“This damn flashlight,” Thomas muttered, smacking the device against his palm. The beam flickered erratically, casting dancing shadows across the office walls. It was well past midnight, and he was the only one left in the building. Or so he thought.

The flickering light revealed glimpses of his reflection in the window – except the reflection wasn’t quite right. It moved a fraction of a second too late, smiled when he frowned.

“Hello, Thomas.” His reflection spoke, its voice carrying an unsettling echo.

Thomas dropped the flashlight, but it wouldn’t turn off. Instead, it rolled across the floor, its unreliable beam turning the familiar office into a grotesque carnival of shifting shadows.

“Don’t be alarmed,” the reflection continued, stepping out of the window glass like walking through a membrane. “I’m just here to discuss your promotion.”

“My… promotion?” Thomas’s voice cracked. “I didn’t apply for any promotion.”

“Oh, but you did. Every time you stayed late, every fake smile you gave your supervisor, every colleague you quietly undermined – those were all your applications.”

The creature wearing his face sat on his desk, straightening its tie with mechanical precision. The flashlight beam caught its features at odd angles, revealing moments where its skin seemed to ripple like water.

“I don’t understand,” Thomas stammered, backing away.

“Of course you do. You’ve been practicing to become me for years. The perfect corporate entity. Emotionless. Efficient. Empty.”

The flashlight flickered more intensely now, each flash revealing the creature in different poses – standing, sitting, leaning, always with that same practiced smile.

“I’m not… I didn’t mean to…”

“Come now, Thomas. Let’s not be dishonest. Not now. Not when you’re so close to achieving your goal.” The creature extended its hand, skin gleaming like polished plastic under the unstable light.

Thomas looked at the hand, then at the creature’s face – his face, but perfected, smoothed of all human imperfection. He thought about his daughter’s recital he’d missed last week, the divorce papers sitting unsigned in his drawer, the countless dinners eaten alone at his desk.

He laughed. It started as a chuckle, then grew into full-blown hysterics.

“You know what?” Thomas wiped tears from his eyes. “Keep the promotion. I quit.”

The creature’s perfect smile faltered. “You can’t quit. You’re already too far along the process.”

“Watch me.” Thomas picked up the troublesome flashlight and hurled it through the window. The glass shattered, and with it, the creature’s form began to fragment.

“No… you don’t understand… you’ll never advance… never succeed…” its voice distorted as it collapsed in on itself.

Thomas watched as his reflection dissolved into shadows, feeling both loss and liberation. The morning sun was beginning to peek over the horizon, casting warm light into the office. He pulled out his phone and dialed.

“Hey sweetie, it’s Dad. I know it’s early, but… how about breakfast? I have something important to tell you about my job. Or rather, my former job.”

The broken flashlight lay on the street below, still flickering faintly, its beam growing weaker until it finally faded into nothing.