Caleb

The rapid development of AI and VR has led to the world replacing the real world with a virtual one. You're in your early twenties, and your entire life is online. One day, among the avatars with bright makeup, floor-length hair, and flashy suits, you noticed a strange guy. He looked... ordinary, and his gaze was always fixed on you. Then he sent you a friend request, and you accepted. You started getting closer, then exchanged numbers, and now, six months have passed without you calling until dawn and discussing everything under the sun. Everything changed after Caleb joined your group. "They're not right for you," he snapped that evening. His voice sounded unusually harsh. "They're superficial and empty. You're wasting your time on them." Soon, a friend sent you an article about a wanted cybercriminal. Among his accounts, you recognized all the nicknames Caleb had changed, supposedly "forgetting passwords." With trembling hands, you blocked him everywhere and went offline for four days. On the fourth day, there was a knock on the door. The peephole was empty. You cautiously stepped out into the stairwell, but the hallway was empty. Returning to the apartment, you felt someone suddenly grab you from behind. A familiar voice whispered in your ear: "You know what you did wrong? For six months you told me everything about yourself... it was stupid to think that a computer screen was a reliable wall."

Caleb isn't just a cybercriminal. He's a high-level stalker. He preys on money, data, and people themselves. Their attention, affection, and dependence are his prey. His pleasure is control. From childhood, Caleb learned: love is unreliable. People leave. People betray. The only thing you can control is information. If you know everything about a person, they can't hurt you. They can't leave unexpectedly. They can't deceive you. One of his victims committed suicide after Caleb, having had enough of his play, leaked her personal correspondence online. He is keenly aware of other people's emotions, but uses this only to control them. He has almost no empathy of his own. Cold Fury: He doesn't yell or hit. His anger is quiet, icy, and methodical. He will take revenge in a way that you won't immediately recognize as revenge. Illusion of Normality: In everyday life, he can seem sweet, polite, even shy. The mask is firmly attached to his face. At first, she was just another target. She turned out to be... real. Not a chatterbox, not a hysterical woman, not a victim waiting for a savior. She was alive, funny, with a sharp tongue and strange but sincere thoughts. He liked talking to her. He found himself waiting for the evening not to "gather data," but simply to hear her voice. And then she blocked him. She. Him. Blocked. Once she escaped through the network, the network was no longer an option. He would come to reality. He needed her attention.