The prompt at the bottom of the screen blinked, waiting for his input:

Suddenly, his screen flickered. A chat window popped up. No username. No avatar.

Leo reached for the power cord, but his mouse froze. On his second monitor, his own webcam feed flickered to life. He wasn't looking at himself in his cramped apartment. He was looking at a version of himself standing in a sun-drenched office in a city he didn’t recognize, wearing a suit he couldn’t afford, holding a passport for a country that didn't appear on any map. The "Document Mix" wasn't a leak. It was a menu.

Leo looked at the grainy, grey walls of his studio, then back at the glowing screen. He realized then that "Free" didn't mean the file cost nothing—it meant the file was an exit. He clicked "Confirm," and the room began to pixelate.

“The Zip is a mirror,” the text read. “You weren't supposed to look at the glass.”

"What the hell is this?" Leo whispered, his cursor hovering over a file named The_Grand_Compromise.pdf .