OFFLINE- Chapter 7
The Other Kai
The apartment suddenly felt too small.
Kai Mercer stared at the livestream monitor while the duplicate version of himself remained standing inside the bathroom doorway on-screen.
Same face.
Same hoodie.
Same terrified eyes.
Only one difference felt wrong immediately.
The duplicate wasn’t breathing.
Kai physically stepped backward from the desk.
“No…”
The chat exploded violently.
HE SAW IT TOO
SECOND SELF STARTED EARLY
DONT LET HIM REPLACE YOU
Replace you.
Kai’s pulse slammed harder.
Outside the apartment door, Mrs. Delaney knocked again softly.
“Kai, please…”
The duplicate on stream slowly turned its head toward the front door.
Then smiled.
Kai recoiled instantly.
The smile stretched too wide across his own face.
Wrong.
Artificial.
Like something learning how to imitate human emotion.
Another donation alert screamed through the apartment.
$150,000.
User-0
Do not look away from the stream.
Kai obeyed immediately without meaning to.
Because deep down he already knew the warning mattered.
The duplicate Kai remained motionless on-screen inside the bathroom doorway.
Watching him.
Then the apartment bathroom door creaked softly in real life.
Kai’s blood froze.
The real hallway still looked empty.
But the bathroom door had definitely moved.
Very slowly.
Like someone standing behind it now.
The stream chat moved too fast to read properly anymore.
More numbered users joining every second.
Viewer count: 112,000 LIVE.
Impossible.
Then Kai noticed something horrifying.
Some viewers had profile pictures now.
Tiny blurred webcam photos.
Dark rooms.
Faces.
People watching him from bedrooms, basements, cars, rooftops.
Not bots.
Real people.
Or at least they looked real.
Another message appeared from User-0.
User-0:
The stream copies viewers after prolonged watching.
Kai stared at the sentence.
“What does that even mean?”
User-0 answered instantly.
User-0:
They stop distinguishing themselves from the broadcast.
A cold numbness spread through Kai’s chest.
The duplicate version of himself slowly stepped out of the bathroom doorway on stream.
One step.
Silent.
The real apartment hallway remained empty.
Kai couldn’t breathe properly anymore.
Then the duplicate spoke directly through the livestream speakers.
Using Kai’s own voice.
“Don’t let me reach the camera.”
The stream glitched violently afterward.
Static tore across the screen briefly.
And when the image stabilized—
the duplicate stood closer.
Halfway down the hallway now.
The apartment bathroom light shut off instantly in real life.
Darkness swallowed the corridor again.
Kai grabbed the webcam shakily and pointed it directly toward the real hallway.
Empty.
Nothing there.
But on stream—
the duplicate stood only a few feet away now.
Watching him.
The viewers began spamming the same sentence repeatedly:
HE’S CROSSING OVER
Knocking suddenly exploded against the apartment door.
LOUD now.
Violent.
Mrs. Delaney’s voice sounded wrong outside.
Distorted.
“KAI LET ME IN”
The duplicate on stream immediately turned toward the front door again.
And in the reflection of the apartment window behind Kai—
he saw someone standing directly behind his chair.