Miles was the one who always said he'd be the first to die.
Not in a dramatic way. More like a running joke.
"If I ever go AFK for more than 24 hours," he'd typed once, "assume I've been absorbed by the void and avenge me with memes."
He'd even made a meme about it — a pixelated gravestone that read:
RIP MilesAFK
199X–???
He lagged too hard and never respawned.
They'd all laughed.
Until now.
---
It had been 26 hours since anyone had heard from him.
No messages.
No memes.
No "brb, gotta pee" or "wifi's being a little demon again."
Nothing.
Just silence.
---
[Group Chat: The Offline Ones ☠️📴]
you: has anyone heard from miles
🧃ava.exe: not since yesterday
👻riley_irl: i tried calling. straight to voicemail
🧊lucas: he's not responding to pings
you: what do we do
🧃ava.exe: we wait
you: for what
🧃ava.exe: for the glitch to settle
👻riley_irl: or for the Admin to finish syncing
you: you're saying he's gone
🧊lucas: not gone
🧃ava.exe: just… paused
you: that's not better
---
Juno stared at her phone.
The chat felt wrong without him.
Too quiet.
Too sharp.
Like a song missing its bassline.
She scrolled up, rereading old messages.
Miles sending cursed TikToks.
Miles arguing about whether ghosts could get bored.
Miles saying "brb" and never coming back.
She typed.
you: what if we go find him
🧃ava.exe: juno—
you: i'm serious
👻riley_irl: you want to go into the Offline again?
you: yes
🧊lucas: it's not safe
you: it never was
🧃ava.exe: if you go in, you might not come back
you: then come with me
---
Silence.
Then:
👻riley_irl: i'm in
🧃ava.exe: of course you are
🧊lucas: i'll guide you
you: then let's do it
---
The mirror didn't wait this time.
It was already glowing.
Juno didn't hesitate.
She stepped through.
---
The Offline was different now.
Colder.
Quieter.
The hallway stretched out in front of her, lined with mirrors that didn't reflect her at all. Just static. Just noise.
Riley appeared beside her, hoodie up, eyes wide.
"Okay, this is worse than last time."
Juno nodded. "It's changing."
"Or adapting."
Lucas's voice echoed from nowhere. "It knows you're looking for him."
Ava's voice followed. "Be careful. If he's fully synced, he won't recognize you."
Juno swallowed. "Then we'll remind him."
---
They walked.
The hallway twisted.
Turned.
Became a forest of phone towers and broken screens.
The sky above them was a cracked LCD, flickering between day and night.
They found the vending machine.
It was open.
Inside: stairs.
Again.
They descended.
---
The room at the bottom was empty.
Except for a desk.
And on the desk: a monitor.
Juno stepped forward.
The screen flickered.
Then lit up.
A video began to play.
It was Miles.
Sitting in his room.
Talking to the camera.
"Okay, so if you're seeing this, I guess I'm AFK for real. Which sucks. But also… kind of expected?"
He laughed.
Scratched the back of his neck.
"I don't know what happened. One minute I was scrolling, the next I was here. And it's weird. It's like… I remember everything, but it doesn't feel like mine anymore."
He looked down.
"I think I'm being overwritten."
Juno's chest tightened.
"I don't want to forget you guys. I don't want to be a file. But if I do… if I go full glitch… just know I'm sorry. And thank you. For making me feel real."
The screen went black.
Then a single line appeared:
"Find me in the buffer."
---
"What's the buffer?" Juno asked.
Lucas's voice crackled in.
"It's the space between sync and deletion. Where fragments float."
"Can we reach it?"
"Maybe."
"How?"
"You have to crash."
---
Juno didn't hesitate.
She sat in the chair.
Closed her eyes.
And let go.
---
The world shattered.
She fell through code.
Through memory.
Through static.
She landed in a room made of fragments.
Photos. Sounds. Glitches.
A birthday party with no faces.
A song playing backwards.
A phone ringing underwater.
And in the center: Miles.
Floating.
Eyes closed.
Flickering.
Juno ran to him.
"Miles!"
He didn't move.
She grabbed his hand.
It was cold.
She pulled out the cassette tape.
Pressed play.
"You're Juno Elara Reyes. You're real. You're real. You're real."
Miles twitched.
"You kissed Jamie Patel in a movie theater."
His eyes fluttered.
"You once said ghosts should unionize."
He blinked.
"Juno?"
She laughed. "Yeah. It's me."
He looked around. "Where the hell are we?"
"The buffer."
"Oh. Cool. That's bad, right?"
"Very."
---
They ran.
The buffer collapsed behind them.
The Admin was coming.
They reached the mirror.
Juno shoved him through.
Then followed.
---
They landed in her dorm room.
Breathless.
Shaking.
Alive.
Miles looked at her.
"You saved me."
She smiled.
"Don't make it a habit."
---
[Group Chat: The Offline Ones ☠️📴]
🧃ava.exe: you did it
👻riley_irl: he lives
🕹️milesAFK: i'm never saying "brb" again
you: good
🧊lucas: the Admin won't like this
🧃ava.exe: let it come
👻riley_irl: we've got memes and trauma
🕹️milesAFK: and glitter
you: and each other
---