G9110.mp4 -

A heavy, rhythmic knock echoed not from the video, but from his actual apartment door. Elias looked at the screen. In the video, two figures in dark, tactical gear were standing outside his hallway door.

He looked at the bottom of the video player. The progress bar was at 1:55. 1:56.1:57.1:58. g9110.mp4

At exactly 2:00, the sphere didn't explode—it simply vanished. In its place was a perfect, perfectly still sphere of absolute darkness. It didn't reflect the laboratory lights; it swallowed them. A heavy, rhythmic knock echoed not from the