But in the video feed on the screen, there was a figure standing directly behind me. It was tall, draped in robes that looked like static, its face a void where features should be. It held a coil of rope in one hand and a heavy, rusted iron key in the other.
A line of text finally appeared at the bottom of the video window: “You have taken time that does not belong to you. Now, I return the debt.” File: ANDROMALIUS.zip ...
There were no progress bars. There was no "Success" message. Instead, my desktop icons began to rearrange themselves. They didn’t snap to the grid; they drifted like debris in a slow-moving current, clustering in the center of the screen to form a crude, pixelated shape—a serpent held in a human hand. But in the video feed on the screen,