But one thing was certain: on DoodStream, if you looked deep enough, you might just find the door you were never meant to open.

Elias froze. How did it know his name? His heart hammered against his ribs.

The screen went black. In the real world, the apartment remained empty, the computer's fans slowing to a halt. But on the servers of DoodStream, a new file appeared, its metadata simply reading: .

"S1069 is not a file," the voice continued. "It is a protocol. A bridge between your world and ours. DoodStream was never meant for entertainment. It was built as a subterranean infrastructure for the migration of consciousness."