Dianc0536.jpg -

He tried to delete the file. The computer hovered at 99% for three hours before the blue screen of death claimed the system. When he rebooted, wasn't just in the folder anymore; it was his desktop wallpaper. He pulled the plug on the computer. The screen stayed on.

When he first clicked it, his monitor flickered. The image that appeared was a low-resolution shot of a hallway. It looked like a hospital, but the lighting was a sickly, bruised purple. At the end of the hall stood a figure that was slightly out of focus, as if the camera had struggled to lock onto its dimensions. dianc0536.jpg

Back in the apartment, the computer screen finally turned off. On the hard drive, a new file appeared in the folder: . He tried to delete the file

As the second hand ticked forward, a blinding flash erupted from the camera at the end of the hall. For a split second, Elias felt himself being pulled through a straw—his atoms stretching into lines of code, his memories flattening into pixels. He pulled the plug on the computer