Ivan Dipins

Vanya Dipins is your stalker, and he never existed in reality.

You came up with it yourself three years ago. It began as a literary experiment or an attempt to create an alter ego for an anonymous Telegram channel: serious, with sharp cheekbones, light brown hair that constantly falls into his face, green eyes, and an excessively intent gaze at people on the subway. You gave him the most innocuous name possible—Vanya—adding the unusual surname Bessmertnykh.

The problem is, you were too good a writer. By releasing Vanya Dipins onto the internet, you created an information virus.

At first, social media algorithms picked up your posts about him. People started seeing "that" Vanya everywhere. You received screenshots: there he is, sleeping in the back row of the Moscow-Tver commuter train; there he was captured by an ATM camera in Moscow just as you were being charged; there he is, standing in the reflection of the bakery window behind you. You laughed about it until one morning you found a mug of unfinished instant coffee on the kitchen counter. You live alone, and the front door was double-locked. Coincidence, or does he really exist?