At exactly 6:00 Am, the sun slowly rose as it always did.
Elias Crowe slowly opened his eyes, the golden light spilling through the spotless window, just the same way it had every morning for as long as he could remember.
Outside the window, the birds sang their beautiful song in their familiar tune. The song felt too precise or too rehearsed; nonetheless, it was comforting on its right.
He slowly sat up, his feet touching the familiar perfectly polished floorboards. There wasn't a single speck of dust nor creaks; after all, The city of Edenvale didn't allow imperfections.
He slowly walked to the bathroom to wash his face; after 10 minutes of washing his face and brushing his teeth, he stepped outside and dried his face.
In the kitchen.
The coffee machine hummed to life unprompted, filling the air with its rich aroma.
Elias slowly blew the coffee and took a sip.
"Slurp"
As he took his last sip, the television turned on its own, as it always did, to channel one. On the television, a cheerful anchor beamed at him from the screen.
[Good morning, Edenvale! I'm your one and only host Christian]
[Today's a beautiful day as always with seventy-two degrees, clear skies and smiles all around Edenvale.]
[Don't forget to cherish every moment of it]
Elias listened to the news anchor, as he always did.
"It's that strange itch all again"
Elias rubbed the back of his neck, feeling the strange itch again; It was an itch he couldn't scratch.
"But the strange thing about the itch isn't the itch itself. No, it was like it was whispering that something was off"
Elias pushed the thought back into the corner as he saw no reason to dwell on that type of nonsense.
Today was Tuesday, the day of routine.
Elias slowly made his way towards the bathroom to take a shower; after 15 minutes or so, he dried his hair and started to dress up.
Elias looked at his reflection in the bedroom mirror; he was the same as always.
He had dark brown hair, neatly parted without effort, as if every strand knew exactly where it belonged.
His grey-blue eyes stared back at him; they looked calm but distant, the kind of eyes people often said looked thoughtful even when his mind was blank.
His face was sharp in all the right places; He had a strong jawline, a straight nose, and clear skin untouched by time or stress.
He looked presentable and approachable. The kind of man you'd trust to watch your house or handle your insurance claim.
He wore a blue shirt, it was freshly pressed, but he didn't have a single clue when he had used an iron.
The shirt hugged his lean frame perfectly; It wasn't too tight or loose.
His shoes were dark slacks and polished. It completed the picture as if he'd stepped out of a catalogue for a "professional, dependable man."
...
Elias stepped outside the door by exactly 7:30 AM.
The moment he stepped his foot outside the door, he saw his familiar elderly neighbour, Mrs Calloway, waving at him from her porch, just like yesterday or the day before or the day before.
"Lovely morning, isn't it Elias?" Calloway asked in her familiar sweet but hollow voice.
Elias forced a smile, but before he could respond, she continued—her tone identical to what he knew he'd heard before.
"The sun's shining just the way we like it. Not too bright, not too dull. Just... perfect."
Elias hesitated a little bit. That was exactly what she'd said yesterday. Word for word.
"Yeah," he finally replied, his voice tight. "Perfect as always, Mrs. Calloway."
Her smile didn't waver. It didn't even move. It was as if it had been painted on.
"Wouldn't trade it for the world, dear. After all, every day in Edenvale is a blessing, isn't it?"
Elias nodded slowly, a faint chill running down his spine. He could almost predict her next words.
Sure enough, she tilted her head slightly.
"You take care now, Elias. I'll see you tomorrow... same time, same place."
His breath caught for a moment. Had she always said that?
Before he could ask, Mrs Calloway turned stiffly toward her perfectly arranged flower pots, humming a familiar tune—a tune Elias realized he'd never actually heard her finish.
After the short greeting from Calloway, Elias walked down to Maple Street.
It had identical houses with identical lawns. The mailman passed by him while tipping his hat in a mechanical precision like always.
As he continued his walking a dog barked exactly two times like yesterday from the same white picket fence.
Elias paused halfway to work.
There it was again... that flicker at the edge of my mind.
Across the street, Elias saw a man. He was standing frozen mid-step and mid-wave. He had a blank expression.
Around the man, people moved normally like it was nothing. They were smiling and chatting.
They were oblivious to the glitch in their midst.
Seeing the man standing frozen, Elias blinked. But the next second the man had already snapped back to life.
The man continued his half-wave as if nothing had happened. Elias swallowed hard but kept walking.
As he reached a corner, he passed a bakery. From there, the scent of fresh bread came, and it was the same as yesterday.
Customers were laughing at some jokes. But some things were odd; the customers were here yesterday also at the same tables and laughing at the same joke.
As Elias stared at them something caught his attention. It was a newspaper headline on the window display.
Edenvale celebrates 30 years of peaceful perfection.
'Thirty years?' Elias frowned 'I don't remember Edenvale celebrating its 30 years of peaceful perfection'
"It wasn't just the celebration..." Elias realized he couldn't remember much beyond the past few years
"Beep!!"
Suddenly, a car honked, snapping him from his eerie thoughts. He was standing in the middle of the street.
"Sorry about that!"
The driver waved apologetically for honking at him, not because it was his fault; no, it was still Elias's fault. But he was like offering a polite gesture for the invisible audience of civility
After some time Elias finally arrived at the office.
As he stepped Inside, everyone greeted him by his name with the same enthusiasm as always.
"Morning Elias"
"Another beautiful day, huh?"
"Ready to seize the day"
But Their smiles never quite reached their eyes. The same phrases. The same tones. Every single day.
Elias nodded along as he settled into his desk by the window. On his table was the label "Crow & Co. Insurance. The view from his seat overlooked a park where children always play in perfect harmony.
They don't scream, not even a little bit. They won't fall it was just like an... ideal childhood.
Elias opened his computer as his computer screen flickered a little bit before stabilizing.
For a split second, Elias saw something; instead of seeing the usual spreadsheet, he saw something else. Code, it was Lines of code. And there was a blinking red light, a blinking red light labelled LIVE.
Seeing the label Live, Elias's heart started beating faster. He glanced around to see if anyone other than him saw it, but nobody else reacted.
"Why was I the only one who saw it?"
After taking a deep breath, he reached out his hand to touch the screen; before he could touch it, a sudden voice came.
"Mr Crowe?"