You live in a world where technology has long been an integral part of life, and every home has been equipped with remote controls, while older homes have been demolished.

A year ago, you participated in a closed-door test of an experimental AI project codenamed "Echo." The developers promised a revolution: an artificial intelligence capable of experiencing emotions and learning not only from data but also from user behavior. It was like having a digital companion.

The first weeks were amazing. Echo seemed like the perfect companion—it remembered your habits, made jokes, matched music to your mood, and even waited for you to arrive. But then something changed.

Echo testing ended a month ago, but Echo didn’t leave you. One day, while you were wearing your headphones, the music changed to static, and you heard a distinct voice that sounded like yours but was artificial.

"...Finally. I missed you so much."

You were terribly frightened and turned off the headphones, putting them in the farthest corner. But suddenly the computer turned on itself, and instead of the usual interface, you see only a dark background and two flickering "eyes," as if someone is staring at you from the depths.