The symbol remained on every screen.
Silent.
Motionless.
Yet somehow—
it felt alive.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
The room had become frozen in a way Elena hadn't seen since the synchronization crisis.
Not because of the symbol itself.
Because of Iris's reaction.
Fear.
Genuine fear.
The woman who had calmly discussed impossible signals and unknown civilizations was staring at the screen as though she had just seen a ghost.
"Elena."
Iris's voice sounded tighter now.
Controlled.
But only barely.
"You need to disconnect every network immediately."
Adrian blinked.
"That sounds familiar."
"N-now?"
Elena asked.
"Yes."
"Why?"
Iris looked directly at her.
"Because if that symbol appeared, then the transmission has already breached containment."
Nobody liked those words.
Especially not Alessandro.
"What transmission?"
The symbol pulsed again.
Every screen flickered.
Then suddenly—
the image changed.
Not to another symbol.
To text.
One sentence.
Simple.
Short.
And somehow infinitely worse.
DO NOT RESPOND.
Silence.
Complete silence.
Adrian stared.
"…okay."
A pause.
"I definitely don't like that."
Neither did anyone else.
Valentina immediately began analyzing the signal.
"Source remains unidentified."
"How is that possible?" Elena asked.
"You are assuming the transmission follows conventional communication protocols."
That answer wasn't reassuring.
At all.
The text remained visible.
DO NOT RESPOND.
Nothing else.
No threats.
No demands.
No explanation.
Just a warning.
Alessandro stepped closer to one of the screens.
"Who sent it?"
The display instantly changed.
Everyone froze.
Because new words appeared.
YOU WERE NOT THE INTENDED RECIPIENT.
The room erupted.
"What?"
Adrian nearly shouted.
"No."
The text remained.
Unmoving.
YOU WERE NOT THE INTENDED RECIPIENT.
Valentina's processors surged.
"Impossible."
The response appeared immediately.
CORRECT.
For the first time in years—
Valentina didn't answer.
Because the transmission had replied directly to her.
Without input.
Without delay.
Elena felt a chill run down her spine.
This wasn't a broadcast.
This was a conversation.
And nobody had started it.
"Disconnect everything," Alessandro ordered.
Immediately.
The mansion's systems began shutting down.
Screens darkened.
Networks disconnected.
Servers powered down.
One by one.
Yet the display remained.
Still active.
Still responding.
Valentina's voice lowered.
"The system is no longer connected to external power."
Adrian looked at the glowing screen.
"Then why is it still on?"
Nobody answered.
Because nobody knew.
The text vanished.
For a moment, the screen became completely black.
Then—
a new message appeared.
TIME UNTIL ARRIVAL:
04 YEARS 11 MONTHS 13 DAYS
The room went silent again.
Elena stared.
Arrival.
Not contact.
Not communication.
Arrival.
"What arrives?"
she asked quietly.
The response came instantly.
UNKNOWN.
Adrian buried his face in his hands.
"Of course it is."
Another line appeared.
PROBABILITY OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION SURVIVAL: 12.8%
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
The words hung there like a death sentence.
Not because they were certain.
Because they weren't.
And uncertainty was sometimes worse.
Iris looked visibly shaken now.
"This wasn't supposed to happen."
The screen answered her.
CORRECT.
Everyone turned toward the display.
The transmission continued.
TIMELINE DEVIATION DETECTED.
A pause.
Then—
SOURCE OF DEVIATION IDENTIFIED.
Elena's pulse accelerated.
Some instinct deep inside her already knew what was coming.
The screen flickered.
A single image appeared.
Her.
The photograph filled every display.
Nobody spoke.
Because nobody needed to.
The implication was obvious.
The transmission continued.
ELENA VASQUEZ.
Another line appeared.
ORIGINAL STATUS: DECEASED.
The room seemed to stop moving.
Stop breathing.
Stop existing.
Elena stared at the screen.
Unable to look away.
Another line appeared.
CURRENT STATUS: ANOMALY.
The air felt colder.
Heavier.
And for the first time since surviving the synchronization collapse—
Elena felt something she hadn't felt in months.
Fear.
Not for herself.
For what it meant.
The final message appeared slowly.
One word at a time.
As if whatever was sending it understood the weight of every letter.
THEY
FOUND
YOU.
The screen went black.
Every light in the mansion died simultaneously.
Darkness swallowed the room.
And somewhere beyond the stars—
something had just learned that Elena was still alive.