At first, it feels like choice.
Ethan Vale has always believed his life was shaped by decisions—small ones, large ones, all branching outward into possibility. Every path, every outcome, every version of himself seemed open, waiting. But lately, something has changed.
The options are shrinking.
Conversations begin to repeat with subtle differences, as if rehearsed. Opportunities vanish before he can take them. Streets he once walked freely now seem to guide him, narrowing into routes he does not remember choosing. It is as though the world itself is closing in, reducing every possibility to a single, inevitable direction.
