On the screen, the "video version" of Elias looked directly into the camera. He didn't speak. He simply held up a handwritten sign that read:
He didn't look at his phone. He didn't look at the screen. He simply walked out of the room, leaving the computer running in the dark, wondering if the next file was already recording his escape. g7324.mp4
At the three-minute mark, a door at the end of the hallway opened. A man walked out—Elias himself. He was wearing the same grey hoodie Elias was wearing now. In the video, Elias looked exhausted. He sat down at a desk that looked exactly like the one Elias was currently sitting at, in a room that matched his own studio down to the coffee stain on the rug. On the screen, the "video version" of Elias
Every time he tried to run it, his workstation fans would scream, and the progress bar would freeze at exactly 14%. He didn't look at the screen
Suddenly, the video Elias stood up and walked toward the camera, his hand reaching out as if to touch the glass of the monitor from the inside. The real Elias scrambled backward, his chair clattering against the floor.
In the video, the onscreen Elias pointed to the wall clock behind him. It also read 11:42 PM.