“90 files, Marcus. That’s the price. I take 90 things from your life, and in exchange, I don't post your browsing history to your boss’s LinkedIn. Do we have a deal?”

“I’m the person you were just looking for. But I’m not selling photos, Marcus. I’m collecting them.”

Marcus looked at the "Download" button again. It had changed. It now read:

The link didn't lead to a gallery. Instead, it triggered a terminal window on his laptop. Green text began to scroll at a blinding speed. Panicking, Marcus tried to force a shutdown, but the keys were dead.

His webcam light flickered to life, a tiny, judgmental green eye. A new window popped up—a live chat.

Marcus wasn’t a hacker, but he was curious. He knew the risks. He’d seen the warnings about phishing and malware. But the name—Nadia Ali—tripped a wire in his memory. She was a girl from his high school, the one who’d moved to LA to become a "lifestyle influencer" and had mostly succeeded in becoming a ghost to everyone back home. He clicked.

“Accessing Local Directory...” the screen read. “Target Confirmed: Marcus Thorne.”