The screen went black. In the reflection of the monitor, Elias saw the green webcam light stay on, watching him sit in the silence of a studio that was no longer his. AI responses may include mistakes. Learn more

His mouse cursor moved on its own, dragging his unreleased master files into the trash. He lunged for the power cable, but the speakers let out a deafening, low-frequency thrum that pinned him to his chair.

"Stop!" he yelled, but the screen only flashed with his own banking details, his private emails, and then, a live feed of his own darkened room.

The sound that erupted wasn't a lush pad. It was a scream—not a human one, but the sound of digital data being shredded. His speakers wailed. Suddenly, his webcam light clicked on, a steady, unblinking green eye. On the screen, text began to scroll in the "Search" bar of the plugin: FREE COMES WITH A PRICE, ELIAS.