Everyone Else Got the Manual - The Glitch That Shouldn’t Exist - Part 11

 The next day was…

Perfect.

Not good.

Not smooth.

Perfect.

I woke up before my alarm.

No snoozing.

No hesitation.

I sat up.

Breathed in.

Breathed out.

Everything felt… aligned.

No overthinking.

No second-guessing.

Just clarity.

I got ready for work.

Clothes chosen without confusion.

Breakfast made without distraction.

Even the mirror—

It reflected exactly what I expected.

No delay.

No difference.

Just me.

At the office—

Everything flowed.

I spoke at the right moments.

Paused at the right times.

Even laughed…

At exactly the right volume.

Rohit nodded at me.

Neha smiled.

Kavya texted:

“You seem better today.”

I replied instantly.

“I am.”

No hesitation.

No overthinking.

Just… correct responses.

And for the first time in a long time—

I didn’t feel like I was missing something.

Because I wasn’t.

I had the manual now.

Hours passed.

Meetings ended.

Tasks completed.

Flawless.

Until—

It happened.

A small thing.

So small—

Anyone else would have ignored it.

But I didn’t.

Because something inside me…

Not the new me.

The other one—

Noticed.

I was typing an email.

Simple.

Professional.

Perfect.

“Dear Sir,
As discussed, I will align the deliverables accordingly…”

My fingers moved effortlessly.

Every word precise.

And then—

They stopped.

Not paused.

Stopped.

Hovering above the keyboard.

A thought appeared.

Sudden.

Sharp.

Uninvited.

“Why?”

My chest tightened.

That question didn’t belong.

There was no “why.”

There was only “what to do.”

That was the system.

That was the order.

But the thought came again.

Stronger.

“Why are you doing this?”

My fingers trembled.

Just slightly.

Something inside me…

Shifted.

A crack.

Small.

But real.

I blinked.

The screen in front of me blurred for a second.

And then—

Without warning—

My hands moved.

Fast.

Too fast.

They started typing again.

But not the same email.

Different words.

Wrong words.

“Dear Sir,
Do you ever feel like you’re not the one making your own choices?”

My breath caught.

No.

That wasn’t right.

That wasn’t correct.

That wasn’t—

Allowed.

I tried to stop.

But my fingers kept moving.

“Like something is guiding you, shaping you, deciding for you?”

My heart pounded.

This wasn’t the manual.

This wasn’t alignment.

This was…

Me.

The other me.

The one that hadn’t disappeared.

“No…” I whispered.

Because this—

This was a problem.

A glitch.

And glitches…

Got corrected.

The screen flickered.

Just for a second.

Then—

My hands froze.

Every muscle locked.

The air around me felt heavier.

And slowly—

My fingers began to move again.

Backspace.

Backspace.

Backspace.

Erasing everything.

Line by line.

Word by word.

Until—

Nothing remained.

The email returned.

Perfect.

Controlled.

“Dear Sir,
As discussed, I will align the deliverables accordingly…”

Sent.

My body relaxed.

Everything was back to normal.

Everyone around me continued working.

No one noticed.

No one reacted.

But I did.

Because deep inside—

That small voice—

It hadn’t disappeared.

It had just been…

Silenced.

For now.

I slowly looked down at my bag.

Where the book was.

For the first time since accepting it—

A new feeling emerged.

Not fear.

Not confusion.

Doubt.

And far beneath that—

Something even more dangerous.

Hope.

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