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Five Echoes

🇧🇷YeshuaH
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Synopsis

Chapter 1 - Prologue

Aloys awoke with a sense that something extraordinary was happening in his life, something that would transcend the boundaries of time and reality. It was as if he had been thrust into an unknown dimension, an experience that defied his understanding of the world he knew. His thoughts wandered in an ethereal space between the real and the imaginary, where the borders of reality seemed blurred and distorted. Initially, dizziness enveloped him, but soon it dissipated, leaving only a feeling of perplexity and restlessness.

"Have I traveled back in time? Have I been transported to another world? Or am I trapped in some kind of parallel reality?" he questioned, his voice echoing in the emptiness. It was a reflection that often found its way into his daily life, an echo of the fiction novels he avidly consumed. The idea of time travel or transmigration was considered absurd by many, but at that moment, everything seemed possible.

As he tried to assimilate this unusual experience, Aloys observed his surroundings and realized that, despite his confused feelings, nothing around him had changed. The streets, the people, the buildings, everything remained the same. It was as if he had awakened in a reality that, although strangely familiar, harbored unrevealed secrets and mysteries.

Like a protagonist in so many works of fiction, he now felt part of an inexplicable plot. The circumstances surrounding him were complex and obscure, especially at his workplace, where ethical challenges pushed him to the limits of his integrity. Conspirators, whom he identified as the company's managers, devised dark plans, inducing him to engage in illegal activities such as allowing thieves to operate with impunity on the company's premises. The goal was simple: to steal goods that would be recorded as stolen and later deducted from the accounts, or worse yet, diverted to the managers themselves.

To Aloys, this corporate conspiracy resembled a masterful crime plot, where he inadvertently found himself in the role of an unwitting accomplice. However, to the outside world, he was labeled as an individual with schizoid personality disorder or, at worst, someone displaying incipient symptoms of schizophrenia. Some, even more imaginative, suggested the possibility of a spiritual or technological intervention, like an advanced implant resembling a Leuralink implanted in his mind, courtesy of an alien abduction.

Speculations about his condition varied, but slowly, Aloys was beginning to realize that the cause of his extraordinary experiences no longer mattered. What truly mattered was the mysterious journey he was about to embark on.

His everyday life became even more surreal when he found himself at the center of a bizarre incident involving a bus driver. The driver, a pot smoker caught three times previously smoking while driving, began taking photos of him covertly. Then, he abruptly stopped the bus, as if secretly communicating with someone about Aloys. Fear gripped his heart, and the dark intentions behind this act haunted him.

However, a part of his mind dared to consider that perhaps the driver simply wished for him to stop using that particular bus, allowing him to enjoy his weed in peace. How inconvenient could Aloys be?

The incident with the driver threw Aloys into a whirlwind of trouble in the workplace, triggering a series of unpleasant events. He inadvertently shared his concerns with a coworker who exploited the situation for her benefit, creating friction with her superiors and, consequently, involving his name in troubles he had not caused.

Driven by frustration and a sense of injustice, Aloys made a drastic decision: he sent an anonymous report through the company's third-party reporting channel. Little did he know that this channel was anything but trustworthy.

The report was sent after midnight, and the next day, the Civil Police showed up at the store, claiming to investigate a random report of spoiled sodas. It was evident that the managers were plotting something against him, using their own tactics to discredit him. The worsening of his situation was undeniable.

And if that wasn't enough, one of the managers, with their sharp questions, revealed that Aloys was the author of the report. His privacy had been violated, and he found himself increasingly isolated in his workplace. Coworkers looked at him differently, as if they knew something he did not.

Aloys was on the brink of a crisis, feeling cornered in a maze of mystery and paranoia. The sense that something extraordinarily strange was happening to him grew with each passing day. He was about to dive even deeper into this abyss, where mystery intertwined with reality, creating a web of puzzles he was destined to unravel. It was only the beginning of a journey filled with challenges and discoveries, where the line between the real and the unreal would continue to fade, leading him to an uncertain and enigma-filled destiny.