He hesitated, his cursor hovering over the icon. The “(2)” in the filename bothered him—it suggested a copy, or perhaps a second attempt at something that had failed. But the desire to win, to finally see through the walls that had hidden his enemies for so long, outweighed his caution. He double-clicked.
On the screen, the figure finally touched his shoulder. Elias felt a coldness so absolute it hurt. The monitor flickered one last time, and the room went dark. When the screen rebooted seconds later, the desk was empty. The only thing left was a new file on the desktop, waiting for the next user: X-Ray_PREMIUM (3).exe. X-Ray_PREMIUM (2).exe
It was taller than a human, its spine curved like a question mark, standing perfectly still. He hesitated, his cursor hovering over the icon