As the face came into view, Elias felt a cold spike of adrenaline. The man in the video wasn't a stranger. He was wearing the same grey hoodie Elias was wearing right now. He had the same scar on his chin from a childhood bike accident.

Elias leaned closer to the monitor. He tried to scrub the timeline back to see the transition, but the slider wouldn't move. The timestamp in the corner of the player was ticking upward, but the numbers weren't seconds. They were coordinates.

Then he found the drive labeled Lot 338 . It was a heavy, old-school mechanical drive, vibrating with a low, rhythmic hum that felt slightly out of sync with the room. Inside was a single folder, and within that folder, a single file: . He double-clicked.