File: Hack_me.2.zip ... -

Elias didn't think. He grabbed his heavy metal desk lamp and swung it with everything he had. The screen shattered, an explosion of glass and liquid crystal. Sparks showered his lap, and the room went pitch black.

Elias sat in the dark, gasping, the smell of ozone thick in the air. He reached for his phone to use the flashlight, his hands shaking so hard he almost dropped it. He clicked the light on. The monitor was destroyed. The room was empty. File: hack_me.2.zip ...

From the darkness of the hallway, he heard a sound—the unmistakable, digital "crunch" of a folder being opened. Elias didn't think

The phone's camera light flickered once, twice, and then stayed on, pointed directly at his face. Sparks showered his lap, and the room went pitch black

He reached for the power cable, but a window popped up, filling the screen with a live video feed. It took him three seconds to realize he was looking at the back of his own head. The camera angle was impossible—it was coming from his wall-mounted bookshelf, where no camera existed. In the video, a figure stood in the doorway behind him.

The air in the room chilled. Elias grabbed his mouse to kill the process, but the cursor moved on its own, sliding away from his hand.

He looked down. There was a new notification on his lock screen.