Chapter 10 - The Voice on the Tape
Arthur stared at the cassette recorder on the nightstand, his chest tightening as the realization of what was about to happen paralyzed his limbs.
"I won't listen to it," Arthur muttered, shaking his head. "It's a fabrication. Someone broke in here before we arrived and planted these items to frame me."
"Press play, Arthur," Clara repeated, her voice steady, carrying an authority that brooked no argument. She slid the small plastic cassette into the machine's deck and pressed down on the mechanical button with a definitive click.
The speaker hissed with static for a moment before a voice filled the quiet bedroom—his own voice, clear and unhurried, speaking in the past tense about events that had not yet occurred.
Subject Clara will display initial skepticism, followed by standard emotional resistance. The children will be utilized as psychological leverage to ensure compliance with the perimeter protocols.
Arthur covered his ears with his hands, squeezing his eyes shut as the recorded monologue continued to detail conversations he hadn't yet had, decisions he hadn't yet made, and a life he thought he was living spontaneously.
"How is this possible?" Arthur whispered through his fingers, his knees buckling as he slid down the wall until he was sitting on the carpeted floor.
"Because we aren't living a life, Arthur," Clara said, stopping the tape with another sharp click. "We are repeating a loop. And you are the one who engineered every single second of it."
Downstairs, the front door suddenly swung open with a loud bang, and the sound of heavy footsteps echoed through the entryway.
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Leo let out a sharp cry from the lower hallway, shouting up the stairs with raw terror in his voice: "Dad! There's someone standing in the front doorway, and he looks exactly like you!"
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