Chapter 2:

Humans are creatures prone to adaptation. Yuri was no exception. [Could you shut your filthy mouth for even a second?] And, having ended up in a mirror world, he was inclined to search for a way out. [Mirror — what? Are you just going to keep ignoring me?] So he began examining the surrounding landscape with greater care, rather than focusing on someone else's hysterical behaviour. [...]

Remarkably, once he fell silent, he was able to take in his surroundings more clearly. It was all so...

Ordinary. Literally the very same office he had been in before his death. The blood that should have been splattered across the floor was absent. It was empty, yet without that oppressive silence, and the world itself was still full of colour. Out of curiosity, he decided to move further — and remarkably, everything was literally the same as usual. His office was right where it always was. By reflex his hand moved toward the handle, but there was nothing there.

Puzzled, he looked down at the door and found that instead of its usual position, the handle had moved to the opposite side.

That was strange — but given that a monster had just chewed up his head and he had somehow survived, not all that strange. The absence of fear toward the situation, however — that was quite strange.

But returning to the office door situation: if you looked closely, the same was true of the door handle. The text on the papers was hard to read — also mirrored. Besides the usual mess on the desk there lay a shard of mirror that he had brought in while completely blackout drunk.

Why had he been blackout drunk during work hours? Because he could. For amusement he had been bouncing light reflections around the corners of the office, but he quickly grew bored, so he decided to put the shard back — but first to take a look at his own reflection.

— #####

He had been about to swear, but aside from the thought, no sound followed. He had no head. Literally.

In the place where it should have been, there was simply a clump of grey mist, through which the wall of his office was faintly visible. The strangest thing was that his point of view was right where his eyes used to be. And when he decided to start looking downward, he realized he could look in every direction, a full 360 degrees. It was unsettling enough. But for some reason he was physically incapable of panicking.

His wristwatch, however, showed that it was lunchtime, and he was a little hungry. So it was decided to eat first. As for how exactly — without a mouth — that was a different question, one he had no desire to ask.

One way or another, he made it to the cafeteria, where there was food. Given the absence of any people, he had to head into the kitchen himself. Clearly his cooking skills were limited to YouTube videos, but he had nothing against ready-made food. The food was there. What to do with it was a more laborious question.

[...]

[So how do I eat?] — a thought sounded in his head. [No, I'm asking you directly. How am I supposed to eat?] His thoughts were addressing a nonexistent voice. [Moron.] And would have been deeply offensive to the feelings of a nonexistent voice. How fortunate that no such voice existed — otherwise it might have accidentally tripped on perfectly flat ground.

Sounds of tripping on perfectly flat ground.

[You do realize nothing happened?]

...

Nasty piece of work. He was a genuine nasty piece of work, incapable of appreciating anyone's delicate inner sensibility. Nevertheless, he did attempt to push some food into the cloud where his head used to be. The food simply passed right through. Trying to feel around for some kind of opening at the neck, he found only a smooth surface — no openings, no bones. His neck was like a statue's. Just a human one.

Theoretically he ought to have been panicking — and practically speaking, he tried. But unfortunately, whether due to the absence of a head or some other paranormal reason, his mood was only mildly agitated. However, the problem wasn't going to disappear based on his psychological state: he needed to find a way to eat, or he would obviously die.

In theory, a person can go without food for about a week. Without water — three days, four at most. And could an ordinary person in such a condition maintain their sanity? Highly doubtful. Yuri had never starved. He didn't know how terrible it was, and wasn't sure he could endure it. But dying a second time out of fear of starving to death sounded pathetic.

So what should he do? Slit his own throat and shove the food in? No, that was stupid. He might not need his head anymore, but he would certainly die if he did something like that. Dangerous. The situation was extremely dangerous. His condition too.

Yes, right now he felt fine — but what about tomorrow? And in a week? And would he even be alive in a month? Funnily enough, this time his heart began beating loudly enough to be audible.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Wait. A heart can't beat that fast. Something was off here. As if it wasn't his heart at all, but the sound of someone's footsteps. Fairly panicked ones.

— D-15, report your location and surrounding conditions.

The man in the purple jumpsuit, whose radio was suspiciously loud, was doing absolutely nothing to make the situation clearer.

— Um, well, everything here looks exactly the same as in the outside world?

He had a surprisingly velvety voice.

— Be more specific.

Yuri was pleased. If a person had come here, they most likely knew how to leave as well.

— Well, I mean... the walls are the same, the objects are the same. And it seems like there's no one here. Um, hold on — there seems to be some kind of person here. SHIT, IT'S LOOKING IN MY DIRECTION, IT'S GOT NO FUCKING HEAD AND THIS THING IS LOOKING IN MY DIRECTION! SHIT, I NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE WHILE I STILL CAN. OH, IT'S ALSO GIVING ME THE FINGER — ABSOLUTELY UNBELIEVABLE.

He may indeed have given the rude fellow the middle finger. But would you have reacted any differently if some stranger had started insulting you right to your face?

— CALM DOWN!

The sound of something being injected rang out at the man's neck, after which he became suspiciously quiet.

— Is the entity displaying any aggressive behaviour?

— It's just watching me.

— It was showing you the middle finger earlier. There is a possibility that the entity possesses self-awareness. Try to verify this: greet it or do something that could confirm its sentience.

— Hi.

Though producing any sounds was difficult, waving a hand was simple enough.

— It's waving at me.

— Understood. Now try asking the entity a question it can answer with yes or no.

— Can you see me?

Yuri had wanted to nod, but the absence of a head made that somewhat complicated. So he solved the problem more creatively — he moved his shoulders and neck, mimicking a nod.

— It nodded.

— Understood. Now ask whether it wants anything.

— Do you want something?

Yuri pointed to his stomach, making it perfectly clear that he was hungry.

— It's pointing at its stomach.

— Hm. I would advise you to run.