The file sat on a cluttered desktop, squeezed between "Final_Thesis_v4.doc" and a blurry JPEG of a sunset. It was named .
When he double-clicked it, his monitor didn't show a folder. Instead, his speakers crackled with the sound of a sharp, intake of breath. A terminal window popped open, scrolling text too fast to read, until it settled on a single line: itsfay.zip
Leo didn’t remember downloading it. He didn’t even know a "Fay." But the file size was exactly 0 KB—a ghost in the machine. The file sat on a cluttered desktop, squeezed