He turned back to the monitor. The folder was gone. Lightroom v10.1.1 sat idle, showing only the catalog of the morning's wedding. But when he looked at his own reflection in the darkened glass of the monitor, his eyes were no longer brown. They were the same impossible violet as the sunset in the photo.

He clicked into the Library module. Today’s task was a mundane wedding shoot, but his hand slipped on the jog wheel. The grid view scrambled, pixels dancing like static, before settling on a folder that shouldn't have been there. It had no name, just a date: . That’s today, Elias thought, his heart skipping.

The image was a landscape of the very street outside his window, but the lighting was impossible—a deep, violet sunset that hadn't happened yet. In the center of the frame stood a figure. Elias zoomed in to 100%. It was him, standing on the curb, holding a camera he didn't own yet, looking directly into the lens with an expression of pure terror.