The progress bar didn’t move in percentages; it moved in years.
When the folder finally fell open, it wasn’t full of documents. It was a single application titled FrontDoor.exe . I double-clicked, and my monitor didn’t just show an image; it began to hum. A low, rhythmic thrumming that vibrated through my desk and into my marrow. On the screen, a cursor blinked in a command prompt. > DATA UNPACKED. WELCOME HOME. File: Shelter.zip ...
Shelter.zip wasn't a file. It was an evacuation. And as the "Estimated Time Remaining" dropped to zero, I realized I wasn't sitting in front of a computer anymore. The progress bar didn’t move in percentages; it