MIRROR CAGE – CHAPTER 22: THE PRICE OF RECOGNITION
"Visibility is a double-edged sword. The more they see you, the more they want to know what you're hiding."
[Morning – Kingsvale Institute, Dormitory Block]
The morning after Elijah's name had spread like wildfire across Kingsvale, the dorm halls felt smaller. The whispers louder. Doors cracked open as he walked past. Eyes tracked his every movement.
He kept his head down.
The bruises on his body ached beneath his uniform, a dull throb reminding him he was still human. Still vulnerable. And the switch last night — the shift back into his original body once the cameras were off and the lights dimmed — had hit harder than usual.
The original body was tired. Slower. Each switch drained something.
What am I trading away?
He reached his room and shut the door behind him, sliding down against it. For a moment, he stared at the wall. Then at his hand. It looked thinner today. Bonier. As if the fight had pulled from both versions of himself.
The silence was broken by a message on his encrypted device.
From: NAOMI
They've put you on the radar. Not just Kingsvale. Higher.
Eyes on you. Be careful what you say. Meet me tonight.
[Classroom – Professor Halberd's Sociology Seminar]
Elijah sat in the back of the class, hood up. Professor Halberd lectured on "constructs of control in social hierarchies," but Elijah barely heard a word.
In front of him sat Mason, who kept glancing over his shoulder. Viv sat beside Mason, scribbling something in a notebook. Omar was missing.
Elijah's phone buzzed again. A different number.
Unknown Number
You've made quite the entrance. But noise attracts predators.
Hope you're not just noise.
Elijah deleted the message.
He had no idea who sent it, but he knew the meaning.
You're not safe anymore.
Halberd called out, "Mr. Cole. Care to define what makes an elite?"
Elijah looked up slowly.
"Control of perception," he said.
Halberd raised an eyebrow. "Care to expand?"
Elijah didn't blink.
"The elite doesn't have to be the strongest. Just the most believed to be."
A few students chuckled.
Halberd smiled grimly. "A cynic. But not wrong."
The bell rang.
As the room cleared, Mason lingered by the door. Elijah walked past him.
Mason called after him. "Nice hit, by the way. Against Cain."
Elijah didn't stop walking.
"You say that like it was luck," he said.
Mason shrugged. "Maybe it was."
He turned and left before Elijah could answer.
[Evening – Rooftop Meeting with Naomi]
The rooftop was cold. Wind whipped against Elijah's face as Naomi stood across from him, her black coat flapping behind her.
"They pulled Cain from the hospital this morning," she said. "He's not going back to classes. Not for a while."
Elijah nodded.
Naomi stepped forward. "You just made enemies you can't see. Cain's sponsors? They invest in results. You hurt their asset."
"So now I'm a liability?"
"No," Naomi said. "You're an asset. But only if you play the game right."
Elijah looked at the city lights below.
"What game?"
Naomi held up a small holographic disk.
"Welcome to Kingsvale's unofficial second tier. The network. Politics, favors, contracts, and more. They already have you listed."
She activated the disk. A projection appeared. Elijah's face. His fight stats. A dossier with redacted sections.
"Where did you get this?"
"Doesn't matter. What matters is, you're in now. Whether you wanted to be or not."
[System Update – Private Interface]
Classified Node Unlocked
Name: Influence Ladder
Current Tier: Bronze Phantom
Next Tier: Silver Pulse
Condition: Acquire 2 confirmed influence trades (favors, blackmail, or sponsorships)
Warning: Influence gains must not expose primary anomaly.
[Later That Night – In the Mirror Again]
Elijah stood in front of his cracked bathroom mirror, shirtless.
He looked at himself.
The flawless skin.
The carved jawline.
The body that didn't belong to him.
He touched the glass.
Then let the switch come.
The collapse hit like gravity returning.
The other body. His real one. Gaunt. Lankier. Still recovering from the burns of past failure.
And now carrying the pain from a fight he never physically fought.
He sat on the edge of the bathtub, staring at his hands.
Is this me? Or the ghost of who I was?
A message buzzed.
From: UNKNOWN
They want you for the Syndicate Trial.
Decline and they'll come looking.
Accept and you better win.
Elijah deleted it.
But the weight of it stayed.
[Closing Scene – Surveillance Room, Unknown Location]
A dimly lit room. Walls covered in monitors.
Elijah's fight replayed on loop. Multiple angles. Zoomed in on every twitch.
A man in a white suit stood watching, arms folded.
"He's hiding something," he said.
A woman beside him, face hidden in shadow, nodded.
"Something big. We dig deeper."
The man turned.
"Make sure he doesn't vanish. Not until we know how he does it."