8(1)(1)(1)(1)(1).mp4

Elias felt a cold prickle on his neck. He tried to delete the file, but a dialogue box popped up: Error: File "8(1)(1)(1)(1)(1).mp4" is currently being used by 'SYSTEM'.

He played it again. This time, the man in the chair was wearing a different shirt. A blue one. In the first viewing, Elias was sure it had been gray. He scrubbed the frame back. Blue. He played it a third time. Now the man was gone. The chair was empty, rocking slightly as if someone had just stood up. 8(1)(1)(1)(1)(1).mp4

The media player opened one last time, unprompted. The video was no longer grainy. It was high-definition. It showed the same basement, the same chair. But this time, the camera was positioned behind the chair, looking at the monitor the man had been watching. Elias felt a cold prickle on his neck

The file was duplicating itself in real-time, right there in the folder. The parentheses were growing, a digital cancer spreading across his hard drive. Then, his webcam light flickered on. This time, the man in the chair was