41749989836-offset-10224.mp4 -

The woman stepped closer to the lens until her face filled the screen. The violet sky behind her began to flicker, bleeding into the sterile white light of Elias's own office. On the screen, behind the woman, Elias could see the back of his own chair.

The "offset" tag usually referred to a specific timestamp in a larger stream—a slice of time cut out from a continuous recording. He clicked play. 41749989836-offset-10224.mp4

A woman stood in the center of the frame, her back to the camera. She was wearing a flight suit, the patches stripped off, leaving only frayed threads. She was humming a melody that Elias didn’t recognize, yet it made the hair on his arms stand up. The woman stepped closer to the lens until