The webcam light blinked on.

Just her, a brush, and the rain-streaked window. Moral of the story: Cracks let in more than light. Always download software from the official source.

Her heart pounded. She yanked the power cord, but the laptop stayed on—battery full, screen flickering with static. A new window typed itself out in slow green text:

Then the glitches started.

Her cursor moved on its own. File explorer opened. Folders she hadn’t touched began to highlight one by one: Documents > Projects > Webcomic > Scripts . Then Photos > ID Scan . Then Browser > Saved Passwords .