Niles looked up at the mountains. For the first time in four days, the sun didn't look like a repeating GIF. It looked like a beginning. He picked up the camera, aimed it at the horizon, and pressed the red button.
To anyone else, it was just metadata—a specific, high-efficiency rip of a movie about a time loop. To Niles, it was the only thing that felt real.
99:99:99,999 --> 00:00:00,000 Look behind the pool house. 10-bit depth isn't just for video.
He looked back at the screen. The subtitles were still scrolling, even though he hadn't hit play.
He didn't hesitate. He ran out the sliding glass doors, the heat hitting him like a physical weight. He sprinted past the turquoise water of the pool to the small, stucco pool house at the edge of the property. Behind it, tucked under a cluster of palm fronds, was a small, metallic briefcase.
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