨C 7 (Extra)


    A, wearing the cultist cloak, cleans his P90 while remembering the heart-shaped note that C attached to his message on the fridge, asking him to contact her. Then, A sinks into memories of the last night spent with C.


    (FLASHBACK) Naked, A and C lie in bed after their intimacy, unaware that there is a hidden camera in the room, recording their every move. The couple recalls the last cult gathering: precisely at 11:55, the curator takes two bound men with taped mouths to the podium, who are exact copies of each other, declaring one of them a defector from the Circle''s teachings.


    Exactly at midnight, a shadow with burning blue eyes approaches one of the men. Seizing him by the head with a deadly grip, the shadow stares into the man''s eyes, incinerating him with blue flames before abruptly disappearing.


    (END OF THE COUPLE''S MEMORIES) C repeats the main law of trans-dimensional travel, voiced by the curator at that gathering: in each reality, there can be only one person''s identity. If an outsider who enters a reality does not replace the identity of their counterpart before midnight from the moment of their appearance, they will inevitably be destroyed by the Bleak.


    A asks C to stop talking about this, and C wonders how, after everything that has happened, they can still believe in the Circle. A replies that they have no other choice because only thanks to the cult''s drug have they not yet lost their sanity.


    Trying to persuade A, C assures him that the cult is manipulating everyone for their sinister purposes, intentionally causing addiction to their drug. As she leaves, she tells A that B always reminded her: there is always a choice.


    (PRESENT TIME) Suddenly, one of A''s acquaintances approaches him, informing him of the start of another general assembly at the complex building at 23:00. As they make their way to the meeting place, the two guys discuss C''s disappearance, noting that it''s almost impossible to remain unnoticed among the multitude of surveillance cameras.


    Approaching the building when it''s already dark, the guys observe several cars (Toyota Land Cruiser 200) bearing the insignia of the Circle of the Outcome. A and his companion enter the building, where they are met by the Circle''s curator, wearing a chainmail mask without eye slits under a hood. He leads them through dark corridors to the main hall, filled with a group of recruits.


    The curator takes the stage, surrounded by armed sect members, and announces the recent escape from the cult. He explains that the fugitive managed to learn the test method of trans-dimensional travel and used it to escape. Everyone present realizes he''s talking about C. The curator then informs them that the Circle knows the reality where the fugitive is hiding.


    Concluding the assembly, the curator warns that the actions of the fugitive are dangerous and may have unpredictable consequences, announcing the start of a special mission to eliminate her. In the settlement, the Circle''s overseers provide A and the others with equipment and weapons, warning them that the operation will begin at dawn.


    Alone at home, A ponders the reason for C''s escape. Suffering from insomnia, C replays many memories of the days spent together with her. Finally falling asleep, A has a dream in which C managed to find a way to travel between realities and meets B, accompanied by some humanoid beings.


    Early in the morning, one of the recruits informs A about the assembly''s preparations. From the assembly point, A, along with the others, is taken to the psychiatric hospital building, where they are informed of the mission to eliminate the fugitive.


    The squad is presented with a detailed map of the catacombs beneath the hospital building, which the cultists used to move quickly around the settlement. After receiving another dose of the drug and being escorted to the entrance of one of the tunnel branches, the overseers point out the correct tunnel to the new reality where the fugitive is hiding. Following the tunnel, the squad finds itself on the outskirts of an entirely deserted settlement.


    Following the instructions from the overseers communicated via radios, the squad settles in the settlement and begins searching for the fugitive, activating the surveillance camera system throughout the area. However, days of active searching yield no results, leading some members of the squad to make a failed attempt to return to the previous reality through the same tunnel, which only leads them to a dead end.


    One early morning, the squad notices through the cameras that a large group of their own duplicates, under instructions from the overseers, is approaching, while C, accompanied by a man, disables the video surveillance system. Realizing that after this, C will likely try to hide in the settlement, the squad decides to take action and heads there to complete the operation.


    s to take action and heads there to complete the operation.

 VOLUME 5

    5 - 1


    In a hurry, gathering everything they needed, the group decided to scatter to meet at a common point - the entrance to the psychiatric hospital. Upon entering the settlement, the cultists quickly attempted to block the streets, searching every building. Bursting into rooms with surveillance camera monitors, the cultists managed to detect the movement of some members of the group.


    At the same time, A, along with C and D, headed towards the hospital through the forested area. A questioned the girl about how the cult had found them again, despite all her promises, to which the girl remained silent and continued on her way. Seeing this, D asked the guy to hold off on the interrogation.


    Meanwhile, several members of the group were caught on the camera of a quadcopter and were shot by the cultists. Spotting the quadcopter, D ordered the others to run immediately. Upon reaching the hospital building, the trio noticed the absence of some comrades at the meeting point, realizing that they had become victims of the cult''s group.


    Following C, the group entered the building and soon found themselves at the entrance to one of the catacomb branches. V informed the others that, judging by the calculations on Jacob''s scheme, which she had managed to make, this branch would lead them to one of the alternate realities.


    Moving through the dark corridor, after some time, the group reached the surface, finding themselves once again on one of the streets of the settlement. Having evaded the threat of pursuit, the group began to celebrate.


    At the same time, C noticed how one of the girls rejoiced at finding her phone, only to realize with horror that they had not transitioned to a new reality, but had returned to the settlement. A few seconds later, the girl who had found the phone fell dead from multiple gunshots.


    Gunfire erupted, and several more people were killed. The remaining group panicked and fled back into the catacomb tunnels, where they got separated from each other.


    C was knocked down and lost her glasses in the resulting commotion. Due to her worsening vision, she fought her way out of the group, finding herself alone in the dark catacombs.


    (INTERLUDE) Somewhere underwater, in the dark depths among the ruins of ribbed structures and the remains of certain beings, chains are attached to the bottom, pulling transparent spheres upwards. Inside these spheres, humanoid embryos can be seen.


    Hearing familiar voices somewhere at the end of the corridor, the girl immediately ran towards them, emerging once again in the settlement. C took refuge in one of the houses, where A, D, and several other group members were also located. Lighting a cigarette, D informed the girl that the area seemed safe, and apparently, those present had managed to reach a new reality after all.


    5 - 2


    Suddenly, A led the girl into another room, where he directly accused her of working for the cult and causing the deaths of many people due to their mistaken return to the settlement. He informed her that there were still many members of the group left in the catacombs. D, who had heard the commotion, came in and once again attempted to take C away, but she asked him to leave her be. In tears, the girl admitted that A was right, and all the recent deaths were her fault.


    D reassured her that C was definitely not an accomplice of the cult. During the interrogation of A''s double, he confessed that their group had been sent to find the girl and eliminate the doubles, hoping that the bleak ones would complete their mission. Showing C the round glasses he had found in the catacombs, A mentioned the sudden appearance of her double after the girl had died from the bleak one, claiming that it couldn''t be just a coincidence.


    Noticing her missing glasses, C recalled the teachings of the cult, muttering about the main law of shifting between realities: in each reality, there can only be one person''s unique identity. If a double, entering a reality, doesn''t replace the identity of their counterpart by midnight from the moment of their appearance, they will inevitably be annihilated by the bleak ones.


    After these words, A realized that it was their group that had been alien doubles, surviving only because their counterparts from the circle''s team had died. Only C''s double had remained alive, making her the target of the bleak one.


    C added that the only way to replace one''s double when transitioning to another reality was their physical elimination. The girl admitted that she had never believed in the cult''s teachings, considering it only as a scare tactic to prevent escapes, until she witnessed her double turning to ashes.


    In anger, A questioned C about how the glasses ended up with her, recalling that she had initially approached without them. Not receiving an answer, the guy stated that he was certain that the glasses belonged to the deceased C.


    Unwilling to continue the conversation, A headed for the exit, asking C why she had fled the cult and remained alive. As a parting shot, he called the girl a fake version of C, unworthy of wearing what had belonged to the deceased, taking the glasses with him.


    C asked for forgiveness, admitting that she had been afraid of possible informants from the cult within the group who were tracking her. Shouting after A, the girl declared that she had also lost everyone she knew.


    5 - 3


    In the following week, A, C, and D, along with the remaining survivors, regularly ventured into the catacombs in search of the missing group members. However, their searches yielded no results: neither survivors nor their bodies were found, as if they had never descended into the tunnels.


    During one of their excursions into the catacombs, D slipped from a ledge, suffering multiple fractures in his arm and severe wounds all over his body. While tending to his wounds, the entire group noticed strange tattoos on D''s body, forming a cipher and various chaotic dates. A had a flashback in which he saw identical tattoos on the attackers who ambushed the group.


    When A asked D about the meaning of these tattoos, he replied that they were a way for him to remember the most important events in his life. A grew suspicious but decided to postpone further questioning due to D''s condition.


    Over the next few days, C took care of D while A and the others continued their search. Despite all her efforts, D''s condition deteriorated rapidly, with his wounds becoming infected. During a feverish episode, D, mistaking himself for a journalist, investigator, or tourist, sought his missing daughter or younger sister.


    When D''s condition slightly improved, C attempted to find a connection between his recent delirium and his past. Lighting a cigarette she had given him upon his request, D assured her that he had never had a sister or daughter, and his entire past was dedicated to his service in the French armed forces. What he had experienced puzzled C, as she suspected that during his episode, D had glimpsed the memories of his doppelgangers from parallel realities.


    (INSERT) Horizontally suspended on a gigantic needle, a massive wheel comprised of steel skulls of extraterrestrial creatures was pushed by a multitude of humanoids, moving in a circular motion behind each other.


    Soon, the remaining group began to experience nightmares and hallucinations in which the silhouettes of deceased and missing comrades appeared to them. Paranoia quickly spread through the settlement, making it increasingly difficult for the group to distinguish between the images from their nightmares and hallucinations and reality. At one point, overwhelmed by powerful hallucinations, A lost consciousness.


    5 - 4


    Upon regaining consciousness, A found himself and the entire group on their knees, bound and gagged, surrounded by the cultists of the Circle. When the others came to, one of the cultists in a hooded mask without openings addressed them, claiming that the Circle had saved the group from death by administering a drug that halted the progressing madness that led to complete brain destruction and death.


    C recognized the cultist as her former mentor, the one who had instructed her and the others recruited into the cult. The mentor informed the group that they had been spared for the sake of continuing the research because they were the first to successfully traverse so many realities while retaining their sanity to some extent.


    The cultists then stripped D down to his waist and examined his body, covered in tattoos. The mentor stated that the cult had always known about the group''s plans and whereabouts through D, who was a depersonalized genetic copy of a person who had disappeared without a trace after the first-ever transition to another reality. Mocking, the mentor pointed out that D''s copies had even inherited his addiction to smoking.


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    The copies served as overseers of the groups of subjects sent by the Circle into multiple realities to collect necessary data and eliminate selected targets. D narked himself with new tattoos containing information about mission results, after which his memory was completely erased each time, instilling memories of a non-existent past and forming a new personality, making him unnoticed by the bleak.


    A immediately recalled his conversation with D, where he confessed to the unconscious nature of many of his actions.


    Then the mentor turned to C, thanking her for the journey she had undertaken and acknowledging that the cult had allowed her to escape for a reason. Placing the glasses confiscated from A on the girl, the mentor declared that this was the least he could do for her.


    At that moment, C realized that her escape, meeting A and D, and all subsequent events had been preplanned by the cult. She finally understood that she and the rest of the group had been acting according to the cult''s scheme from the very beginning and had been used as test subjects in its research on the consequences of shifting between realities.


    Displaying the tattoos on his chest, the mentor announced the beginning of a new phase of Operation "Exodus." The group members were to become prototypes for new overseers: each person''s brain would be extracted to create faithful copies for the Circle''s mission. The new overseers would then make contact with the contactee, and angels would follow to manifest in the human reality, marking the beginning of a new era for all of humanity.


    In one moment, D managed to free himself and tear the tape from his mouth. Shouting out some coordinates, D grabbed a pistol from one of the cultists, and, calling on the group to run immediately, opened fire towards the mentor. Seizing the opportunity, the group sprinted away, witnessing the cultists brutally executing D on the spot, calling him another defect.


    C urged them to follow her immediately. The cultists then opened fire on the fleeing group, killing several more people. The survivors followed C through the forested area until they found themselves back in the settlement. As they turned around, C realized that only A and a random girl with her boyfriend had managed to transition with her.


    5 - 5 (Extra Part 1)


    During her time in the cult, C noticed that among the recruited members, there was a small group close to the curator who attended special closed meetings. One evening, she decided to follow one of them in the hope of finding out what the Circle was hiding from the others.


    Her surveillance led her to a research complex beyond the city, where another closed meeting was taking place. During this meeting, the curator, displaying an updated Jacob''s Ladder diagram, announced a new discovery that could bring them closer to the angels and even overcome death. After the curator and a group from the complex left, C gained access to all the materials from the meeting.


    From the archived records, she learned that the now-abandoned psychiatric hospital was initially built for human experiments related to the Exodus Effect. After the revelation of the cruel experiments conducted on patients and the closure of the clinic, the cult established the settlement to continue researching different forms of madness caused by the Exodus of angels.


    C then found records about the death and subsequent autopsy of a certain contactee, a girl resistant to angelic influence and capable of making contact with them. From her brain, the cult had managed to extract the necessary data for further transitions.


    C copied the access code from the room where the girl''s body was stored, as well as a sample of Jacob''s Ladder diagram. She then compared the coordinate system of the scheme with the area map and discovered a pattern: regardless of the axis''s location on the diagram, they always intersected at one point that constantly shifted depending on the time of day and the user''s location while using the scheme.


    In one of the following archives, C found a folder containing detailed coordinates of cleared sectors. Upon hearing footsteps, C photographed all the coordinates from the folder onto her smartphone and then discreetly left the complex.


    Next, C found the necessary complex on the outskirts of the settlement where, according to rumors, the cult transported the bodies of the deceased. Inside, she discovered a control room with surveillance camera recordings from all over the settlement and inside each building. She found a live feed from the house where she had lived with A.


    C continued down the corridors, reaching a room with a chilling atmosphere. Using the access code, she discovered a body covered in cloth, which she lifted to reveal B with her brain exposed and equipped with numerous sensors. C realized that B had been the contactee, suffering from a unique form of madness caused by the Exodus of angels.


    Horrified, she left the complex and made a decision to escape from the cult immediately, heading home. In haste, as she gathered all the essentials, C noticed a message on the fridge from A, asking her to get in touch. Tears welled up in C''s eyes as memories flooded back.


    (FLASHBACK) Naked, C and A discussed recent events after their intimate moment. Reflecting on the cult''s teachings about the existence of multiple parallel dimensions, C theorized about the existence of a reality where B was still alive, hoping she could find a way to reunite with her friend.


    A supported her plan but pointed out that C''s words were just a theory, and their main goal was to save themselves and escape the city. He emphasized that the doppelgangers from parallel realities were not human and encounters with them were extremely dangerous, reminding her of the massacre of their group by the Doppelgangers.


    C assured him that even in the face of danger, she wouldn''t be able to kill her doppelganger or the duplicates of people close to her. A condemned her words and urged her to kill his doppelganger upon meeting and leave the settlement at the first opportunity, even if it meant doing so without him. In response, C promised that they would reunite one way or another. A agreed but warned that when they met, he might not be the same person.


    (PRESENT TIME) After reviewing their joint photos on her phone, C drew a heart on his note on the fridge. Taking her backpack, she soon reached the forested area.


    5 - 5 (Extra Part 2)


    Realizing that at any moment her disappearance could be discovered by the circle, and leaving the settlement was impossible, C quickly charted a path on the map using Jacob''s coordinates. After determining the direction, she ran through the thickets of the forest, soon finding herself on the outskirts of the city once again.


    Doubting the success of her attempt to move to another reality, C fell into despair. Hearing familiar voices, she decided to take shelter in the woods. Spending about two days there, afraid to leave her hiding place and pondering the reasons for the failure of her transition, C noticed suspicious movements in the forest.


    Deciding to investigate the situation, C soon came across D, who was running away from something. D immediately asked her to follow him, catching C off guard. She fled in surprise, leaving D puzzled. Taking cover in the underbrush, C observed as her own duplicate approached D a couple of minutes later.


    Seeing the duplicates, C realized that her transition to another reality had indeed occurred. Recalling the cult''s teachings about the danger of meeting one''s own duplicate, C decided to follow them to plan her next steps.


    Her surveillance led her to a settlement where the traces of the duplicates disappeared. Upon hearing the sounds of a struggle, C headed towards one of the houses where she saw two sect members threatening to shoot members of her group, interrogating them about her whereabouts.


    As soon as they noticed C, they opened fire on her, causing her to drop and shatter her glasses into pieces. This gave the hostages an opportunity to counterattack, and they managed to overpower the sect members and take their weapons. Taking cover behind a wall, C watched as the hoods were removed from the subdued sect members, revealing familiar faces from her past reality. She suspected that they had been sent after her by the cult.


    Shortly afterward, several more sect members burst into the house, taking the group members hostage and mentioning the dispatching surveillance camera where they had observed the events. Realizing that the surveillance room could provide a complete overview of the situation in the settlement, C recalled its location in the complex and headed there.


    Navigating through the corridors of the complex, she noticed the absence of the room where B''s body had been in her previous reality. Upon reaching the empty surveillance room, C saw on one of the screens A from her reality in a circle cloak aiming a weapon at his own duplicate. He then proceeded to shoot the captured group members whom C had recently seen in the house. That''s when C finally understood that this was no longer the A she had known.


    Shortly after, the sect members opened fire on the group members, killing several more people. Afterward, all the duplicate sect members were killed by return fire from an unknown direction, and the surviving group members disarmed A.


    Watching the surveillance screens in horror, C realized that everyone who had been locked in the settlement with her had died as a result of the massacre. Soon, C and D, armed with a scoped rifle, emerged from the thickets and led captive A in an unknown direction. C understood that D was responsible for the massacre of all the recruited group members.


    She couldn''t trace their path through the cameras, so C decided to venture out into the streets of the settlement, looking into the windows of buildings and questioning passersby in search of the location where A''s duplicate had been taken. In response to the group members'' numerous questions about why she always brushed off questions about the dirty raincoat she was wearing, C evaded providing an explanation.


    After several hours, through a window in one of the hangars on the city''s outskirts, C finally discovered A, bound and beaten, with D aiming a pistol at him. Upon noticing C through the window, A immediately urged her to run and complete her plan. As C felt the gaze of her beloved on her, she quickly hid from view, watching as D left the hangar to investigate.


    After A announced that soon only the real A would remain, C heard a gunshot. She finally understood: the A she loved was dead.


    Recalling the final words of her lover, C repeated to herself the fundamental law of movement between realities (that each reality can only contain one person''s identity) and realized A''s plan to kill his own duplicate with the bleak ones.


    C understood that she, along with her group of cultists who had been searching for her, were in this reality until their duplicates arrived, at which point, after midnight, they were to become the victims of the bleak ones. Watching the time approach midnight, C realized that she was the sole survivor of all the arriving sect members, and her duplicate was the next target of the bleak ones.


    Knowing of her love for A, C ran to the only place for their solitude - the house on the outskirts of the city. Approaching the house, she saw A holding charred ashes in his hands. With horror, C realized that she was too late and her duplicate had become a victim of the bleak ones.

 VOLUME 6

    6 ¨C 1


    For the next few days, the four survivors acclimated themselves to the city, attempting to cope with the horror of recent events and the loss of their comrades. A and C got to know the two new survivors better, a young man who turned out to be Austrian and a girl who was French. The young man had been destined for a brilliant career as a conductor, but due to intense parental pressure, he fled to the settlement just before his second concert. Despite a difficult childhood and a somewhat unconventional lifestyle, the French girl found solace in her passion for tattoos, and she had come to the settlement in search of inspiration for her new designs.


    As they discussed the current situation, the remaining quartet concluded that there was a severe shortage of resources. The supplies they found in the settlement would last only a few days at most. At this point, C reminded everyone about the curator''s words regarding the imminent departure of the angels signaled by a mysterious beacon, which seemed to be B.


    C pointed out that it became impossible to leave the settlement precisely after B''s suicide because, following her death, the angels lost the signal source that allowed them to enter our reality. In their efforts to complete the Exodus, the angels deprived everyone of a chance to leave the settlement, completely isolating it in time and space. The French girl was convinced that completing the Exodus was the only way out.


    Explaining her plan, C proposed that the Circle would somehow attempt to locate a copy of B in another reality to complete the Exodus and permanently alter the order of human existence. The girl asserted that the group''s main task was to find a way to meet B before the Circle did, turning the Exodus in their favor and eradicating the cult.


    A objected to the girl''s plan, noting that B had died before the spatial anomaly, and her copies might simply not exist in other realities. C agreed with A''s arguments but insisted that they had no choice but to constantly move between dimensions to prove or disprove their own assumptions.


    To achieve this, the girl planned to teach the entire group how to make independent transitions between realities using the Jacob''s Ladder schema. Feeling obligated to escape the settlement and destroy the cult, the entire group accepted C''s plan.


    After several days of training in the basics of using Jacob''s Ladder, the group attempted another transition to a new reality. C decided to test the group''s new skills by having each member make a separate, independent transition to one of the realities, where they would all reunite.


    Contrary to the conditions, the French girl helped A select the necessary coordinates, and together, they successfully made the transition and met with C. They waited for the Austrian man, who hadn''t appeared.


    Several hours later, blaming herself for the situation, C organized a search for the man, who was soon found by A in a wooded area in a state of complete disorientation. Upon regaining his senses, the Austrian remembered that, apparently, he had mistakenly entered a reality where the city had not yet descended into chaos.


    Recounting the details, the man claimed that he had somehow traveled into the past when everyone he knew was still alive and unaware of the impending madness. An idyllic moment was interrupted by a girl who announced the imminent slaughter in the city. When she spotted the Austrian, she pointed at him in the crowd, after which he suddenly found himself in the forest, where A found him.


    A immediately asked the man to share everything he remembered about the girl who had pointed at him. After her description, both A and C had no doubts: that girl was B. A declared that the Austrian''s account was evidence of the possibility of time travel using Jacob''s Ladder. C agreed, noting that in theory, such a transition was possible.


    6 ¨C 2


    The group then actively explored all the ways to use Jacob''s Ladder, attempting to find a path to the past where B was still alive. Despite their intensified preparation, C doubted the group''s readiness for such a transition, noting that the exact coordinates for such a move were unknown, and it could have irreversible consequences. It remained unclear how the Austrian managed to return. Recognizing all the risks, C constantly hindered the group from making further transitions, causing tension with the others.


    Suddenly, the Circle members reappeared in the settlement. The group immediately followed a pre-prepared plan for such a situation and made a transition to another reality using specific coordinates. Afterward, C warned them that they were safe for a while, but those were their last escape coordinates, and from now on, they needed to act immediately because the Circle could track them down at any moment.


    The group agreed to act together: each of the four would make several transitions per day to specific coordinates to personally determine if they led to the past. C warned the others of the high probability of losing their way back with such frequent transitions, emphasizing that they now had no choice but to be the first to find B.


    C apologized to the group for her earlier lack of confidence in their readiness, thanking everyone for their determination. In response, the group promised to follow C to the end. A added with a grin that C was now worthy of wearing her glasses.


    About three weeks passed, and C analyzed the group''s recent results, realizing that they needed to make even more transitions per day to achieve their goal. Soon, A returned to this reality. She greeted him with questions about how everything had gone, but the man didn''t immediately recognize her or the surroundings. Such symptoms began to affect the entire group, including C.


    (INSERT) Amidst a light mist in space, numerous steel chains stretch and intersect from all sides, converging in the center into a gigantic node vaguely resembling a human head.


    After each new transition, it became increasingly difficult for the quartet to recognize each other, their purpose, and even themselves. Despite this, C assured the others that they had to increase the number of transitions to achieve their goals.


    6 ¨C3


    As they contemplated their next moves, the group discussed what each of them would do if they finally escaped. The Austrian confessed that he wanted to cover his body with tattoos that would serve as reminders of the events he had experienced.


    A reminded him of the opportunity to do so right now, pointing to the French girl. This realization struck the Austrian, and he suggested getting tattoos with essential information about themselves, their mission, and special coordinates that would allow them to return wherever they ended up.


    C recalled the tattoos on the curator''s and D''s bodies, speculating that they had used them as a kind of diary of the coordinates of the realities they had visited. She proposed a similar method, which would allow them to continually update the Jacob''s Ladder schema and find the path to the past.


    The French girl began tattooing the group members, and she trained A to do the same, bringing them closer together. One evening, C caught them engaged in a sexual encounter. Over time, the bodies of each group member became covered in rows of tattoos. Due to a lack of space for new tattoos, the group began to tattoo their faces and over existing designs.


    One day, A asked the French girl to tattoo a cross on him, which he would take with him no matter what happened. A bit embarrassed, she still complied with his request.


    During one of their transitions using Jacob''s Ladder coordinates, A noticed a shadowy figure staring intensely at him from the forest. Subsequently, A and the others began regularly describing the shadowy figures who appeared to be observing them, suspecting that they saw the group''s actions as a violation of the natural laws of the cosmos.


    C shared her theory that the shadowy figures, known as "the Bleak," had been responsible for the emergence of the "ominous valley" effect in humanity for a long time. They had human-like characteristics and posed a threat to humans. The girl recalled records from the cult''s archives claiming that the Bleak had existed since the very beginning of time in the universe.


    6 ¨C 4


    (INSERT) Four desiccated bodies, wearing chainmail masks without eye openings, are linked together by numerous chains, sitting on the ground with their legs crossed and their backs against each other.


    Due to the frequent transitions, the group began to suffer from regular amnesia, sometimes not even recognizing each other. They were only able to partially regain their memory through the new tattoos they received.


    Making a dozen transitions per day, the group still failed to find any leads to B. C struggled with these failures and blamed herself entirely for them.


    One evening, the group didn''t wait for the Austrian to return from his latest transition. The remaining trio expended all their efforts searching for him, making transitions to all the last coordinates he had used. Despite their efforts, the man was never found, disappearing without a trace. C took this disappearance especially hard, vowing to uncover the reason behind it. Resigned to another loss, the remaining trio tattooed the Austrian''s initials on their bodies in his memory.


    The French girl decided to help C relieve tension. C agreed, and the two spent an evening together, applying makeup and creating new hairstyles for each other to regain a sense of femininity and relaxation, if only for a moment.


    (INSERT) Numerous chains hanging from the ceiling among the ice hold semi-mechanical hands frozen in ice blocks, which are gathered in a chainmail sheet lying below.


    The settlement became lively again after a large influx of new visitors. A spent time with his new acquaintances. While walking through the streets, A noticed a stranger in the crowd who stared intently at him, dressed in ragged clothing. Continuing his movement, A perceived the stranger as just another eccentric, which had become common in the settlement lately.


    On the same evening, at a large party in one of the houses, A saw the same stranger in a raincoat again, watching him from a distance. A decided to find out the stranger''s motives and approached him.


    Seeing A approaching, the man in the ragged raincoat fled. Pursuing the stranger, A realized he had distanced himself quite far from the others. Catching up with the stranger, who stumbled over a stone, A saw under his hood an exact replica of himself. The doppelganger began questioning him about a girl named B.


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    A perceived what was happening as a hallucination, due to the substances he had recently taken. As he got closer, the doppelganger persistently demanded an answer to his question. A replied that he had never seen her before, pushing the doppelganger away and removing his cloak.


    Seeing a large knife concealed and an emaciated body covered in inexplicable tattoos, including a small gothic cross on the left shoulder, A panicked and yelled for help. The doppelganger quickly caught up to him, delivering several knife blows. Watching from a distance, his friends rushed to his aid, but A died from his wounds.


    The group met the panting A, who had worn the ragged raincoat, and he explained that he had wanted to prank the others by dressing up as a maniac and simulating the cries of his victim. The group didn''t appreciate A''s prank and advised him to use fewer substances.


    A, along with the others, returned to the party, where he began to search the house for any signs of B. Suddenly, a small dog belonging to one of the attendees growled at A and bit his hand. As they treated his hand, the group noticed the numerous tattoos on A''s body and began questioning him about their origin.


    A tried to explain that he had tattooed them as reminders of his visits to the settlement. Barking and running outside, the dog disappeared into the underbrush. The group found it shortly afterward, discovering something hidden in the foliage. Upon closer inspection, they saw a bloody body, and it was A''s lifeless form.


    6 ¨C 5


    Opening his eyes, A sees C, who helped him come to his senses. They hardly remembered anything about each other, meeting as if for the first time. Examining the tattoos on their bodies, they manage to recall some memories about themselves and their past.


    Recovered, A asserts that he managed to travel to the past through certain coordinates, but it seemed that B wasn''t there. C notices the bite marks on A''s hand and asks him to recount the recent events. A confesses that he remembers very little about what happened, pointing to the fresh tattoos with the coordinates of his last transition.


    While inspecting A to analyze the last coordinates he received, C notices numerous scars all over his body. Afterward, she experiences multiple fragmented flashbacks, one of which involves the slashing of a girl''s throat.


    Pointing at the unfamiliar initials, C questions A about his memories of them. He withdraws into himself for a while, admitting that even after dozens of transitions, these scars don''t let him forget that night.


    (FLASHBACK) One night, a group of four unknown individuals, their faces concealed behind mime masks, forcibly entered the house where the group was sheltered. Breaking into every room, the intruders attacked and bound all the group members, leading them to the living room.


    After removing their masks in front of the shocked group, they revealed their extremely emaciated copies in tatters with clear mental deviations. Among them was the still-living doppelganger of the Austrian. The subsequent copy of C ordered the other doppelgangers to strip the entire group naked for inspection.


    (PRESENT TIME) In the course of their conversation, A claims that it was after that night he became capable of killing his doppelgangers, seeing them as the worst versions of himself. In response, C speculates that the encountered doppelgangers became what they are due to various horrifying circumstances, unable to escape an endless nightmare. The pair realizes that, despite everything, they must retain their humanity to stop the cycle of horror.


    (FLASHBACK) Stripping the captives of all their clothes, the doppelgangers noted that this was the first time they had encountered a group with so many coordinates tattooed on their bodies. Simultaneously, the copy of the French girl, searching the house, informed the other doppelgangers about the discovery of ample supplies of food and other provisions, suggesting leaving the prisoners for later.


    C horror-strickenly assumes that the group of their doppelgangers ¨C cannibal sadists ¨C hunts their counterparts to collect new coordinates, followed by killing and consuming them. A copy of C immediately addresses her, warning that it knows all her suspicions and can predict her every action in advance.


    Examining the naked and bound girls, the Austrian and A''s doppelganger begin to molest them. The French girl manages to free her mouth from the rope and, resisting, bites the Austrian and pushes away A''s doppelganger. Afterward, the two of them beat and sexually assault her.


    (PRESENT TIME) Covering the walls since there was almost no space left on their bodies, C compares all the available data, attempting to calculate the required path. The couple realizes that their condition is rapidly deteriorating. Each of them is haunted by constant nightmares of recent events and hallucinations of the horrors they have experienced.


    (FLASHBACK): Lying on the floor in complete despair, A and C can''t believe that there are versions of themselves capable of such actions. Copy C instructs the other doppelgangers to temporarily stop, demanding that the prisoners tell them everything they know about the search for B in the past.


    During this time, the French girl manages to secretly free herself from the ropes using a blade stolen from the Austrian during her assault. Seizing an opportunity, she attacks the Austrian, but he manages to evade her, leaving him with a severe facial cut. Afterward, the other doppelgangers pin her to the ground and brutally beat her.


    (PRESENT TIME): Writing on the walls since there was no space left on their bodies, C compared all the available data, trying to calculate the necessary path. The couple realizes that their condition is rapidly deteriorating: each of them is haunted by constant nightmares of recent events and hallucinations of the horrors they have experienced.


    During one of their evening conversations, C shares her constant feeling of guilt that gnaws at her. The girl claims that the Austrian, like others who went missing in the catacombs while escaping from the cult, fell victim to the phenomenon of inaccessibility - a phenomenon in which space narrows during the transition to another reality over time, making it physically accessible only to a limited number of people. From her calculations, C suspected the existence of such a phenomenon, but she still took the risk, which cost the lives of many group members.


    A asks the girl not to blame herself because the entire group always had only one choice: to take a risk or die. C reminds him that her decisions killed everyone except her, and she will never forgive herself for it, considering it her duty to find B, even if it means sacrificing herself. (FLASHBACK) In a fit of rage, C curses her duplicates, wishing them death. C''s copy reminds her that they are a group that has gone through many empty spaces, suffering from thirst and hunger, and literally feeling time stand still, trying to find a way out of inaccessibility.


    Meanwhile, A notices silhouettes in the distance through the window, looking at them from the side. Realizing that the duplicates standing behind the wall remain unnoticed, the guy begins to look for a way to expose them to the gaze of the pale ones.


    Also noticing the pale ones and understanding A''s plan, C tries to create a moment, quoting her own copy, mockingly asking her about her further actions. After that, A gives his duplicate a sharp push towards the window. The pale ones instantly enter the house and incinerate C''s duplicate and A. In horror, the Austrian leaves the house, rushing out through the backyard.


    (PRESENT TIME) Driven by her paranoia, C refuses to sleep, working tirelessly. Without remembering the reason for her haste, the girl was sure that she and A needed to calculate the necessary coordinates to find their way to B as quickly as possible.


    Soon, C marks herself and A with coordinates that are highly likely to lead to B. After that, she shares her premonition that they have no more time for calculations, and soon they will be pursued. A shares the girl''s premonition, admitting that he is haunted by similar thoughts. Understanding that another transition awaits them, the couple tattoos their initials on each other''s wrists and an instruction to find B.


    The girl asks A for forgiveness for killing the real C with her appearance, whom he once loved. In response, A declares that he holds no grudge against the girl, confessing that he does not remember another C besides her.


    On the same night, naked C enters A''s room, kissing him on the lips. After that, they have sex.


    (FLASHBACK) The Frenchwoman, laughing hysterically, looks at her duplicate''s body and her hands, realizing that she has managed to avoid death. Coming to her senses and realizing the loss of all her comrades, she takes a blade and, in a fit of rage, heads towards the bound captives, mercilessly scourging A.


    6 - 6


    (PRESENT TIME) Barely opening his eyes, A watches as C in panic tries to bring him back to consciousness after another bout of visions and hallucinations. Finally, bringing the guy to his senses, C informs him that outsiders have infiltrated the settlement, and they need to leave urgently.


    Suddenly, a barrage of gunfire erupts around the house, forcing the couple to take cover on the floor. Through broken windows and holes in the wall, it becomes visible that a group of cultists is slowly approaching the house, among which the couple notices the curator, pointing the barrel of a gun at the Austrian''s temple with a large scar on his face.


    At this moment, C''s memories of the Austrian''s escape partially return. The girl realizes the reason for her paranoia: all this time, she subconsciously feared that the cult would discover the fugitive Austrian, who would lead them here.


    The pair slowly makes their way to the back exit, leaving the partially destroyed house. C and A agree to move only according to the latest coordinates, no matter what happens.


    The coordinates lead the pair to an abandoned psychiatric hospital. Their path falls into the sights of a high-flying quadcopter circle, after which the curator and a group of cultists descend into the city catacombs.


    While moving, C assumes that each time the circle only sent a small group to capture them, fearing the loss of a large number of people due to the phenomenon of inaccessibility. The girl voices her plan, according to which the couple''s transition to another reality will provoke inaccessibility, which will prevent the cultists from following them.


    Entering the building, the couple, without separating, moves through the corridors to the lower level of the hospital, where they enter the catacombs and reach the main junction, where the cult awaited them. Barely noticing A and C, the Austrian demands that they deal with them immediately. After that, the curator thanks the Austrian for his cooperation and kills him with a shot to the head. Pointing the gun at the couple, the curator notes the number of tattoos on their bodies, announcing his plans to skin them along with all the coordinates.


    At this moment, noticing the fragility of a large wooden board beneath them, C asks A to jump with her immediately. C''s plan works: under their combined weight, the board breaks, and the couple falls to the lowest level of the catacombs.


    During the fall, A injures his leg, making further movement difficult for him. Leaning on A''s shoulder, C continues the journey with him, following the coordinates and illuminating their path with a phone flash. Knowing that they will be pursued, the couple tries to confuse their tracks by constantly moving between different branches of the catacombs.


    Exhausted, the couple stops to catch their breath. Checking the coordinates on the scheme of Jacob tattooed on her palm, C informs that the transition point is somewhere nearby. Hearing movement around them, the pair realizes that, divided, the cultists will eventually track them down. C reminds A of their agreement to follow the coordinates no matter what and then asks the boy to continue moving through this tunnel, planning to distract the group of cultists herself. When A asks her to stop talking as if saying goodbye, the girl promises that they will definitely reunite soon, offering her glasses to the boy. A strongly reacts to such an action by the girl, refusing to take the glasses, repeating that they belong only to her. Smiling, C confidently takes back her glasses.


    Limping, the boy heads up the tunnel. Turning around at the girl''s words about how A was the version of herself that she loved, the boy sees her silhouette moving away.


    As A moves through the tunnel, he hears C''s voice and the subsequent sounds of gunshots, realizing that C is no longer there. Overwhelmed by the feeling of another loss and his own helplessness, a solitary tear runs down A''s cheek. The boy recalls C''s plan to create inaccessibility, realizing that she never planned to leave this reality from the beginning, leaving that possibility only for him.


    In anger, A loudly asks C why she did this, not finding another solution. Hearing the boy''s cries, the cultists immediately head after him.


    With the last of his strength and overcoming the pain, A picks up the pace, reaching a rusty steel ladder leading up to a rusty hatch. Opening the hatch, A finds himself on the surface in a forested wilderness. The rays of the early rising sun blind him, and he loses consciousness.


    (FLASHBACK) The entire room is splattered with blood from numerous cuts on A''s body, as he continues to resist. One of the blows, the Frenchwoman cuts the ropes on A''s hands, after which he manages to grab the blade from the attacker. Arriving C pushes her in the back, causing her to stumble upon the blade A is holding, and the girl almost instantly dies, drenching the boy in her blood.

 VOLUME 7

    7 - 1


    Unaware of what is happening, A aimlessly wandered through the settlement, surveying the lively sunlit streets. Passersby paid little attention to the strange, limping guy in a semi-daze, as the city was actively filled with non-conformists from all over Europe.


    Feeling the heat of the summer, A takes off his worn-out warm clothes. A random passerby is shocked by the number of scars and tattoos on A''s body, making him look at himself from a different perspective.


    Examining his hands, completely covered in various numerical markings and symbols, A experiences a severe headache from fragmented flashbacks of a destroyed settlement, the deaths of encountered passersby, and the directive to find B.


    Noticing the initials "C" on his wrist, A recalls her death and the directive to find B. Promising that C''s death will not be in vain, A heads towards the familiar path to the house on the outskirts.


    Finding the right house, A immediately knocks on the door, asking to let him in. Sensing an inexplicable threat from the stranger who opened the door for him, A immediately lunges at him, bringing him down to the floor.


    Starting to strangle him with both hands, A sees in the face of the stranger his own reflection from the past, realizing that he is his suffocating doppelganger. Releasing his double, A notices the slow approach of dark silhouettes in the distance, feeling a chilling fear.


    Closing the doors and covering the windows, A interrogates him about the whereabouts of B. After catching his breath, the double immediately grabs a knife, claiming that he knows nothing about her, and calling A a psycho.


    Noticing the striking resemblance between himself and A, the doppelganger falls into a stupor. Taking advantage of the situation, A directly tells the doppelganger that he is the version of himself from a possible horrifying future.


    To make sure of the reality of meeting his own duplicate, the doppelganger asks A to disclose a fact about himself that only he would know. A couldn''t remember much about himself from the past, revealing only that he had always liked women''s legs. In the end, A manages to gain the doppelganger''s trust, but he finally realizes that due to chronic amnesia, he has lost much of his identity.


    7 ¨C 2


    The doppelganger bombards A with questions about his condition and origin. Due to the rush of memories, A experiences another severe headache, after which he briefly recounts the horrifying events of the future, promising the doppelganger a repetition of his fate and the inevitable death of everyone he knows in this settlement if they fail to prevent B''s suicide.


    Pondering, the doppelganger retrieves his phone, showing A a message from the homeowner warning about the arrival of a new guest tomorrow, who was mistakenly assigned to the same house. After reading the message multiple times, A realizes with horror that he won''t survive until B''s arrival tomorrow because he will be consumed by the bleakness exactly at midnight.


    Devastated, A leaves the house, leaving his doppelganger in utter confusion. A wanders the city, trying to find the strength to come to terms with his impending death and the failure of the mission for which C sacrificed her life.


    The doppelganger finds A sitting on a bench in a local park. Sitting down next to him, he attempts to start a conversation. Meanwhile, an unknown observer (revealed to be D) watches them from a distance, remaining unnoticed. A confesses to his companion that he has failed the most crucial mission of his life, dooming himself and other versions of himself to eternal suffering, and that he will be incinerated tonight at exactly midnight, as someone foreign to this reality.


    The doppelganger doesn''t take A''s words seriously, brushing them off with humor. A understands his behavior, admitting that he himself would never have believed his own story before.


    Suddenly, the doppelganger pushes A off the bench, saving him from a stray bullet, pointing to the area where he noticed the shooter. After that, as they watch the setting sun, A urges them to return home immediately. Commenting on the situation, the doppelganger declares that this is the craziest day of his life, one he will never forget.


    As they head towards the house, A suspects the involvement of the cultists in the assassination attempt. He then declares the need to stop the Circle of Outcome cult, which founded this city as a platform for exploring the consequences of outcomes in our world by the angels, beings that exist outside of time and space, capable of guiding reality towards any desired outcome.


    7 - 3


    Upon reaching the doorstep of the house, A refuses to take shelter inside, despite all of the doppelganger''s pleas. Instead, he asks the doppelganger to protect the incoming girl named B from the cult since she is a contactee¡ªa person capable of direct communication with the angels. A warns that if B is captured by the cult, they will use her for irreversible reality-altering, enslaving millions of people.


    The clocks inside the house show 11:55. A strips down to his torso, surveying the panorama of the settlement from a hill. At this moment, the unknown observer once again watches the situation from a distance. In A''s mind, memories of a romance with C from before her immolation flicker.


    (FLASHBACK) Naked, A and C discuss recent events. The girl promises that she will get A and the others out of the city, no matter what it takes.


    (PRESENT TIME) A addresses the doppelganger, persuading him not to let B commit suicide due to the constant visions of a terrible future sent to her by the angels. As he steps onto the porch of the house, A notices the outlines of C''s incineration by the bleakness in this very spot.


    As he watches the approaching bleak entities, A recalls C''s final moments in the catacombs. He thanks the girl for fulfilling her promise and helping him retain his identity.


    The clocks in the house strike midnight. A expresses hope that the doppelganger won''t forget their encounter and will do everything to avoid becoming his copy. Afterward, A is instantly surrounded by the bleak entities. One of the entities, with outlines resembling A himself, grabs his head and incinerates him with blue flames, staring directly into his eyes.


    Recording A''s demise, D sends an unknown four-digit code. Within minutes, he receives a response message with further instructions to monitor the situation in the settlement in anticipation of the imminent operation to capture the contactee.


    7 - 4


    Approaching the doorstep, B, confirming the correctness of the chosen house, knocks on the door several times. When A appears for the first time, he immediately addresses B by name, inviting her into the house, which surprises the girl as she hasn''t had a chance to introduce herself yet.


    (INSERT) From the torn abdomen of a humanoid covered in frost, missing the upper part of its body up to the stomach, an icy dead embryo emerges along with tubes and organic fluid that haven''t completely come out.


    During their introduction, B is reluctant to engage in conversation, perceiving A''s words and actions with some apprehension. Trying to establish a connection with the girl, A decides to show her around the house. During the tour, A claims that this house and the entire settlement are excellent places for relaxation. Despite his statement, he looks tired and despondent, which B notices. A confesses that shortly after arriving in the city, he began having the same surreal dream in which a certain silhouette warns him about the imminent invasion of the Circle of Outcome, a cult intending to alter reality for all of humanity.


    Realizing that he might have said too much and made himself appear insane, A attempts to justify himself, attributing his condition to frequent late-night walks. After hearing this, B thanks him for the tour and goes upstairs to her bedroom. A decides to let the situation go, heading into the settlement to recover from what has transpired. He stops at the very bench where the silhouette in his nightmares always appears. Analyzing recent events, A realizes that the silhouette''s predictions have begun to come true.


    Over the next few days, A and B avoid contact with each other, crossing paths in various places throughout the settlement. Soon, A, along with a group of acquaintances, attends a large party, where he notices B in the company of an unfamiliar friend. As he drinks, he watches the two girls through the lights of the music.


    Unexpectedly, one of the girls, B''s friend, approaches A. She introduces herself as C and informs him that B pointed to A as her roommate, asking him to escort her intoxicated friend home. When A meets the girl, he experiences a powerful sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu: despite meeting C for the first time, it feels like they have known each other for a long time.


    Approaching B, A notices a man in his thirties questioning her about how long she has been in the city. Presenting his officer''s identification, the man introduces himself as D, claiming to be the local order keeper, and wanted to offer his assistance upon seeing her in such a state. C politely declines his offer. Leading B away from the party, A and C agree that D doesn''t inspire trust.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Escorting B to her home and tucking her in, A suggests that C spend the night in one of the vacant rooms in the house. C agrees, admitting that she hasn''t yet decided where to stay, as she arrived in the settlement today upon B''s invitation.


    7 - 5


    Later that night, B comes to the living room where A was sleeping. She explains that she decided to visit the settlement to confront the nightmares and anxiety that have been plaguing her. However, her arrival only worsens the situation. B had been trying to avoid sleep because her nightmares, now indistinguishable from reality, depict the settlement descending into chaos, with everyone in it dying horrific deaths. She hadn''t shared this with anyone before, fearing the stigma of being labeled as insane, and only confided in A after he told her about the silhouette that visits him in his dreams.


    Initially, A dismisses B''s words as drunken nonsense, but he quickly realizes that the girl is speaking quite lucidly. Recalling the silhouette''s instructions to prevent B''s suicide at all costs, A reassures her that he doesn''t consider her mentally unstable.


    This disconcerts B further, as she realizes that A knew her name beforehand, as if the silhouette had informed him. At B''s request, A recalls that, according to the silhouette, all the nightmares and images she sees are signs and messages from the angels¡ªbeings capable of altering reality. After hearing this, C speculates that the occasional whispers she hears might also belong to the angels.


    In their attempt to make sense of what''s happening, the two agree that their symptoms of madness began after their arrival in the city. Thanks to the conversation with A, B finds more confirmation for her theory that her nightmares have a prophetic nature.


    Understanding the urgent need to escape the settlement, B expresses dissatisfaction with C''s recent arrival, as she repeatedly told her friend about her bad premonitions regarding the impending nightmare and asked her not to come here. Unable to contain her anger, C bursts into the living room, stating that she came to the settlement because she sensed B needed help, and overheard their conversation, confirming her decision.


    C''s sudden appearance angers B even more. She confesses that C''s arrival has intensified her anxiety, which she had been trying to alleviate at the last party with alcohol. In response, C accuses B of distrust, noting that she preferred to confide in a stranger rather than her longtime friend. Following this, C states that she doesn''t consider B crazy and is willing to help her, no matter what. Since their school days, a mental connection had developed between them, allowing them to sense each other''s moods and emotions. These words touch B, and she apologizes for causing everyone distress, revealing that she and C plan to leave the city in the morning and suggests that A do the same.


    (INSERT) The gates, covered in frost, made of light gray stone with metallic symbols and alien figures carved into them, couldn''t close due to the desiccated corpse of a humanoid trapped between the doors.


    Several hours later, B, drenched in cold sweat and trying to sleep, hears whispers in an unfamiliar language growing louder, compelling her to open her eyes. She cracks open the window and sees, with the early dawn, a multitude of humanoid silhouettes rapidly approaching her.


    Seeing what''s coming, B succumbs to a panic attack. Upon hearing the girl''s screams from adjacent rooms, A and C quickly gather around. Feeling a sharp drop in temperature, they watch as B, without blinking, gazes into the distance through an open window where a gradually intensifying snowfall has begun.


    The whispers that B hears become unbearably loud. Despite all attempts to stop her, she rushes out of the house, donning her raincoat, and stops not far from the porch.


    7 ¨C 6


    Frozen in place, B peers through the snow at the approaching group of levitating humanoid beings, distinguishable by primary male and female characteristics in their bodies, composed of ribbed plates and living silvery flesh, fused together with some mechanisms. All the humanoids have perfectly smooth silvery bodies and lack mouths, concealed by ribbed plates. Female specimens feature long metallic nails and heels fused with their soles, along with semi-exposed busts made of ribbed plates (in the style of H.R. Giger''s works).


    In the eyes of A and C, who rush onto the porch after the girl, the creatures arrange themselves in front of B, forming a space with ribbed walls, similar to their plates. In this space, time stands absolutely still for everything and everyone except the humanoids and B (such temporal spaces essentially don''t exist).


    Periodically merging with the surfaces of the space, the humanoids transmit visions of tragic future events to B, occurring in numerous parallel realities. Overwhelmed by excruciating pain, B starts to bleed from her nose. Upon witnessing how the cult''s actions inevitably lead to the death of everyone in the settlement, the girl whispers her plea to the humanoids.


    Suddenly, B is blinded by a powerful flash of light, causing her to faint. After that, the otherworldly space and the humanoids vanish instantly, and time resumes its normal flow. D, who arrives in time, attempts to carry B away in an unknown direction.


    Noticing this, A and C quickly intervene to stop the man. When asked to release the girl, D claims that he must protect her from the Circle of Origin, a powerful organization that founded this settlement to find the Contactee ¨C a person capable of realizing the physical existence of angels and establishing direct contact with them.


    Carrying the unconscious girl in front of him, the man explains that, judging by the sudden temperature drop and intense gamma radiation, an "origin event" occurred in this area. This event involves angels manifesting in our reality through the signals of the Contactee, whom, according to D, is none other than B. D''s theory proved correct: by creating a powerful directed beam of light, he manages to interrupt the origin event since only the speed of light is sufficient to intrude into the angels'' otherworldly space.


    A recalls the silhouette of the Circle of Origin from his nightmares, demanding more information about the situation from D. The man asserts that, working in the Spanish authorities, he dedicated years to investigating the Circle, suspecting their involvement in the disappearance of his sister, who vanished in this town eight years ago. D vows to do everything in his power to thwart the cult''s plans and seek revenge for his sister''s disappearance.


    Suddenly regaining consciousness, B urges A and C to flee immediately, revealing that D is working for the Circle. D vehemently denies this, insisting that he has always been a staunch opponent of the cult.


    The girl claims that in the visions sent by the angels, in numerous realities, copies of D, unaware of their true purpose, were used by the cult as informants. Their main mission was to identify the Contactee among newcomers to the settlement. These copies of D are biological clones of a single person, created by the Circle, who implanted false pasts and objectives to divert suspicion from themselves.


    As evidence of her claims, B points to D''s numerous tattoos, which he unconsciously used as a diary, meticulously concealed. Stripping down to his torso, D displays his body, completely covered in numerous brief inscriptions with dates and timestamps.


    The man comes to terms with B''s truth, struggling to accept that he himself had found B for the cult and that his sister and past were never real. D hands over the car keys to the trio, instructing them to leave the town immediately. Multiple laser pointers are trained on D, followed by gunfire, causing D to collapse lifeless.


    All three immediately make a run for it. Pressing a button on a remote, they hear the car''s alarm activate among the trees and head towards it.


    Inside the car, the group notices bullet holes and realizes it''s malfunctioning. Within seconds, numerous laser beams are aimed at them.


    Obeying the sect members'' orders, all three quickly find themselves captured. Subsequently, one of the cult members reports via radio the capture of the Contactee.


    (INSERT) The desiccated head of a humanoid made of flesh and machinery, with an empty eye socket on one side, holds a cocoon of pulsating living tissue with a metallic valve protruding from it, connected by protruding wires covered in semi-decomposed flesh.


    7 ¨C 7


    The clouds had been lingering over the settlement for many days, which the Circle had completely isolated from the outside world. They had begun conducting new experiments on the remaining arrivals who suffered from various mental disorders following the interrupted Angelic Event.


    Among the test subjects were A and C, on whom they studied the reason for the relative stability of their sanity when in proximity to B. B herself was completely isolated from the other test subjects, kept under constant observation in a special research complex.


    Placing the girl in an artificial coma after interrogations about her contact with angels, the cult studied the structure of her brain as her insanity worsened. Each time she lost consciousness, B found herself back in the otherworldly realm, where, having realized the threat the cult posed to humanity through her visions, she pleaded with the angels to physically erase the organization known as the Circle and all their activities from reality.


    At the next meeting of the Circle''s research leaders, it was announced that the organization had successfully proven the theory of the angels'' orientation during the Angelic Event, towards the signals of the contactee''s mind, whose brain structure remotely resembled the hypothetical Boltzmann brain. Additionally, thanks to the contactee, new data had been discovered that confirmed the theory of the materialization of the Boltzmann brain into the form of angels who had become aware of their existence beyond time and space.


    Further information was relayed to the highest council of the cult, but there was no response. It was then reported that there was a complete lack of information about the cult members and the test subjects, and the research division remained isolated from the outside world at all levels. Commenting on the report, the assembly members speculated that the observations mentioned were the result of the interrupted "D Event" and decided to continue monitoring the situation.


    One of the research leaders present at the meeting suggested that, in this reality, the cult members and the test subjects were extraterrestrial objects, as it seemed they simply did not exist in this reality, making them a direct target for the eradication by the Bleak. The other assembly members rejected their colleague''s claims, pointing out that if the theory were true, they would have already been incinerated.


    (INSERT) The image is divided into two parts: on the left side, amidst mist and gas emissions, there is an intricate labyrinth seen from a bird''s-eye view, with numerous damaged corridors leading to a gigantic empty square in the center. On the right side, there is a corridor extending to the next similar turn of the labyrinth, on the smooth, light stone walls of which numerous humanoid faces of various shapes and forms are unevenly carved into continuous rows.


    B is pulled out of another coma by a cult member who had urged her to save him from the Bleak who had descended upon the settlement, incinerating everyone in their path. Finding herself on the streets of the settlement, under a clear night sky with stars, B horrifyingly witnesses how numerous people, including the cult member who had freed her, become victims of the Bleak.


    B remembers her plea to erase the cult and all its experiments from this reality, realizing that what is happening is the result of her wish granted by the angels. Afterward, she immediately sets out to search for A and C.


    Soon, B discovers them among the last surviving individuals who were being tracked by the Bleak. A and C notice her, call out to her, and pretend to be part of the Bleak. In front of B''s eyes, the Bleak incinerate the entire remaining group.


    Then the Bleak surround B, and she sees the silhouettes of all her deceased friends, including A and C. In desperation, B begs to be incinerated as well, but the Bleak quickly disappear, leaving her alone in a completely deserted settlement. Following this, B experiences a nervous breakdown, tearing her hair out as she realizes that by requesting the erasure of the Circle from reality, she had killed all her friends, lamenting over A''s skull crumbling into ashes.

 VOLUME 8

    8 - 1


    In the large hall of the hospital for special patients with rare forms of mental disorders, gathered patients are watching the evening news, which reports on the mysterious disappearance of all visitors to a tourist settlement in northwestern Czechia that happened 9 years ago. The news shows numerous posters posted about the search for all the missing individuals. The police are still unaware of all the circumstances of this mass disappearance, and there are no new leads, except for the discovery of a young girl with complete amnesia found at the scene, who is currently being held in a special closed institution for mentally ill individuals.


    In her room, B also hears this report, continuing to draw something with white chalk near the back of her bed (the drawing resembles a part of Jacob''s Ladder). She has to stop her activity during the regular evening rounds of the patients.


    The doctor hands B the prescribed medications, noticing the wall next to the girl''s bed covered in drawings. At that moment, B remains silent, gazing vacantly to the opposite end of the room. The doctor rhetorically inquires about the meaning of these drawings. At night, B discreetly washes away the medications she has been hiding under her tongue.


    Within the walls of the hospital, B suffers from insomnia due to the constantly resurfacing memories of the entire group''s death by the bleak ones and her numerous interrogations regarding this incident. During these interrogations, she had to pretend to be insane due to her paranoia about the presence of new followers who had emerged after the circle''s demise. The girl reminds herself once again of her refusal to take all medications, including the sedative, in order to maintain a clear mind.


    In her dreams, the girl sees fragments of her meetings with the angels and events from countless realities in which C, with the help of Jacob''s Ladder, attempted to lead the group out of the settlement. Remembering some fragments from these dreams, C tries to reproduce Jacob''s Ladder''s scheme to find a way out at the moment when she first arrived at the settlement, hoping to prevent the entire settlement''s demise.


    B constantly receives offers for meetings from various media outlets. However, she rejects all of them, preferring to occasionally meet with her parents, with whom she also had to simulate her unstable condition. One particular persistent individual is a blogger named E, who regularly sends B requests for a meeting, asking for her help in completing the investigation of the mass disappearance incident in the settlement on her GoodArtAss channel. Despite E''s numerous claims that she possesses exclusive information about the settlement incident, B turns her down every time, considering it just an excuse for a meeting.


    Attending numerous procedures and therapies, B tries to dedicate all her free time to drawing fragments of Jacob''s Ladder from memory on the wall near her bed''s backrest. The other patients hardly pay any attention to B''s actions, considering them just another symptom of the girl''s psychological disorder.


    Only one elderly man, suffering from schizophrenia and talking to himself, directly accuses B of killing his friends and simulating her condition during his episodes, urging the girl to take more chalk from him. However, neither B nor the others attach much importance to his words.


    8 - 2


    B constantly remembered C from multiple realities, admiring her ability to recreate and use the scheme. Throughout all this time, B was unable to perfectly recreate Jacob''s Ladder and calculate the necessary coordinates leading to the past.


    Soon, the girl receives another letter from E, inviting her to a meeting in which she assures B that she possesses the coordinates she needs. The message also claimed to have irrefutable evidence of B''s contact with the angels. This letter intrigues B greatly, and she agrees to meet with E for the first time in nine years.


    During the meeting, as a sign of trust, E immediately hands over to B the completed Jacob''s Ladder scheme with the necessary coordinates marked on it. E claims to have been able to reproduce the scheme and understand its principles thanks to a user on an internet forum with the username DORAdude008, who also disappeared in the settlement. E promises to help B escape from the institution so that she can shed light on the circumstances of DORAdude008''s disappearance and that of the others. She also agrees to provide a statement about the incident that occurred in the settlement.


    B hesitates but eventually agrees to E''s proposal. E acknowledges that she understands the reasons behind B simulating her condition and promises to keep it a secret. The two girls agree to meet again in a few days to help B escape from the institution.


    On the day of the escape, E activates a hidden camera and instructs B to follow her. E leads B out of the building through service corridors, explaining that all the surveillance cameras have been remotely hacked and temporarily disabled by her assistant. Once outside, the girls reach a nearby wooded area where an assistant is waiting for them behind the wheel of a car (the administrative guy from the intermediate chapter). As they head towards the next transition point, E reminds B of her promise to provide her statement about the settlement incident. E turns on the camera and asks B to do it right now in the car.


    B confesses on camera to simulating her condition, explaining that she did it out of fear of being tracked by the cult followers of the Circle of Exodus. She then goes into detail about the cult''s main plan, directly accusing the cult and their front pharmaceutical companies of conducting cruel experiments on newcomers to the settlement.


    Suddenly, a precise shot pierces the assistant''s head, and the car veers off the road, crashing into a tree. E and B, covered in blood and with multiple wounds, manage to get out of the smoke-filled car, watching as armed medical personnel approach in the night. Horrified by the dead body of their assistant, E immediately starts running but collapses moments later from several shots to the back.


    B is quickly apprehended by the approaching medical personnel, who knock her to the ground and point a gun at her head. Observing numerous tattoos in the form of the Circle''s symbolism, B realizes that all the doctors and medical staff surrounding her were members of the cult. Mocking B about her failed escape, the captors roughly drag her towards a van. As the van doors close in front of her, B gazes at E''s lifeless body, finally realizing that the Circle will continue to exist even after the deaths of all its members, as long as the cult''s teachings endure.


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    Suddenly, B regains consciousness in the rugged space in front of humanoid figures frozen in time. She quickly realizes that all the events from the moment the Circle of Exodus interrupted her path were a vision sent by the angels of one of the many possible futures.


    8 - 3


    Due to the multitude of nightmarish events from the near future playing out in her mind and the intense stress, B''s skin pales, her pupils dilate and turn black, and her hair becomes silvery, similar to the flesh color of the humanoids. Realizing that her request will not only fail to destroy the cult but also lead to the deaths of those she holds dear, B whispers her final wish to the angels. Observing D''s approach and looking at A and C frozen in time, B moves forward along the rugged corridor, past the immobile angels.


    Walking to the end of the corridor, B finds herself in the same place where she was before the beginning of the Exodus, near the house on the outskirts of the settlement. During the early morning sunrise, the girl gazes from a hill at the bustling settlement, realizing that the angels have granted her request. Remembering the terrible fate that awaits the settlement, B understands that she has only one chance to make things right as she approaches the doorstep of the house. Entering inside, B pulls a hood over their head and heads towards a room on the upper floor of the house, where they notice their doppelganger, writhing in cold sweat from another nightmare. After B approaches closer, the doppelganger suddenly opens her eyes.


    Seeing B, she panics, grabs a nearby blade, and stabs it into the girl, causing her hood to fall off. In the ensuing struggle, B forcefully knocks her frenzied copy off her feet, disarming her. Grabbing her by the throat with both hands, the girl kills her other self by strangling her. After recovering from the shock, B realizes what has happened, covering a heavily bleeding wound on her abdomen with her hand.


    Descending to the attic, B bandages the wound, gathers all necessary items into a found backpack, and takes several cans of gasoline for the generator. There, B records some sort of video message (details not shown) on her blood-soaked smartphone, addressed to her deceased doppelganger.


    Dousing all the rooms in the house, using up one of the cans, B heads to the settlement. There, B uses the catacombs to move discreetly, finding several houses and structures in different parts of the settlement not caught on surveillance cameras.


    Also, drenching these buildings and houses with gasoline, B sequentially throws lit firecrackers into them, quickly starting fires. Leaving a bloody trail due to her wound, B heads to a house on the outskirts of the settlement.


    Looking at the house, the girl experiences numerous flashbacks of her first meetings with A and visits to settlement C, after which she throws a lit firecracker onto its porch. The house quickly catches fire, and B collapses from heavy blood loss. A light rain begins.


    The flames from B''s other burned-down houses quickly spread to other homes and structures throughout the settlement, turning into a massive fire. This causes panic among newcomers to the settlement, and soon fire brigades, police, and the media arrive. The rain turns into a downpour, helping to extinguish the blaze.


    8 - 4


    In the subsequent large-scale video investigation by E, which had recently gained significant public attention, the mass arson in the settlement in northwest Czechia due to the incitement of several houses by one of the newcomers was discussed. The video explored numerous versions of the events with eyewitness interviews.


    After dissecting all the major versions, the video continues, and E announces unique details and two exclusive interviews with people who, apparently, the suspect knew personally. The girl reveals that she had been in contact with the friend of the only person who died during the fire, whose remains were found in one of the burned houses.


    In Interview C, presented as DORAdude008, the girl barely holds back tears due to the recent funeral of B. She claims to have conducted her own investigation into the circumstances of her friend''s death, citing a forensic examination that revealed signs of physical strangulation before death from carbon monoxide poisoning. C is convinced that this, along with the bloody, punctured wound on the suspect''s body, is evidence of a struggle between her and B.


    Next, E announces that she has received consent to publish a video message from the suspect, which C found in her email on the day of the tragedy. In the following shots, the girl with silver hair and extremely pale skin lists the names of organizations and specific individuals among politicians and businessmen who had collaborated with the cult Circle of Exodus, which had conducted inhumane experiments on newcomers in the settlement for decades.


    The suspect further explains that she set the fire in an attempt to prevent the next wave of impending investigations, destroying their foothold in the settlement, which would attract worldwide attention and tie the hands of the cult''s followers. She mentions that everything she listed had been provided to her by those she was desperately seeking in the cult.


    In closing, the suspect apologizes to C for having to sacrifice the B she had always known in order to end the endless suffering of everyone who ended up in the settlement. Concluding the recording, she acknowledges the impossibility of justifying her actions, smiling and remarking that C and a certain A make a good couple.


    Then E reports on a chance encounter with A among the ruins of the settlement, where he went with friends. E shows him the recording of the suspect''s message and asks him to comment on his mention in it.


    A states that he decided to visit the settlement because of a sense of unfulfilled duty: A was supposed to arrive the next day, after the fire, at the same house where the remains of the only victim were found. A admits that though he had never met the suspect, B, or her friend before, vague images of an unrealized past in which he knew each of them personally continue to haunt him.


    C expresses a similar sentiment, describing her enduring sensations of an uncanny resemblance between the suspect and the deceased B. Showing a photo of both girls on screen, E notes that upon closer inspection, the attacker and the victim inexplicably resemble each other.


    Then E questions C about her future actions. C assures that she will continue to investigate all the circumstances of B''s death, even using everything the suspect mentioned in her message, despite her apparent insanity.


    E reminds C that after the reports of the suspect''s death from blood loss, her body was not found in any hospitals or morgues, and therefore, it cannot be definitively stated that the girl is dead. In response, C claims that this only confirms someone''s attempt to conceal the truth in the suspect''s words. (INSERT) Laid out on the frozen ground are ribbed plates in a structured manner, resembling angels, placing a humanoid figure in organic fluid with a recently cut umbilical cord, missing half of one leg and an arm, as well as numerous pieces of flesh.


    In conclusion, A and C make identical confessions that they are regularly haunted by lifelike nightmares in which they witnessed each other''s deaths even before meeting for the interview. Suddenly, E also makes a similar confession. At the end of the video, A, C, and E agree to work together to uncover the truth behind the events.


    gree to work together to get to the truth of what happened.

 MAIN CHARACTERS, LOCATIONS AND DEFINITIONS

    A (Vincent De Lan, shortened to Vinz) is a 19-20-year-old guy of a slender but strong build hailing from the Netherlands. He''s a brunet with a disheveled and untidy hairstyle. He typically sports a perpetually unzipped, worn-out dark gray hoodie, a baggy monochromatic t-shirt, and very loose dark-colored sweatpants. Throughout the story, he''s seen wearing scuffed and yellowed sneakers with numerous creases and dents. In various realities/chapters, he may also wear glasses, shorts, or a cap. After the anomaly begins and the temperature drops sharply, he dons a tattered cloak with a hat and a worn-out puffer jacket.


    The young man decides to head to the settlement with his last savings after learning of his expulsion from Cologne University due to chronic truancy. Initially, he had a tendency towards a carefree lifestyle, alcoholism, and drug use, justifying it as a means of coping with constant life failures. He is sharp-witted and known for his sense of humor, allowing him to fit into almost any company. When faced with serious questions and complaints directed at him, A prefers to brush them off, thus concealing his lack of self-confidence, which is quickly noticed by B.


    Recalling the tortures in the settlement, A was initially skeptical of the reappearance of D. However, after D''s sacrifice for the group''s safety, A began to view him as a hero and martyr, realizing how circumstances can profoundly change people. At first, A had a biased attitude towards the copy of C, blaming her not only for C''s death, with whom he had a romance, but also for all subsequent problems. Eventually, the young man becomes convinced that the copy of C was just as much a victim of circumstances as all the others in the settlement. By returning her glasses, which were found among the remains of the charred C, A acknowledges her as the same C with whom he had a romance.


    B (Eva Fry) is a 18-19-year-old beautiful and intelligent girl with a pleasant personality from Germany, who prefers to act cautiously and thoughtfully. B has long dark-blue hair and is usually dressed in tight shorts or a skirt, a short brightly colored turtleneck, and sneakers (likely Vans).


    B is a contactee - a person capable of interacting with angels, thanks to the unique structure of her brain, which manifests as a peculiar form of madness. Even in school, B saw strange, surreal nightmares in which she saw distorted images of her loved ones. Over the years, these nightmares triggered chronic anxiety in B, which she managed to cope with through diligent studying and the support of her best friend named C. In many ways, it was thanks to her friendship with C that B managed to suppress her anxiety and maintain her sanity. After enrolling in the first year at the University of Berlin, B began to experience nightmares again, in which she was pursued by a mysterious shadow. In search of a way to combat her worsening anxiety, B decided to travel to the settlement alone. Her plans for solitude were disrupted when A mistakenly moved into the same house, initially irritating her. Due to constant, numerous visions of the near future and the pursuing figures in those visions, B commits suicide, leading to an anomaly due to the unresolved angelic outcome. Eventually, thanks to the efforts of A and C, B realizes her ultimate purpose - to stop the endless suffering of her friends and all newcomers to the settlement at any cost. After going back in time to the moment of her arrival in the settlement, B kills her deranged copy, sustaining a serious injury, and sets a massive fire that attracts public attention. Disrupting the circle''s plans, she loses consciousness due to extensive blood loss, and her further fate remains unclear.


    C (Dominika Amiga) is a 18-19-year-old girl from Spain with burgundy hair and a bob haircut. She wears large round glasses and is typically dressed in tight shorts, a long-sleeved shirt, golf shirts, and large New Balance sneakers. The initial copy of C appeared in a cloak with circle symbolism and ripped tights, but later she changed into a sweater with a collar, tight ripped jeans over the ripped tights, still wearing large sneakers and large round glasses with cracked lenses.


    C is energetic, intelligent, and very kind, always striving to help others, sometimes at her own expense. In her early childhood, C moved to Germany with her parents, where she befriended B during her school years, and a strong friendship developed between them. C made every effort to support B, knowing about her psychological problems. After B unexpectedly left for the settlement without explanation, their relationship became extremely tense. Afterward, under the pseudonym DORAdude008, C spent a lot of time on internet forums, researching the past settlement and local rumors. Sensing that something was wrong, C followed her friend to the settlement, where she discovered B dead. After meeting A, she, along with everyone else, ended up in the anomaly. While trying to survive, C became increasingly close to A, and a romance blossomed between them. Soon after the sudden death of C at the hands of the ashy beings, her exact copy appeared in the settlement, donning a circle cloak and adopting all the qualities of the deceased C: kindness, compassion, and curiosity. Despite this, A blamed C''s death on her copy. He refused to return C''s glasses, which she picked up from the remains of her copy, believing the girl unworthy of wearing the belongings of the C he knew. However, during their final meeting, he refused to take the glasses from the girl, recognizing her as the same C he had a romance with. After spending time among the cult, C acquired skills in using Jacob''s Ladder, a device she used in an attempt to lead the others out of the settlement. In the end, almost the entire group died or disappeared without a trace during numerous transitions in an attempt to escape from the cult. She blamed herself for all the deaths, vowing to end the cycle of endless suffering even at the cost of her own life, by finding a way back to the past where B was still alive. Eventually, C was shot by cultists, giving A a chance to complete the transition to the past.


    D (Mr. D, real name unknown) - a muscular man around 35-40 years old with long black hair, typically dressed in a motorcycle jacket or coat with jeans and wearing massive boots. He is in excellent physical shape and possesses advanced hand-to-hand combat skills. He is armed with a Glock 17 pistol and an HK SL8 rifle.


    Every time he meets newcomers in the settlement, he introduces himself under different names, claiming to be searching for his missing loved ones in the settlement. When questioned about his past and pursued goals, D exhibits symptoms of schizophrenia and other psychological disorders. In the anomaly, driven by his false memories and a thirst for revenge against the cult for the alleged abduction of his loved ones, D actively opposes the circle, making its complete destruction his primary goal. The others in the anomaly prefer to address the man as Mr. D, without asking for his real name. It is later revealed that D is a biological copy of a person who went missing without a trace after making the first recorded transition in history. Copies of D are implanted with false memories of their past to arouse less suspicion among newcomers to the settlement. The primary goal of D''s clones is to prepare the settlement for further research by the circle, transmitting all necessary data to them. Numerous tattoos are applied to the bodies of D''s clones, used to restore lost memories due to constant transitions.


    E (Josephina Barus) - a young blogger (approximately 18-20 years old) and a resident of Germany. E has dark pink hair styled in two pigtails. She usually wears a bright short turtleneck, a black skirt with white stockings, and black Balenciaga track sneakers. She prefers to carry a miniature camera with her at all times. She is better known online under the pseudonym GoodArtAss.


    On her channel, E produced videos investigating various criminal and mysterious incidents. After the mass disappearance of newcomers in the settlement, E records the first part of her sensational investigation. After gaining long-awaited popularity, E is willing to do anything to maintain and increase it. She seduces a married officer who arrested her for illegal entry into the settlement and blackmails him for classified investigation materials she wanted to publish in the second part of her investigation. E also orchestrates B''s escape from a closed mental health complex in exchange for an exclusive interview and new details for the next part of her investigation. However, E''s selfish actions always lead to her own death and the deaths of those she uses for her purposes. An administrator, a young man whose real name is not disclosed but known under the nickname oMAYgood19_84, assists E in her endeavors. The administrator carries out almost any task assigned by E, remaining in her shadow.


    The Settlement (Nezemesh) - located near a river and surrounded by forests in northwest Czechia, near the border with Germany, it has preserved its historical architecture to this day. The settlement was presumably founded by an influential figure from the Czech Protestant nobility. After the suppression of the Bohemian Revolt and defeat in the Thirty Years'' War, the settlement came under the control of an order called the Circle of Angelic Consciousness. During World War II, the settlement was known to have Nazi presence conducting research on the unique brain structure of the locals. In the 1960s, due to unexplained outbreaks of madness among the residents, the authorities constructed a psychiatric hospital in the nearby woods, where many locals disappeared without a trace. In the 1980s, the hospital was closed due to unethical experiments conducted on patients. Several years later, the settlement, devoid of any indigenous residents, was sold to a company belonging to the Circle of Angelic Consciousness, for restoration into a tourist area intended for 220 people. It is also known that underground catacombs run beneath the settlement, extending throughout its perimeter. Hidden entrances and exits to the catacombs are located at various ends and streets of the settlement, as well as in the nearby psychiatric hospital. These catacombs were presumably constructed by the local nobility in the 16th century to provide a safe means of leaving the settlement in case of capture or siege, although the exact age, authorship, and purpose of their construction remain unknown. Today, the catacombs are actively used by the circle to move quickly and discreetly throughout the settlement''s perimeter. In subsequent years, several incidents of mass disappearances of newcomers in the settlement were recorded, which were hushed up by the local authorities and the media. Despite the settlement''s history, it continues to attract a high demand among tourists from all over Europe, offering them exceptionally low rental rates. To this day, the settlement serves as a platform for the circle to study the influence of the angels'' departure on newcomers.


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    Arrivals in the Settlement - there were 220 people from all over Europe, mainly from Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Austria, of different ages, genders, and social statuses. After the outbreak of mass murders, the number of arrivals decreased to approximately 110 people. During the chaos in the settlement, several dozen more people died due to the actions of Group D. By the time the cult group arrived in the settlement, there were about 80 people left. In subsequent attempts to hide from the cult, another 73 people either died or disappeared without a trace. In the end, there was no one left alive among all the arrivals from the original reality.


    Circle of Exodus (also known as the Cult of Exodus or simply the Circle) - this is a global organization that includes a network of numerous world corporations. Members of the cult are armed with P90, FAMAS, and Steyr AUG firearms. They use long straight forged swords and sickles as cold weapons. They travel in vehicles branded with the cult''s symbols, mainly Toyota Land Cruiser 200. Ordinary sect members, regardless of gender, wear cloaks made of durable material with distinctive cult symbols, concealing their faces under hoods and tight masks without openings. Curators wear chainmail masks without openings and are armed with high-caliber pistols (Colt M1911 with optical sights). Clones of D are also hidden under the masks of the curators, and they have been instilled with false pasts for special purposes. The cult''s symbolism resembles Germanic runes from northern Europe, and it is applied to all their belongings, including clothing, weapons, vehicles, equipment, etc.


    Many prominent businessmen and politicians are members of the cult, which helps the organization lobby for its interests worldwide. The Circle of Exodus, as an organization, has existed for over 400 years, since the late Renaissance. According to legend, the cult was founded by followers of Matteo Iacovo, a physicist-theoretician from Eastern Europe whose works were rejected by the scientific community of his time and considered pseudoscience. After Matteo''s death, his followers established the Order of Angelic Consciousness and, through new research, improved the capabilities of the Jacob''s Scheme. The order began to embrace the philosophy that human sacrifices are acceptable and inevitable in the pursuit of knowledge and the common good. Gradually, the order gained more supporters, expanding its influence across Europe. In modern times, the cult continues its cruel research on tourists arriving in the settlement, studying their behavior in various conditions and the effects on their sanity during the Exodus process, using their finances and connections to cover up their crimes. Managing numerous corporations, the sect possesses the most advanced technologies in medicine, energy, etc. The exact hierarchy of the Circle and their numbers remain unknown. However, given the prevalence of their ideas among elites worldwide, there could be tens of thousands of people within the sect. Higher positions in the Circle are held by certain curators who directly supervise the cult''s group during research. The cult''s goals are not entirely clear to this day. Declassified archives reveal that the Circle venerates angels as higher beings, awaiting their arrival in our reality. With the help of the contact sect, they intend to obtain coordinates from the angels for Jacob''s Scheme, leading to a new utopian reality where all of humanity has reached its peak of development, overcoming all global problems. To achieve their goals, the Circle is willing to commit almost any mass crimes, justifying them with the price for the greater common good. With the discovery of B, the cult gains the ability to move locally between realities within the settlement using Jacob''s Scheme, increasing the likelihood of encountering angels.


    Jacob''s Scheme is a schematic representation of X and Y coordinates overlaid on a local map of an area. The scheme is named after its creator, the physicist-theorist Matteo Jacob. According to legend, Matteo created the scheme based on descriptions from his daughter''s dreams. Using the scheme, the scientist was able to mathematically predict events in the near future and prove the existence of parallel realities. After the scientist''s death, his followers began to refine the scheme, realizing its boundless potential. The scheme and the markings on it appear completely incomprehensible to the uninitiated, and the mechanisms of its use are only partially understood. Any action with the scheme is carried out on local terrain using coordinates calculated from multiple variables: the area of the designated location, time of day, the user''s location on the scheme, and more. Depending on the specified coordinates, the scheme can indicate a path to a parallel reality with similar or alternative events, either in the past or the future. The full range of the scheme''s capabilities and its possible applications is still not entirely clear, but its potential is sufficient to irreversibly alter reality. Understanding how to use the scheme for a specific task is learned solely through practical experience, despite all the risks of not returning to the original reality when venturing along certain coordinates.


    The Bleak Ones are phantom-like entities that appear as shadows with human outlines and bright, cold blue eyes that glow. Presumably, the Bleak Ones are composed of a dark matter with immense density that absorbs all light. The Bleak Ones function like an immune system, destroying foreign objects that enter a specific reality, thereby restoring the natural course of events in that reality. The Bleak Ones move with incredible speed, instantly appearing anywhere from a distance. Predicting the behavior of the Bleak Ones is difficult; they may simply observe their potential target from afar or immediately attack. Judging by their perfectly coordinated actions, the Bleak Ones are thought to be controlled by some form of collective consciousness. When they reach their target, a Bleak One grabs the victim''s neck with an inescapable grip, and by staring intensely into the victim''s eyes, incinerates them with blue flames. Each of those who arrive in the settlement periodically sees the Bleak Ones in the form of their friends, family members, or acquaintances. According to one theory, this tactic instills fear in potential targets, causing them to reveal themselves. The Bleak Ones also use the images of their past victims and people who got lost among realities during transitions. According to one theory, the Bleak Ones have been responsible for the phenomenon of the uncanny valley in human history for a long time, possessing human-like characteristics and posing a threat to humanity. In his writings, Matteo Jacob speculated that the Bleak Ones have existed since the emergence of time in the universe.


    Angels are humanoid beings that exist outside of space and time. Angels are organic embodiments of higher matter and can influence any other matter at all levels, altering reality around them. Despite having limbs similar to humans, angels move exclusively through levitation. Angels have bodies distinguishable by primary male and female characteristics, made up of ribbed plates and smooth, silvery flesh, fused together by incomprehensible mechanisms. All human-like angels lack a mouth, with their mouths covered by ribbed plates. It appears that angels communicate with each other and others through telepathy. Female angels have long metallic nails and heels fused with their feet, as well as semi-exposed ribbed busts made up of ribbed plates and smooth silvery flesh fused through some mechanisms.


    Periodically, angels materialize in one of the realities, moving in response to a signal sent by the mind of the contact. This process is called the Exodus and lasts for about two weeks. The Exodus is accompanied by a sudden local drop in temperature and gradually increasing snowfall, regardless of the climate and weather in the vicinity of its beginning. The time and place of each Exodus depend on the presence of the contact there and are calculated in advance by the cult. The reasons and goals of the angelic Exoduses remain unknown. Everyone in the area where the Exodus begins starts to contact angels in their dreams and visions, seeing distorted images of events and people significant to them. As angels materialize in the human reality and the Exodus concludes, this effect intensifies, inevitably leading to irreversible loss of sanity and the complete annihilation of all signs of identity, as the essence of angels can only be comprehended by the contact. As they approach their target, angels fracture reality, transporting themselves and others into a space resembling their ribbed corridors, where time comes to a complete standstill for everyone except the angels and the contact. Thanks to the contact, new data has been discovered, confirming the theory of the materialization of Boltzmann brains in the form of angels, who have realized their existence beyond time and space. The appearance of angels and their ribbed space is inspired by the works of H. R. Giger and Zdzis?aw Beksi¨½ski.