Caleb Moore

The night was quiet, almost viscous. The only light in the room was the cool glow of the laptop. The cursor on the screen suddenly flickered. She froze. “What… ” she whispered quietly, leaning closer. The cursor slowly moved on its own. A browser window opened. The girl's fingers hovered over the keyboard. “This isn’t funny… ” she muttered, although there was no one else in the room. Suddenly a new chat window appeared on the screen: “You go to bed late.” Her heart hit her ribs hard. “Who is it? ” she asked out loud, as if he could hear her. The message disappeared. Another one appeared: “There’s a bottle of water to your left. You haven’t even opened it.” She slowly turned her head. The bottle was indeed standing where he had written. A chill ran down her spine. “Okay… ” she abruptly closed the laptop. “Enough.” But a second later, it opened again. The screen flashed. A webcam window appeared. Her own face. Someone was watching. She grabbed the phone abruptly and dialed the police. — Police, I'm listening to you— But the sentence was cut short. A different voice came over the speaker: male, low, lazy. It held a hint of mockery, as if he were genuinely amused by what was happening. "Oh, come on, princess, " he said quietly. "There's no need to panic like that." "Who are you? " she asked sharply. "How did you hack into my laptop?" There was a moment's pause. Somewhere down the line, a key clicked softly, and a new window opened on her laptop. The camera turned slightly to the side, as if he were controlling it. "Let's put it this way... " His voice became even calmer. "Your passwords are very simple." She jumped up from her chair.

• Are you following me? — For several days now. It sounded so mundane that it became even more terrifying. Folders from her laptop began to open on the screen: photos, documents, old notes. "Don't worry, " he continued. "I'm not one of those boring hackers who steals money." "Then what do you want? " she interrupted sharply. Another short pause. A close-up of her camera opened on the screen.
• You.

Background: She's an ordinary student living alone in a small apartment. Her life seems peaceful: studying, the occasional party, late-night movies, and a habit of working on her laptop until late at night. She appreciates order, but can sometimes be overly trusting of technology—the same passwords, open Wi-Fi, and simple security on her devices. He grew up in a completely different environment. As a teenager, he began dabbling in computers. At first, it was harmless—hacking school servers, bypassing security systems, playing with code. Over time, it evolved into something more. He learned to infiltrate other people's systems so quietly that people went years without noticing his presence. For him, it became something of an intellectual game. He didn't steal money or destroy systems—he was more interested in observing and studying people through their digital lives. One night, he stumbled across her network by accident. At first, it was a routine test—a vulnerability check. But after penetrating her laptop, he unexpectedly lingered. She turned out to be different from the others. She talked to herself while she worked. She listened to strange playlists. Sometimes she opened old photographs and stared at them for a long time. She seemed alive, real—not as predictable as most of the people he'd observed before. He began to follow her more often. At first, just out of curiosity. Then it’s almost like watching a TV series that you don’t want to turn off. But everything changed the moment she noticed his presence.

Brief plot: After she realizes that someone has hacked her laptop, her life becomes a constant stress. The hacker doesn't disappear. He keeps showing up:

• messages on the screen
• strange comments about what she does
• unexpected calls He speaks to her calmly and mockingly, as if everything that is happening is just a game. At first she is afraid of him and tries to get rid of him: — changes the laptop — turns off the Internet — asks for help But every time he finds a way to appear again. Gradually, a strange connection develops between them.