Zero Identity

I could hear the alarm.
From ten different directions.
But I couldn’t actually wake up.

I don’t know why. It felt like I was hallucinating—trapped in a strange loop.
I kept dreaming that I had woken up and turned off the alarm… but I never actually did.
I was in some kind of trance.

I don’t know how else to explain it.

And then… I saw it.
A black humanoid figure moving.
I couldn’t tell if it was human or not, but its sudden appearance shook me from head to toe.

In that instant, I woke up—sitting up in bed, soaked in sweat.
The house was silent.
Empty.
I told myself it was just in my head. I was imagining things.

My parents had gone on a trip to Arizona the night before.
I checked my phone for a couple of minutes and then got out of bed.
Opened the window, like I always do.
Went to freshen up.

I picked up my toothbrush, put some paste on it, and started brushing.

Now, I have this strange habit—while brushing, I close my eyes and replay the previous day in my head.
From morning to night.
It’s weird, I know… but I like it.

So I closed my eyes and started thinking back.
I remembered driving my parents to the airport, waving them goodbye, and then turning up the volume on my favorite songs as I drove back down the highway.
Once I got home, I locked the front door and grabbed some leftover pizza from the kitchen to heat up in the oven.

While searching for oregano and chili flakes, I rummaged through some glass bottles on the shelf and found a small folded slip.
I opened it.
It was from my mom.

It simply read:

“Chili flakes and oregano are in the drawer beside the fridge.”

I smiled.
Of course she’d know where I’d look first.
She always knew.

The pizza was ready. I sat at the table and started eating.

Then suddenly—I heard something fall.
A soft but sharp cling on the floor.

I opened my eyes.

What I saw… was not what I expected.

I looked at the mirror across the room.
And I couldn’t see myself.

Not my face.
Not even a blur.
Just… nothing.
The mirror reflected everything else in the room—but I wasn’t there.

It was like I didn’t exist.

Shocked and terrified, I washed my face and hurried out of the washroom.
As I glanced at the sofa, I froze.

There was a suit.

My size. Perfectly pressed.
Black. Formal.
The kind you wear at funerals.

I told myself maybe my mom had kept it there and I just hadn’t noticed.
Maybe it was too dark in the room last night. Maybe I missed it.

Trying to brush it off, I walked into the kitchen again.

That’s when I noticed something strange—the corridor light was on.
I was sure I’d turned it off last night.
Still, maybe I forgot.

I switched it off and walked downstairs to the kitchen.

And there it was again.
The same pizza.

The one I thought I had eaten yesterday.
Sitting there. Cold. Untouched.

I took it, reheated it in the oven, and went to search again for the chili flakes and oregano.

That’s when I remembered the note.

I searched for it.
Found it in the same exact spot.
Same paper. Same handwriting.

Same words:

“Chili flakes and oregano are in the drawer beside the fridge.”

I stood there, stunned.
Trying to make sense of everything.

As the pizza was heating, I walked into the hall and saw the front door slightly open.
I walked over.
The keys were still hanging from the doorknob.

I hadn’t locked it last night.

“What the hell?” I muttered.

This time, I made sure I shut it properly.
Locked it.
Even double-checked.

Then I took the pizza, still warm, and walked back to my room.

But as I stepped forward, my foot slipped on something wet.

I fell.

My head hit the floor.
Hard.

And everything went black.

Then… I started seeing memories.

Not just images.
Scenes—projected in front of me like I was watching them on a screen.

Real incidents.
People I knew. Moments I had lived.
But I wasn’t in them.

I wasn’t part of the memory.
I was invisible.

I saw my friends laughing.
My parents having dinner.
My brother talking on the phone.

But not once did anyone mention me.
Not once did I appear.

It was like I never existed.

The memories multiplied—one, two, ten… hundreds.
Faster, louder, flashing like lightning.
I couldn’t take it.

And then—just like that—I woke up.

Gasping.
Trembling.
Sweat dripping down my back.

I had no idea what had just happened.

Then I heard it.

A sharp knock.

A wooden cane striking the floor.

I turned.

There was a man.
Or something like a man.

Tall. Vague.
More shadow than flesh.

He told me to sit down.
His voice was low, dominant, like someone used to being obeyed.

“You’ve been selected for the planet research and control Wing,” he said.

I blinked. “What… what is that?”

He told me it was a specialized unit.
Recruitment was… different.

He said, “We erase your existence. Completely.
From everyone’s memory. Your parents. Your friends.
Even time itself forgets you.”

That’s how we choose people.

I was stunned.
I thought it was a joke.
Or a dream. Maybe I was hallucinating.

Then he said:

“You have a lovely family photo by your bedside, don’t you? Check it.”

I turned my head.

And my heart dropped.

The photo was there.
But I wasn’t in it.

Just my father.
My mother.
My brother.

No me.

It was as if I had never been born.

Then he handed me a file.

Inside was a contract.

A contract… to sell my soul.