The figure in the ASCII art was composed of shifting symbols—$ signs for eyes, # for teeth. It raised a hand toward Elias’s neck.
He opened it. The document was blank, except for a live feed of his own room, rendered in crude, flickering ASCII art. In the digital recreation, he saw himself sitting at his desk. And then he saw the character standing directly behind him.
"Just a glitch," Elias whispered, his cursor hovering over Extract Here .