The last thing he saw before the door dissolved into shimmering, gravitational waves was the filename, now embedded into his desktop background like a scar:

Only then did he notice the file size had changed.

Alexei reached for the power cord. But his hand passed right through it.

WinRAR opened. 47%... 82%... then the progress bar froze. Not a crash. A whisper.

It was 2:47 a.m. in his Minsk apartment. The rain outside synced with the static crackle of his old headphones. He double-clicked.

A soft, wet footstep. Then another.