Chapter 2
Changes

I walked over to the switches. They where covered in dust. I tried flicking the left one, but it was stuck. I flicked the right one, and a door opened on my left. I walked to it, but then I remembered something. I wrote a message into the dust. "If you read this, it means that we were thrown back here. If you don't remember this, it means our memories got wiped again. This is a loop. A neverending cycle. You have to find a way to escape." I carefully covered most of the message in debris so it doesn't get ruined by other debris, then I stepped through the door. The floor broke beneath me, and I fell.

I woke up in a white room. I was laying on some flat debris. I stood up. Between the pieces, I saw something carved into the dust on the floor. I carefully removed the white stone, and read the words. Some letters were damaged, but I was able to make out a concerning message: "If you re_d this, it means that we wer_ thrown ba_k here. If you _on't remember this, it me_ns o_r memories got wip__ _gain. This is a loop. A neve__nding cy_le. You have to find a way to escape." I was confused. Who were "we"? Who wrote this message? Who was here before me? Did they cause this mess, or did they come here afterwards? What happened here in the first place? So many questions filled my mind, I could barely start thinking about one before the next came shooting in. I sat down, and tried to focus. I couldn't remember how I got here, or who I was. All I knew was that someone wrote a message, a message that- Suddenly, I realized something. If this room was a neverending cycle, if this room always repeats, maybe I was the one who wrote that message. Maybe I was the one who caused the mess. I just couldn't remember. I decided to test something. Using a sharp piece of debris, I poked a hole into my finger. Then, using my own blood, I wrote a message on the wall that wouldn't be destroyed as easily.

"If you read this: Hi! I am you. You probably won't remember writing this, but if you do, it means I have broken the cycle. This room has a solution."

I looked at the switches, and memories flooded back. Hundreds, no, thousands of times that I flipped these switches came flooding back. I was here for so long... and yet I always flipped them the same way. First the left, then, 3 seconds later, the right. But I did something different last time. Something changed. I only flipped the right switch, the left one was stuck. Now I remembered more.

"The left switch seems to manipulate your memories, the right one opens the door. Flick the right one only, then carefully walk through. The floor is unstable. If you read this, it means I failed doing exactly what I tell you."

Then, I flicked the right switch, causing the door to open. I carefully walked through it, then I heard a crack. I jumped back instantly, and the floor crumbled beneath me. But I was safe. I did not fall again. Below me, a cloudy, white abyss opened up. Suddenly, I heard a loud noise from behind me. When I looked back, new debris had fallen down, small clouds of dust were floating around, slowly settling. "This is a problem", I said, trying to calm myself down. "I never heard of portal-like technology... At least not in reality..." Then again, I didn't remember anything, so I might have just forgotten. I tried to think about what had happened. "This is hopeless! The ground breaks whenever I try to traverse it, when I fall, I end up back here, without any memories!" The ground shook, then the door closed behind me. I was now standing on a narrow edge, threatening to fall into the abyss that would cause me to end up back there, behind that door, right at the beginning. I never got this far, but I was afraid this would be as far as I'd ever get. The ground didn't regenerate, and there was no way I'd jump far enough, even if the door was still open. Seeing no way of getting far enough, I carefully wrote a message on the wall.

"I got this far, maybe you can get further?"

Then, I jumped. I fell through the fog, again. I lost my conciousness, again.

I woke up in a white room. I could not remember how I got there. I could not remember who I was. I remembered writing a message on the wall, but I couldn't remember what I had written. I looked around, searching for it. The room was completely empty, except for two switches. I realized that whatever I had written, it was gone. Sighing, I walked over to the switches. I first flicked the left, then the right switch. It just felt right. A door opened. I walked through. The ground broke beneath me and I fell. I wasn't scared. It felt... right. Like it was supposed to happen. I blacked out. I woke up in a white room. I finished the puzzle. I fell down that abyss. I woke up. I blacked out. I woke up. I blacked out. It was an endless cycle that seemed to go on forever.

I woke up in an overgrown, dirty room.