The timestamp in the corner was current. It read: Elias glanced at his desk clock. It was 11:14 PM.

It wasn't a heartbeat. It was the sound of heavy boots walking down the hallway outside his apartment door.

The video didn't start with the usual high-octane network montage. There were no credits, no pulsing soundtrack. Instead, the screen flickered with the grainy, greenish hue of a night-vision security feed.