The forest suddenly appeared.
Where previously only shimmering planes of consciousness overlapped, the vibrating energy materialized into an endless network of trunks made of light—or at least something that appeared to be. The trees appeared to be blown from glass, but they weren't plants. They were mirrors. And they moved.
Nyx was the first to speak: "This is not a forest. It's a consciousness filter."
The Mirror Forest
The group—Elyra, Nyx, and Kairon—stood at the edge of this strange place. Every step into it triggered an echo. Not in the air, but deep within themselves. Every mirror they passed showed not just their reflection—but fragments of decisions, alternatives, other paths. They saw themselves in scenes that never happened, but could have. Or perhaps had happened—in other versions of themselves?
Kairon stopped in front of a particularly large mirror. In it, he saw himself—not fragmented, not blurred, but clear. But his reflection didn't speak. It just stared. And its gaze was sad. "What is this?" he whispered.
Elyra stepped beside him. "Not what , but who . That's you—the version you never admitted."
Reflections and memories
The further they advanced, the more the mirrors became portals of consciousness. Memories were awakened, but not as they had once been experienced. They were distorted, laced with alternate emotions. Joy suddenly seemed hollow. Pain felt liberating. Confusion became clarity.
It was as if the forest wanted to recalibrate everything—not to deceive, but to force the team to question their own self-image.
Nyx realized that the mirrors responded to patterns. Her ability to detect hidden structures revealed itself as the key. She began touching the mirrors, turning them, adjusting them. As she did so, she hummed softly—a melody she had once heard in a dream.
Then it happened. The mirrors aligned, forming a geometric pattern of light and shadow. At the center: an opening, circular, glowing darkly. Not a door, not a portal—but an eye. It didn't just observe, it perceived.
The third goal
The voice didn't come from outside. It was within them. In Elyra, in Nyx, in Cairo. And it was old. Older than language. "He who unites what has fallen apart may move on."
Elyra took a deep breath. "It wants us to remember. Not just who we are—but why we are."
The eye didn't close. It waited. The mirror forest pulsed as if accompanying the team's breath. The third gate was there—but it couldn't be opened. It had to be understood . Not as an object, but as a thought.
What happens next?
The team knows: The Mirror Forest was only the first test. They not only saw themselves—but also sensed how close they had already come to dissolving the boundaries between self and world.
But what lies beyond the eye? What reality is formed from pure knowledge? And what does this mean for PsychoLab's mission?
As the mirrors slowly fade, the question remains: Was the mirror forest just a transition – or a part of themselves?
When recognition becomes a journey – is the true experiment only just beginning?
Maybe PsychoLab is more than just a place, more than fashion, more than a story. Perhaps you've been a part of it for a long time—and just didn't know it yet.
