The code flickered on the terminal screen, a jagged string of alphanumeric characters that looked like a digital fingerprint: .
The screen didn't load a spreadsheet or a document. Instead, it blossomed into a high-definition video feed. The timestamp in the corner matched the file name exactly: 12:49 PM. Palinski 2023 03 15 12 49 CpzuYBAISo8 1 1 57411...
Elias froze. The face in the static was his own. Not as he looked now, but as he had looked ten years ago, on the day he decided to become a coder. The code flickered on the terminal screen, a