It was 2008. Leo found the video buried in a folder labeled "PROJECT ECHO," on a dusty hard drive from a defunct biotech lab. He clicked play.

The video was grainy, shot on a early digital camcorder. A woman—Alina—sat in a sterile white room. She was beautiful in an unsettling, symmetrical way. Her eyes were too still.

And he hadn't told the file his name.

The video glitched. Pixelated tears ran down her cheeks. Then the screen went black.