Chapter 3
The Deserted Room

The room was probably white once, but it was in a very bad state. I couldn't remember how I came here, who I was. All I knew was that this room was new. Somehow. New compared to what? I don't know. The room was overgrown and dirty. Above my head burned a merciless sun, hot and bright. If this room was in a better state, it would probably burn my eyes out or something. I looked around, behind every vine. And I found something. Behind a patch of thick, leafy vines there was a message. It had faded, it was a dirty red-brown. It looked like old... blood?

"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. 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."

I did not remember writing this, but if the message was true then I was here before... or was it directed to someone else? Either way, it seemed to be my only chance to get out of here, as I would probably be thrown back if I did something wrong. "The floor is unstable." it said. This means that at some point, I will probably find a path with floor that breaks if I step on it. If I fall, I fail and get thrown back here. Without any memories.

I had to admit, that thought was scary. But judging by my mind, my memories, it might have happened before. I did not remember anything from before I woke up in this room. Maybe I did write that message, maybe I did fail afterwards. I looked around for the switches and found them beneath some vines on a... on some sort of table. I tried flicking the right one, but it was stuck. I cleaned the area around it, ripping off the vines, then I managed to pull out some leaves inside the switch. I tried flicking it again, this time it worked. A door opened, making horrible noises. This place had been abandoned for a long time...

I walked through the door, and there was another faded red-brown message.

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

Whoever wrote these messages, he couldn't get further than this. I immediatly saw why. There was a big hole. Meters long. Seemingly infinitely deep. It was dark at the bottom, assuming there is one. But vines grew down into the hole, and they seemed to be very sturdy. Seeing that this was the only way out of here, I jumped as far as could, grabbing the vines. I barely missed the edge of the hole and landed hard on the wall. But I did not fall. The vines were strong enough. I pulled myself up and lifted myself over the edge. I did it. I stood up and looked back. Suddenly, memories flashed before my eyes. All the failed attempts, all the times I went through this endless cycle of my own, personal hell. I remembered them all. I remembered everything. How I wrote the messages using my own blood. How I tried to escape the cycle. I remembered every single moment. Everytime I flicked the switches, every time I broke through the ground. But there was still something missing...

I still didn't know who I was. How I got here. My memories started at the point when I first woke up in here. If I wanted to find my identity, I would have to continue. Because of that, I walked along the path. It was a dark tunnel, very different from the white, blank room I was used to. It was getting darker the further I went, but in the distance, I saw a shining light, a blinding white spark in the darkness. I started running, and the light was getting bigger and bigger, until I stood before it. It was a bright, white wall, or at least seemed like it. I tried touching it, but my hand phased right through. Since this was the only way I could go, I had no other choice but to go through it. I jumped into the light, and I felt my body disintegrate.