Elias leaned closer, his breath hitching. The man in the video turned his head toward the camera. Even without eyes, the gaze felt heavy, pinning Elias to his chair.

It was a fixed-angle shot of an empty playground at dusk. The quality was unnervingly high—too crisp for a standard security camera. In the center of the frame, a single red swing moved back and forth. There was no wind. The trees in the background were deathly still, their leaves frozen like plastic.

When he double-clicked it, the media player didn't show a thumbnail. For the first thirty seconds, the screen remained black, filled only with the low, rhythmic hum of what sounded like a heavy industrial fan. Then, the image flickered to life.