Before he could click, the lights in the room flickered once, and the speakers emitted a low, rhythmic sound—like a heavy breath being drawn in. On the screen, the cursor moved on its own, double-clicking the final file.

Inside the folder were forty-eight images, labeled 01.jpg through 48.jpg .

The screen went black, save for a single line of white text: Archive Complete. System Shutdown.

He clicked 47.jpg . It was a photo of his monitor, displaying the folder L48.rar, taken from over his shoulder. In the reflection of the screen, he could see a tall, blurred shape standing inches behind his chair.

02.jpg was the same door, but slightly closer. 15.jpg was his living room window. 30.jpg was the back of his head, sitting in his ergonomic chair, taken from the hallway behind him.

When the police arrived the next morning, they found the computer humming in an empty room. There was no sign of Elias, only a single, brand-new file on the desktop: .