16296mp4

It wasn’t a video of a room or a person. It was a high-resolution feed of a , a celestial body that shouldn't exist, swirling with colors that the human eye isn't wired to process. As Elias watched, the nebula began to fold in on itself, mimicking the shape of a human iris.

Elias looked at the screen one last time. The file name had changed. It now read: . The recording of him looking at the door had just begun. 16296mp4

Elias checked his watch. The numbers matched the current time, down to the millisecond. Every time he blinked, the "iris" in the video seemed to get closer. He tried to close the window, but the cursor wouldn't move. He tried to pull the plug, but the monitor stayed powered, glowing with an impossible, violet light. It wasn’t a video of a room or a person

Elias, a data recovery specialist with a habit of poking where he shouldn't, hit "Play." For the first ten seconds, there was only static—a rhythmic, organic pulsing that sounded like a heartbeat underwater. Then, the image cleared. Elias looked at the screen one last time