Resolve : Episode 7 : Leaps and bounds

Chapter 1: The Store Fractures

The store’s atmosphere was suffocating when Paul arrived. The air felt thick, almost gelatinous, as if moving through it took more effort. The lights overhead were dimmer than usual, but the shadows they cast were sharper, stretching unnaturally along the aisles.

Claire stood at the tills, drumming her fingers on the counter in a frantic rhythm. Tom was near the frozen section, stacking boxes with deliberate, almost mechanical movements. The products on the shelves seemed to shimmer faintly, their colours muted, like a faded photograph.

Paul’s eyes flicked to the Archive Room door at the back. The glow spilling from underneath it was brighter now, almost pulsing. A faint vibration ran through the floor, resonating up through his feet.

He forced himself to focus. “Morning,” he called to Claire.

She barely glanced at him. “If you say so.”

Chapter 2: Jane’s Absence

Jane hadn’t shown up for her shift, and no one seemed to know why. Paul lingered in the break room, flipping through his notebook. Yesterday’s entry stared back at him: Day 6. I found the archive.

Claire entered, her face pale and drawn. She sat heavily in the chair across from him, her hands trembling slightly.

“She’s not coming back, is she?” Claire asked.

Paul frowned. “Jane?”

Claire nodded. “I talked to her last night. She said… she feels like she’s waking up. Like everything here is a dream she’s starting to forget.”

Paul’s chest tightened. “Did she say anything else?”

Claire hesitated, then shook her head. “No. But it didn’t sound like she was coming back.”

Chapter 3: The Forgotten Records

Paul stayed late that evening, unable to shake the feeling that the store was trying to tell him something. He walked to the stockroom, his steps slow and deliberate.

He stepped inside the Archive, the air growing colder as the hum intensified. The filing cabinets stood in their usual rows, but one drawer was pulled open, its contents scattered on the floor. Paul knelt, picking up a crumpled sheet of paper.

DOCUMENT FRAGMENT #1:

Simulation integrity compromised. Neural feedback calibration at 54%. Resolve anomalies to stabilize.

DOCUMENT FRAGMENT #2:

Primary objective: Evaluate readiness for colony integration. Arrival estimate: 78 years.

Paul’s hand trembled. The words simulation and colony blurred in his vision, but their weight hung to him like an anchor. He grabbed another fragment.

DOCUMENT FRAGMENT #3:

Resolve protocols in effect. Subjects unable to resolve cannot achieve colony integration and must remain in stasis. Simulation reset initiated.

A loud hum erupted from the walls, and the lights above flickered violently. Paul dropped the papers and stumbled backward, his pulse racing. The room felt alive, as though it were watching him.

As he left the Archive he noticed another document fragment, this one different from the others. As he turned it over he saw it was one of Jane's sketches like those he had seen before, but this one was simply of a coffin-like pod, surrounded by jagged lines, with the words "Waking Up" written aggressively underneath.

Chapter 4: The Cracks Widen

Back in the main store, Paul found Claire near the tills. She looked up as he approached, her face tight with worry.

“You okay?” she asked.

Paul hesitated, then nodded. “Yeah. Just… tired.”

Claire frowned. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Paul forced a laugh. “Maybe I have.”

She didn’t smile. Instead, her gaze drifted to the ceiling. “You hear that?”

Paul paused, listening. The hum was louder now, more insistent. It wasn’t just a sound - it was a vibration, running through the floor and into their bodies.

“It’s getting worse,” Claire whispered.

Paul nodded. “Yeah. It is.”

Chapter 5: Reflections

At home, Paul sat at his kitchen table, the notebook open in front of him. He wrote: Day 7. Found more files. Colony. Stasis. Simulation. What does it mean?

His gaze drifted to the manuscript on the table, he grabbed it with an urgency and began to write with a purpose.

He wrote about the store, about Jane’s dreams and Claire’s strength, about Tom’s struggle to remember who he was. The lines blurred between fiction and reality, his pen moving faster with every thought.

The light above him flickered. For the first time in years, Paul felt alive.