Harry and Nik were trapped in a heavy silence.
The woman seated before them stared as if her gaze could drill straight through their skulls. The second woman, standing beside her, rested her hands on a black belt lined with gleaming tools—not weapons, but devices that looked more like instruments of measurement or control.
"Untie them," the seated woman said.
Her voice was calm, yet it cut through the room like a blade.
The second woman moved instantly. The thick ropes binding Harry's and Nik's arms and legs to the chairs came loose under her fingers, as if there had never been any knots at all. Harry felt blood rush back into his wrists, a sharp burning sensation accompanied by a deeper unease that went far beyond physical pain.
"Stand up," the second woman said.
Harry and Nik rose cautiously. Their legs still trembled slightly.
Nik glanced at Harry, silently asking What are they going to do to us?
There was no answer.
They were led out of the small room into a narrow, cool corridor. Its walls were made of smooth, gray stone. Soft fluorescent light spilled from the ceiling, casting long shadows across the floor. There were no windows. No signs of the outside world.
At last, they entered a vast hall.
A high dome arched above them, covered in intricate circular patterns—resembling ancient star maps, yet following an unfamiliar design. At the center of the hall stood something like a massive rectangular frame, stretching from the floor almost to the ceiling. Its surface was dark and smoky, like opaque glass, with faint streaks of light occasionally moving within it.
The seated woman—now walking beside them—pointed toward it.
"This is a gateway to the testing space. You will both enter it."
Nik instinctively stepped back. "Why? What did we even do?"
The woman fixed her gaze on him.
"You went somewhere you should not have. You saw something you should not have. Now we must determine whether you have the capacity to understand more… or not."
"A test? With that mirror?" Harry asked. His voice trembled slightly, though he tried to keep control.
"It's not just a mirror," the second woman said. "It's a space shaped by your minds. Your fears, your hidden abilities, your choices under extreme pressure. Everything reveals itself there."
"And if… if we fail?" Harry asked.
The seated woman smiled, but her eyes remained cold.
"If you cannot come back out, you will remain trapped forever inside your own nightmare."
Nik inhaled sharply.
Harry felt his heart pounding against his chest. There was no escape. Two women armed—or rather, armed with unknown technology—stood behind them, and the hall had only one exit.
"Do not waste time," the seated woman said. "Either you enter on your own, or we will help you."
Harry looked at Nik. Fear widened his friend's eyes, but deep within them flickered a spark of resistance. Harry nodded slightly.
"We have to go, Nik."
They stepped toward the smoky frame.
The closer they got, the brighter its surface became. The streaks of light inside it began to swirl faster. One step away, Harry reached out. The surface felt like dense energy, trembling beneath his fingers.
"Together," Nik whispered.
They stepped inside at the same time.
The sensation was like free fall without weight.
Blinding white light surrounded them—then vanished.
They were standing on a solid surface, but the world around them had completely changed.
They stood on a narrow stone bridge stretching over an endless abyss. Beneath them, thick dark clouds churned, silent lightning flashing within. The air was cold and damp. On either side of the bridge, there was no support—only darkness.
"Where… where are we?" Nik said. His voice echoed unnaturally in the empty space.
"Somewhere our minds created," Harry replied. "Probably a survival test."
Suddenly, from deep within the clouds, something massive emerged.
A creature shaped like a bird—but formed of shadow and fractured light—rose up, its red eyes locked directly onto them. With every beat of its wings, a violent wind shook the bridge.
"Run!" Harry shouted.
They sprinted toward the far end of the bridge, where a faint light glimmered in the distance. The creature closed in with terrifying speed.
Nik gasped for breath. "I can't… I can't go on…"
"There's no choice!" Harry grabbed his arm.
The bridge cracked beneath their feet. Stones fell away one by one. The creature was now above them, its sharp beak poised to strike.
Harry suddenly stopped.
"Nik, look at the light! Focus only on the light!"
Nik closed his eyes.
Harry did the same. Instead of fear, he focused on the one memory where he felt safe: a day he had gone on a picnic with his brother and sister in a forest near the city. Sunlight filtered through the leaves. Their laughter filled the air.
A burst of white light erupted from somewhere deep within them.
The shadowed creature shrieked and recoiled.
The bridge stopped shaking.
When they opened their eyes, the creature was gone.
The light at the end of the bridge now felt close—and warm.
They moved carefully toward it and crossed off the bridge. On the other side was a small space, like a circular room. At its center stood another mirror—this one clear and radiant.
"I think this is the exit," Harry said.
At the same time, they hurled themselves toward it.
It felt like emerging from thick water.
Suddenly, they were back in the grand hall, standing before the same smoky frame. Behind them, the mirror's surface glowed calmly. They were out of breath—but alive.
The seated woman and her companion stood exactly where they had been, as if no time had passed for them. The seated woman raised an eyebrow—the first sign of surprise on her face.
"Very well," she said. "You came out. And not only that—you passed the mind-constructed defense mechanism."
"So what now?" Harry asked, still shaking slightly.
"You threw us into a haunted mirror, almost killed us. What kind of stupid test was that? What do you gain if we die?"
The seated woman rose slowly. Her blue eyes were serious now.
"It was not a stupid test. It was an assessment of resilience, creativity, and… your ability to cooperate under pressure." She paused. "The goal was never for you to die. The goal was to see whether you were worth inviting."
"Inviting?" Nik asked.
"Yes," she said. "We invite you to join us."
A heavy silence filled the hall.
Harry and Nik looked at each other. After all the fear and tension, the offer was so unexpected it was hard to believe.
"Join what? Who are you?" Harry asked.
The woman smiled—this time, slightly softer.
"We are the Guardians of the Temporal Boundaries. The paper you found was a message meant for one of our agents in this era. You, Harry, accidentally stepped into a surveillance operation involving the interaction of two timelines—Iran, 2026, and Europe, 1435. A person named Parsa, on the other side of the timeline, has become unknowingly involved. We need individuals capable of moving along these boundaries—minds flexible enough to perceive parallel realities."
Nik stared. "So you want to make us… time agents?"
"In a manner of speaking, yes," the second woman replied.
"But first, you must choose. You may return to your normal lives, with memories that will gradually fade… or you may step into a world whose secrets are far greater than a dark alley."
Harry looked at Nik. Fear was still there—but curiosity burned just as strongly. He felt it too. After years of a dull, directionless life, this was the first time something truly meaningful stood before him.
"If we accept," Harry said, "we're going to need some answers first."
The seated woman nodded. "Naturally. But remember—every answer carries a greater commitment."
Nik sighed. "Well, since we almost died, we might as well know why."
Harry hesitated, then said quietly,
"Then… we're listening."