What is HOME

Chapter 2 : Find The house

The sentence hung in the air.

Lica felt it like something heavy dropping inside her.

“No longer originate…” she repeated softly.

“Explanation: each time-travel event with high deviation has the potential to shift the subject into a different branch of reality. The reality you visited was likely not your past, but an alternate version of it.”

Lica shook her head slowly.

“No… that was my home. I remember every detail.”

“Memory does not always guarantee alignment with reality.”

⸻

She fell silent.

Her thoughts spun.

If that wasn’t her past… then where was her real past?

Did it still exist?

Or had it been lost among countless branching timelines?

⸻

Lica held her head.

“So… I can’t go back?”

The system did not answer immediately.

A few seconds of silence.

Then—

“Probability of returning to the original timeline: 0.03%.”

The number felt like a verdict.

⸻

She stepped back slowly. Her eyes stared blankly at the floor.

“Three percent…” she whispered.

Smaller than hope.

Greater than zero.

Enough to keep her from stopping.

⸻

“What if I try again?” she asked.

“Risk increases.”

“I don’t care.”

“Risk of identity integrity loss: 67%.”

Lica went silent.

“Explain.”

“The more frequently you shift realities, the higher the probability that your memories, emotions, and sense of self will fragment. You may lose the ability to distinguish what is ‘real.’”

Lica let out a soft laugh.

“Real?” she said bitterly.

“Is anything still real?”

⸻

Lica looked at the machine again.

A simple metal ring. The blue light now dim.

It was her greatest mistake.

And her only hope.

⸻

She stood.

This time, her steps were steadier.

“Set new coordinates.”

“Parameters?”

Lica thought for a moment.

Not the past.

Not anymore.

“Find a world with minimal deviation from my emotional data.”

“Invalid. Emotions cannot be used as location parameters.”

Lica exhaled.

“Of course…”

She closed her eyes.

Remembering.

Not a place.

Not a time.

But a feeling.

Warm.

Calm.

Accepted.

⸻

“Then,” she said softly,

“find a world where I… don’t feel alone.”

Silence.

For the first time, the system did not respond immediately.

Processing.

Searching for something that might not even be measurable.

⸻

“Non-conventional parameters,” the system finally said.

“However… a behavioral pattern-based approach may be possible.”

Lica opened her eyes.

“What does that mean?”

“Several realities have been identified with high levels of social connection based on your profile.”

“How many?”

“Countless.”

Lica gave a faint smile.

“Good.”

⸻

She stepped closer to the machine.

There was no hesitation left in her eyes.

Only something new.

Not hope.

Not despair.

But… determination.

⸻

Maybe home was not something she could return to.

Maybe home was not a past she could relive.

Maybe—

Home was something she had yet to find.

⸻

“Begin the process,” she said.

The blue light flared again.

Brighter than before.

Deeper.

⸻

As Lica stepped into the light, one final thought crossed her mind:

If home is not where I come from…

could it be the place I choose to stay?

The light no longer felt like light.

It pressed.

Pulled.

Tore apart the boundary between body and consciousness, until Lica was no longer sure whether she still “existed” or was merely a thought thrown between possibilities.

Voices emerged—not from outside, but from within herself.

Fragments of memory.

Fragments of feeling.

Fragments… of herself.

Then—

Silence.

⸻

Lica fell.

Not physically, but as if she were thrown into a reality that suddenly became solid. Her knees hit a hard surface, her breath gasping as if she had just emerged from underwater.

She slowly opened her eyes.

The sky above her… was different.

Not the sky of Neo-Jakarta. No holographic light lines, no flying vehicles, no constant hum of machines.

This sky… was blue.

A deep blue. Vast. Alive.

Lica froze.

How long had it been since she had seen a sky like this?

⸻

She slowly stood.

Around her stretched a city—or more precisely, a growing village. The buildings were not too tall. Many trees. The streets were still filled with people, not automated systems.

And the strangest thing—

People were talking to each other.

Directly.

Without intermediaries.

Without digital interfaces.

⸻

Lica walked slowly, trying to absorb everything she saw.

A man laughed freely by the roadside. Two small children ran, chasing each other. A woman carried a basket of fruit while chatting with her neighbor.

Everything looked… imperfect.

But that was exactly what made it feel real.

⸻

“This is a world that’s… different,” she murmured.

“Correct,” the system’s voice answered in her head.

Lica had almost forgotten the system was still active.

“Status?”

“Identity synchronization: partial.”

Lica frowned.

“What does that mean?”

“You are able to interact with the environment. However, your existence data is not fully integrated.”

“So I… exist, but not entirely?”

“Approximate definition.”

⸻

Lica took a deep breath.

At least this time she could touch something.

She reached out to the trunk of a nearby tree. Her fingers felt the rough texture of the bark.

Real.

Warm.

Not like the illusion in the previous world.

⸻

Her steps carried her deeper into the town.

But the longer she walked, something began to feel… strange.

People did not avoid her. Nor did they bump into her. But—

No one truly saw her.

Their gazes always passed through her. Their smiles were never meant for her.

As if she was there…

But not part of it.

⸻

That feeling returned.

The same feeling she had when she stood in front of her own house—yet could not enter.

⸻

Lica stopped at a small market.

The smell of food filled the air. Spices, warm bread, fresh fruit. Everything was so strong it almost made her dizzy.

She approached a stall.

“Excuse me,” she said to the vendor.

The woman did not respond.

Lica tried again, a bit louder.

“Excuse me?”

The woman continued serving other customers, without the slightest awareness of Lica’s presence.

⸻

Lica stepped back slowly.

“Why…” she whispered.

“Analysis: your presence is not registered within the local social network.”

“So they can’t see me?”

“Not that they cannot see you. More precisely—they do not recognize you.”

⸻

Lica clenched her teeth.

“What’s the difference?”

“Visually, you are present. However, their brains do not process you as a relevant entity.”

⸻

The statement felt cold.

Irrelevant.

⸻

Lica walked away from the market, her steps growing faster.

She didn’t want to be in a crowd that did not acknowledge her.

She didn’t want to be a shadow again.

⸻

Until—

“Hey, wait!”

A voice called out to her.

Lica froze.

Slowly, she turned.

A man stood a few meters behind her. He looked to be in his late twenties. Slightly messy hair, simple clothes.

And most surprising of all—

He was looking directly at Lica.

“Yes?” Lica replied, hesitant.

The man stepped closer.

“You’re… new here, right?”

Lica did not answer immediately.

Her heart began to beat faster.

He… can see me.