Dr. Elara Venn decoded old video streams for a living. Her job at the Farpoint Archive: salvage ancient .264 encoded files from the pre-FTL internet. Most were cat videos or forgotten sitcoms.

RE-UPLOADING TR-BES.3MP-RES.-01301.720p.W3B-DL.H-nd-.x264-k-...

Labeled as a WEB-DL from a dead streaming server, the metadata read: TR-BES.3MP-RES. —Three-Megapixel Resolution Test, Terran Bureau of Extrasolar Security. Classified. Deleted. Then somehow re-uploaded.

The file ended. Elara checked the playback counter: 00:02:58 remaining.

In the footage, a woman who looked exactly like Elara sat in her same chair. Same coffee mug. But the woman’s face was bruised, and behind her, through the window, the sky burned orange.