A figure emerged from the nearest doorway. They moved with the peculiar grace of someone who had rehearsed surprise and found it unnecessary. Their face was half-hidden under a hood; the visible part revealed a mouth that smiled like a secret being told in a safe room.
Elias, voice dry in his throat, tested the sound by saying his name. The corridor answered with a different phrase entirely: "You were expected."
"Not yet," the hooded face said. "But if you don't, someone else will. The series finds an audience. The discs find a place. It is not about stopping them; it is about being the person who understands their design. The first ones are small trials. Later episodes... are better funded."
"What happens if someone presses Record?" Elias asked.
"I don't want to be part of a story that rewrites people," Elias said.
Elias moved toward a screen showing a small, grey apartment like his own, except the window looked out on a different skyline—taller, cleaner, with an unfamiliar constellation of neon. A figure in the frame placed a steaming mug on a table and then, with no eyes on the person watching, took out a small device and slid it beneath a couch cushion. The device—a pale disc no larger than a coin—clicked and a tone played, barely audible unless the room was silent enough to catch it.
Elias clicked.