The screen went black, replaced by a text file that hadn't been there a second ago. It contained only a set of GPS coordinates and a date:
In the video, the younger Elias reached into his pocket, pulled out a small, metallic cylinder, and dropped it into a trash bin before disappearing into the tunnel. VID 20171121 (2).rar
When the extraction bar finally hit 100%, a single video file appeared. Elias clicked play. The screen went black, replaced by a text
Elias froze. The man in the video was him —but seven years younger, wearing clothes he never owned, in a city he had never visited. Elias clicked play
Elias looked at the corner of his monitor. Today was April 27. The coordinates pointed to a park just three blocks from his apartment. He realized then that the .rar file wasn't a record of his past, but a set of instructions he hadn't yet followed.
The footage was grainy, filmed from a shaky handheld camera in a crowded subway station. It wasn't Elias holding the phone. The camera followed a man in a tan trench coat who was walking with an odd, rhythmic limp. As the man turned a corner toward a restricted maintenance tunnel, he stopped and looked directly into the lens.