The Mirror Lied

The BEST theory I found regarding this game which makes really good sense:

1. Leah and Birdie Much like others believe, I think Leah was actually a scientist charged with finding the cure to a plague that was  killing off the population of the world. Birdie is the embodiment of that plague. On the computer, the messages were urging her to find an kill Birdie as soon as possible, which was their way of asking her to hurry and find that cure. We even get a message stating how Birdie had flown over Europe, meaning that Leah was too late in finding the cure before the plague had reached and infected Europe. Lands on the world map disappearing are indications that the plague had killed off much of the world, leaving few survivors left. Also, did you notice how the world globe had a "strange odor" coming from it? That symbolizes that the world is sick and beginning to die off, thanks to the plague. (People and other creatures that are ill often emit an odor of some sort) As time progresses, more and more lands disappear from the world map, leaving only a tiny bit left in the end. This is symbolic of the fact that the virus "Birdie" had almost completely wiped out humanity, and there is only a tiny fraction of civilization left for Leah to save. She was almost out of time. Also, the little chemistry set and the fluid sample in the room is definitely a nod to the idea that she was studying the virus hard, trying to find any weakness in it.


2. Watering the Plant I believe, again, much as others do, that watering the plant is symbolic of Leah drinking water herself. Notice how, when she first checks it, the plant  is very dry and needing water badly. That's symbolic of Leah herself, being extremely thirsty and desperately needing water in order to quench that thirst and survive. The reason she is so thirsty is because she hasn't really drank any water in a while, knowing full well the risks of drinking any water in a world ravaged by a plague. She also knows that "Birdie" has touched the water, meaning that the virus has tainted much of the world's water supply. So she holds off on drinking water, even the water she had managed to store in her sink and tubs as a precautionary measure, for as long as she can. However, the human body can only go so long without water, and soon her body is so dry and desperate for water that she has no choice but to drink some if she wants to live. She hopes against hope that the water she's drinking isn't tainted with the plague. But her hopes are in vain, because it is, and once she drinks it, she too becomes infected with the virus.



3. The fire This was explained by another youtuber, and it impressed me, and definitely left me less confused about it. Or at the very least, it made a huge amount of sense to me. The "house fire" represents the plague infecting Leah's body giving her an intense fever. As sickness often does when it's serious, Her temp probably spiked out of control. Most likely, she felt dizzy, ill, and very hot. This is supported by the fact that, in order to make the fire go away, she had to go to bed and lay down. I believe that symbolized Leah maybe taking some medicine to bring down her temperature, laying down, and trying to sleep away some of her symptoms. After all, when people aren't feeling well, they often retire to their bed to try to rest and recuperate. And when she awoke, the fire was gone, meaning her temp had probably lowered at least to a manageable enough level for her to function.

4. Climbing the glowing plant Okay, so this part that I surmised is quite sad and heroic even. Leah, by now, probably knows full well that she is infected. The water she drank can also be symbolic of this. Before she "watered the dry plant", the water in the tub looked blue, clear, and inviting. That represents Leah's desperation, as at the time she was so thirsty that any water would have looked good to her. But once she had used it and was no longer as thirsty as she was, over time the water bean to show it's "true color", as it were. It began to emit a reddish-brown hue, a very unhealthy color for water. It showed that there was definitely something very wrong with it, and given that we know "Birdie" had touched the water, Leah had a good idea what that something was. So, what's a scientist to do if she's infected with a deadly bacteria for which there is no cure and will likely end her life? Experiment on herself, of course. Her continued insistence on watering the plant was actually symbolizing her drinking as much of the infected water as she could, to get as much of it into her body as she could. After all, with her being infected, she now had a living organism to experiment on in order to try and find the cure: Herself. Also, notice how once the plant grew tall enough to climb, it was infected with bugs. Those bugs represent many branching pieces of the deadly bacteria infecting Leah's body. And the pesticide she used to kill them off symbolizes the chemical experiments she conducted on herself to try to weed through the bacteria in her body to find and isolate the main core of the virus strain itself. (Btw, I really know jack diddly squat about science, this is all just the impression I got from the story. Forgive me if I'm inaccurate in my description on how chemistry works, lol) Her killing off the bugs on the plant allowing her to freely climb it represents her finally finding and being able to reach the core of the deadly bacteria and trying to find a way to cure it. Also, "Birdie's" phone call to her was also symbolic imo. Remember when Birdie asked her if she had been drinking lots of water? That, imo, may symbolize the cruelty of Birdie, as if the virus was openly taunting her by saying "Hah, you thought you could escape me by drinking stored up tub water? I'd already infected your water. You're just as dead as the rest of humanity." Also, when Birdie said "Come Leah, Birdie is waiting", that could be interpreted to mean that the virus was on it's way to claiming her as it's next victim.


5. The gunshot - Victory at a price Okay, so Leah has climbed the plant to the roof of the house, and there she waited for Birdie to swoop in and carry her away.  I think Birdie spiriting her up and off the roof symbolizes that Leah was in the last stages of her illness, and the virus was ready to take her and finish her off, as it had done to so many before her. I also noticed how Leah didn't try to fight Birdie off; much to the contrary, she raised her arms and allowed Birdie to take her with no resistance at all. That can be interpreted to mean that Leah knew she was dead. The plague and the chemical experiments she performed on her body had taken its toll quickly. She was dying, but she didn't care. Self-preservation was not her goal at this point. Her goal was killing the virus so it didn't end humanity.  All her hard work had allowed her to finally reach Birdie, and she was not going to waste this chance. As Birdie was carrying her away to kill her, she pulled out her gun and prepared to end Birdie once and for all. She aimed her gun at Birdie and  the screen blacks out as she pulled the trigger, mortally wounding the bird. That symbolizes the instant Leah, after experimenting on the core of the virus strain, had found the anti-virus. She had found the cure at last. (Also, notice how she only had one bullet left in the gun. One shot left. I think that symbolized that Leah knew this was, quite literally, her last shot at killing the plague before it took her life.) Once the screen returned, Birdie was shown flying in the sky, but no longer carrying Leah. Birdie had dropped her. That symbolizes that the virus had finally finished her off. Leah was dead. However, then Birdie disappeared into nothingness. That symbolizes that the anti-virus Leah had sacrificed herself to create was beginning to do its job. It was beginning to spread throughout the world, killing off the deadly bacteria and wiping out the plague.  Birdie was dead. And what was left of humanity survived to begin rebuilding society. In the end, the scientist and the plague killed each other.