1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:05,759 Speaker 1: I worked as a research associate at the Eisenloyd Perception Lab, 2 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:10,320 a mid tier government funded facility that specialized in human 3 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:16,000 cognition and the mechanics of visual processing. If that sounds complicated, 4 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:20,760 it really wasn't. The goal of our work was simple, 5 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:26,480 to understand how humans interpret reality, what our brains notice, 6 00:00:26,719 --> 00:00:30,839 what they ignore, what they fill in. It was all 7 00:00:30,879 --> 00:00:36,200 supposed to be theoretical. It wasn't supposed to be dangerous. 8 00:00:36,799 --> 00:00:40,600 I'd been there for almost five years. I was never 9 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:45,000 the smartest in the room, but I was careful, methodical, 10 00:00:46,079 --> 00:00:50,560 and that made me valuable. Where the other researchers were 11 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:54,200 eager to push boundaries, I was the one always pumping 12 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:58,719 the brakes. I had spent my entire career arguing against 13 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:02,759 unethical human tree, shutting down projects that went too far. 14 00:01:04,319 --> 00:01:06,599 I thought that was enough to keep us out of trouble. 15 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:14,000 The project started with an anomaly, a stray frequency picked 16 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:17,719 up by one of us spectral imaging scanners, something just 17 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:22,519 outside the normal range of perception. At first, no one 18 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:26,719 took it seriously, probably a glitch or a center error. 19 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:31,079 But when the same frequency appeared in multiple data sets, 20 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:37,519 the lead researchers got interested. They started running tests simulating 21 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:42,280 the frequency into artificial visual patterns, tweaking the light spectrum 22 00:01:42,359 --> 00:01:49,640 until it appeared. The color had no name at first. 23 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:53,560 It wasn't something you could just describe because our brains 24 00:01:53,599 --> 00:01:57,799 had never processed anything like it before. It wasn't blue 25 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:03,159 or red or green, and between colors, it was outside 26 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:08,800 of them. One of the researchers, doctor mirrh Lang, jokingly 27 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:13,680 called it Hyperion, after the Greek Titan of light. The 28 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:20,400 name stuck. I was skeptical from the beginning, not because 29 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:24,080 I believed in the supernatural or anything. I just didn't 30 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:28,199 trust something that shouldn't exist. It wasn't like discovering a 31 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:32,599 new species of bird. This was a fundamental change to 32 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:36,919 our understanding of light itself. That should have been a 33 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:42,560 red flag. But the others were fascinated. When they ran 34 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:47,560 simulations of hyperion. They saw things. The color would move 35 00:02:47,599 --> 00:02:51,280 in strange ways, triggering after images that lasted too long, 36 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:54,159 shapes that seemed to exist in the corner of your 37 00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:58,319 vision before vanishing when you tried to focus. It was 38 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:03,159 like the color affected the way human's perceived reality. I 39 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:06,719 told them we needed to slow down study it more 40 00:03:06,759 --> 00:03:15,520 before exposing human subjects. They ignored me. We started with rats. 41 00:03:16,639 --> 00:03:24,479 The results were inconsistent. Some rats stared at hyperion for hours, motionless, 42 00:03:24,879 --> 00:03:28,840 as if they were in a trance. Others mutilated themselves. 43 00:03:29,479 --> 00:03:32,199 One chewed through its own leg in under fifteen minutes, 44 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:37,120 gnawing all the way to the bone. The reports framed 45 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:41,960 it as a neurological overstimulation response. I called it what 46 00:03:42,039 --> 00:03:47,960 it was, a really bad idea. I took my concerns 47 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:50,879 to doctor Lange. She was the one who had been 48 00:03:50,919 --> 00:03:54,439 the most excited about hyperion, and I thought if I 49 00:03:54,439 --> 00:03:56,919 could get her to listen, I could get the projects 50 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:03,400 shut down before it escalated. She wasn't interested in my concerns. 51 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:09,120 It's just the color, she had said, exasperated, it's not 52 00:04:09,199 --> 00:04:12,680 doing anything. The animals just don't know how to process it. 53 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:20,720 We'll see different results with higher cognitive functions. She meant humans, 54 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:27,120 I argued. She overruled me. The trial was already scheduled. 55 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:32,399 They would be exposing volunteers the hyperion within the week. 56 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:37,759 I should have walked away, should have quit, should have 57 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:40,839 gone public, should have done anything then to sit there 58 00:04:40,879 --> 00:04:47,600 and watch, But I stayed. The human trials started small, 59 00:04:48,439 --> 00:04:53,519 ten volunteers, all local students from the nearby university, all 60 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:56,360 paid to sit in a room and stare at a screen. 61 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:01,360 We ran the test like any other perceptions study, show 62 00:05:01,439 --> 00:05:04,680 them hyperion for a few minutes, monitor their brain activity, 63 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:10,639 take notes on any after effects. At first, it seemed harmless. 64 00:05:11,399 --> 00:05:16,759 The subjects all had different reactions, but nothing extreme. Some 65 00:05:16,839 --> 00:05:22,279 called the collar beautiful, some said who was unnerving. One participant, 66 00:05:22,519 --> 00:05:26,560 an art major, stared for almost three minutes before breaking 67 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:32,079 into tears. When we asked why, she just kept shaking 68 00:05:32,079 --> 00:05:40,600 her head, whispering, it's everything. It's always been everything. We 69 00:05:40,639 --> 00:05:43,680 should have slowed everything down then, and there been more 70 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:48,319 measured at the very least, took more precautions, but Lang 71 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:53,759 was ecstatic. She insisted we expand the trial, longer exposure, 72 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:59,720 more volunteers, wider demographic testing. She wanted data, wanted to 73 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:06,040 to find one made hyperion so different. That was when 74 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:11,519 the real problem started. After the first full day of exposure, 75 00:06:11,959 --> 00:06:15,519 some of the volunteers started experiencing the lingering after images. 76 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:20,240 They described it as an overlay in their vision, like 77 00:06:20,279 --> 00:06:22,800 the color was still present in the corners of their 78 00:06:22,839 --> 00:06:27,639 eyes even after they left a lab. Some couldn't stop 79 00:06:27,639 --> 00:06:32,439 seeing it. One subject, a physics student named Elliot, called 80 00:06:32,519 --> 00:06:35,800 us at two in the morning, crying, telling us that 81 00:06:35,959 --> 00:06:41,399 hyperion was still there even with his eyes closed. We 82 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:45,480 told him to come in for further testing. He never 83 00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:51,040 showed up. Campus security found in the next night, standing 84 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:55,240 in the middle of the street, staring up at the sky. 85 00:06:55,680 --> 00:07:00,399 His retinas had burned out. The paramedics took an away 86 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:04,879 with a look on his face haunted me. He hadn't screamed, 87 00:07:05,079 --> 00:07:08,839 he hadn't fought them, He had just stood there, his 88 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:17,720 expression blank and unfocused. Hyperion wasn't just an anomaly. I 89 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:23,279 tried pulling the plug and the experiment. Lang refused. We 90 00:07:23,399 --> 00:07:26,879 don't even know if it was hyperion, she argued. It 91 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:32,319 could be unrelated. It's not I snapped. You saw his eyes. Lang, 92 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:37,800 This is wrong. We need to stop, she sighed, rubbing 93 00:07:37,839 --> 00:07:41,319 her temples. We don't even know what it is yet, 94 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:47,240 we need more data. I lost my temper. Geez, Mirra, 95 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:50,959 this isn't just data. It's doing something to them. It's 96 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:56,240 affecting them. She looked at me and just shrugged me off, 97 00:07:56,720 --> 00:08:00,480 made a dismissive hand gesture, effectively telling me to leave. 98 00:08:02,439 --> 00:08:06,199 And I did. I just had a feeling this wasn't 99 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:11,600 going to stop, not after Elliot, not after everything. I 100 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:14,680 don't think she was malicious. I don't think she was 101 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:18,720 trying to hurt anyone. She was just like everyone else 102 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:24,920 in that room, eager to understand. That's what scared me. 103 00:08:26,439 --> 00:08:31,720 She didn't look disturbed by what had happened. She looked fascinated. 104 00:08:33,279 --> 00:08:36,279 She kept talking about the need for more data, kept 105 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:41,279 insisting Elliot's breakdown could have been an unrelated psychotic episode. 106 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:46,279 The worst part, she was so calm, so logical about it, 107 00:08:46,799 --> 00:08:51,320 that I started second guessing myself. Maybe I had imagined 108 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:54,240 the way his voice sounded over the phone. Maybe I'd 109 00:08:54,279 --> 00:08:57,480 misinterpreted the look on his face. Maybe I was being 110 00:08:57,559 --> 00:09:02,240 too emotional and paranoid. Then she told me what they 111 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:11,320 were planning next, a final experiment. I didn't go home 112 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:15,279 that night. I sat in my office, lights off, the 113 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:19,240 soft hum of the service filling the silence. My notes 114 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:22,519 were spread out in front of me, dozens of reports, 115 00:09:22,559 --> 00:09:29,039 detailing every exposure, every reaction, every irregularity. The pieces weren't 116 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:34,080 forming a complete picture, but there was a pattern, something 117 00:09:34,120 --> 00:09:38,799 we weren't seeing. I could feel it just out of reach, 118 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:41,879 like a word sitting at the tip of my tongue. 119 00:09:43,639 --> 00:09:47,799 Lang had already made her decision. The final trial would 120 00:09:47,799 --> 00:09:50,679 move forward no matter what I said, no matter what 121 00:09:50,919 --> 00:09:54,840 arguments I threw at her. She just wanted to understand. 122 00:09:55,960 --> 00:09:58,279 Maybe she was afraid of not being able to do so, 123 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:03,159 be lying if I said I didn't feel the same way. 124 00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:08,720 The color had changed, something unlocked something in their minds, 125 00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:12,039 and she wasn't willing to walk away from that discovery, 126 00:10:12,679 --> 00:10:17,879 no matter the cost. I thought about walking away myself, 127 00:10:18,399 --> 00:10:23,000 thought about packing up, quitting, leaving the research behind. I 128 00:10:23,039 --> 00:10:26,759 even reached from my phone once considered calling someone the 129 00:10:26,879 --> 00:10:33,840 University and Ethics Board, held even the press. But I didn't, 130 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:39,720 not because I was afraid, but because I still wanted 131 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:45,080 to know. That was the worst part. I wanted to 132 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:50,960 see what would happen. The final experiment began at exactly 133 00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:54,919 eight a m. In the morning. The observation room was packed. 134 00:10:55,639 --> 00:10:59,600 Everyone gathered around the monitors in heavy silence. There was 135 00:10:59,639 --> 00:11:04,159 no eye chatter, no nervous excitement. Everyone knew what we 136 00:11:04,159 --> 00:11:07,720 were doing was dangerous, even if they refused to say 137 00:11:07,799 --> 00:11:11,159 it out loud. I stood at the back of the 138 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:15,519 room arms crossed, watching the screens flicker to life as 139 00:11:15,519 --> 00:11:19,559 the test chamber powered on. The subjects were sealed in 140 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:23,960 four identical chairs, each one fitted with a biometric sensor 141 00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:29,559 and hugged up to f MRI scanners. James Walker, Julia Henley, 142 00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:33,679 and two others. I didn't recognize their names were in 143 00:11:33,679 --> 00:11:37,399 the file, but I hadn't bothered to read them. It 144 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:44,080 didn't matter anymore. Langs sat at the control panel, expression unreadable, 145 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:50,120 fingers hovering over the interface. We're beginning now, she said, 146 00:11:50,399 --> 00:11:55,240 voice steady. She pressed the button, and the screen in 147 00:11:55,279 --> 00:12:02,000 the test chamber filled with hyperion. I didn't look. I 148 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:05,519 kept my eyes locked on the brain activity readoubts, waiting 149 00:12:05,559 --> 00:12:09,919 for something, anything they would justify shutting the whole thing down. 150 00:12:11,559 --> 00:12:14,720 For the first few minutes, nothing seemed out of place. 151 00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:20,240 The vitals remained stable, their brain patterns fluctuated, but stayed 152 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:24,039 within normal ranges. If I hadn't known what I was 153 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:26,960 looking at, I would have thought they were just staring 154 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:33,320 at a blank screen. Then James's fingers twitched, just once, 155 00:12:33,799 --> 00:12:39,600 a subtle jerk of movement, then nothing. The others followed. 156 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:44,600 Julius breathing became shallow. One of the other subjects hands spasmed, 157 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:49,039 like they were reaching for something that wasn't there. At 158 00:12:49,039 --> 00:12:52,399 the ten minute mark, their motor functions began to slow. 159 00:12:53,679 --> 00:12:57,840 James had stopped blinking, Julia's chest barely moved with each breath. 160 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:02,360 The other two were completely still. The pupils had contracted 161 00:13:02,399 --> 00:13:06,000 to pinpricks, barely visible against the whites of their eyes. 162 00:13:07,519 --> 00:13:12,159 At fifteen minutes, their vitals remained normal, but their brain 163 00:13:12,279 --> 00:13:20,399 activity spiked, not erratic or chaotic, but irregular. The readoubt 164 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:26,039 was incomprehensible. The neural pathways weren't following standard cognitive function anymore. 165 00:13:26,639 --> 00:13:29,360 They weren't reacting the way any normal humans should have. 166 00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:33,919 I felt my pulse hammering in my throat the same 167 00:13:34,039 --> 00:13:36,960 sick way to my stomach i'd felt when Elliott had 168 00:13:36,960 --> 00:13:44,559 called me, begging for help. At twenty minutes, the first 169 00:13:44,600 --> 00:13:50,159 subject collapsed. His body went limp, head longing to one side, 170 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:57,000 vitals flatlining almost instantly. The alarms blared across the control panel, 171 00:13:57,639 --> 00:14:02,399 but he was already gone. A second later, the subject 172 00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:08,799 next to him followed. I felt my stomach drop. Lang 173 00:14:08,919 --> 00:14:12,639 was shouting orders. Security rushed into the chamber, dragging the 174 00:14:12,679 --> 00:14:16,360 remaining two subjects away from the screen, shutting the system down. 175 00:14:17,919 --> 00:14:21,759 But James and Julia were still breathing, their hearts were 176 00:14:21,799 --> 00:14:30,200 still beating, their eyes were still open, and yet they 177 00:14:30,240 --> 00:14:39,000 didn't move, not once. The following day the decision was 178 00:14:39,039 --> 00:14:44,840 made for us. They came in without warning, government officials, 179 00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:48,799 security personnel, people I'd never seen before in my five 180 00:14:48,919 --> 00:14:53,159 years at Eisenloyd. They cleared out the offices, boxed up 181 00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:58,960 the equipment, wiped the research servers clean, no explanations, no discussions. 182 00:15:00,039 --> 00:15:03,799 We were handed non disclosure agreements, told in no uncertain 183 00:15:03,919 --> 00:15:07,519 terms that the work we had done never existed, that 184 00:15:07,559 --> 00:15:11,000 eisen Lloyd would be repurposed for a different project, that 185 00:15:11,159 --> 00:15:16,840 none of us would ever speak of Hyperion again. And 186 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:22,000 we didn't, not because we weren't allowed to, but because 187 00:15:22,039 --> 00:15:28,759 nobody wanted to. Lang stopped returning calls Mason Quick Research. Altogether, 188 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:31,919 a few people from the team took new jobs at 189 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:37,240 other labs, but most just disappeared into different careers, different lives. 190 00:15:38,279 --> 00:15:42,080 We scattered like survivors of a shipwreck, pretending that if 191 00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:46,360 we just stayed quiet, if we just moved on, then 192 00:15:46,399 --> 00:15:53,919 what happened that eisen Lloyd wouldn't follow us, but it did. 193 00:15:55,080 --> 00:15:58,759 At first, I told myself I was fine. I found 194 00:15:58,759 --> 00:16:02,399 a new job for a start up in optical processing, 195 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:06,399 something safe, something far removed from the mess that we 196 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:12,279 had left behind. I convinced myself that maybe, somehow we 197 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:16,840 had shut it down in time, but the guilt didn't 198 00:16:16,840 --> 00:16:21,519 go away. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw 199 00:16:21,639 --> 00:16:26,000 James and Julia sitting motionless in their chairs, their minds 200 00:16:26,039 --> 00:16:31,039 still firing, still active, still locked in something we couldn't understand. 201 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:34,919 I thought about Eliot, the way he had been, where 202 00:16:34,919 --> 00:16:37,799 we found him, in the street, staring into the sky 203 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:42,279 with eyes that no longer worked. I tried to push 204 00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:47,559 it down, to move on, and then one night Lang 205 00:16:47,879 --> 00:16:53,720 called me. It was late, two maybe three in the morning. 206 00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:58,080 I was awake, but barely caught in that fog between 207 00:16:58,159 --> 00:17:02,559 dreaming and reality, and at first I almost ignored it. 208 00:17:03,879 --> 00:17:05,920 When I saw that the phone call was from Lang, 209 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:09,640 a jolt of adrenaline shot through me, like my body 210 00:17:09,839 --> 00:17:14,079 already knew before my mind caught up. I answered, and 211 00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:21,720 the fourth ring Lang, there was silence, not even breathing, 212 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:27,160 just dead air. I sat up, running a hand through 213 00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:31,119 my hair, Lang, what the hell, it's the middle of 214 00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:40,039 the night, more silence, Then finally I heard her inhale sharply, 215 00:17:40,559 --> 00:17:44,359 like she had been holding her breath. I need to 216 00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:49,440 see you, she said, Her voice was low, almost the whisper. 217 00:17:50,799 --> 00:17:58,599 I frowned. Now, yes, now, something in my gut twisted. 218 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:03,559 Why what's going on? I can't talk about it over 219 00:18:03,599 --> 00:18:09,319 the phone, she said. I exhaled through my nose, already annoyed. 220 00:18:10,359 --> 00:18:14,279 You realize how suspicious that sounds. Right, christ Lang, if 221 00:18:14,319 --> 00:18:17,759 this is about hyperion, it's over. We lost, we got 222 00:18:17,799 --> 00:18:22,480 shut down. We did everything we could. She didn't respond 223 00:18:22,559 --> 00:18:25,599 right away, and for a moment I thought she had 224 00:18:25,640 --> 00:18:31,960 hung up. Then she said, voice quiet and unsteady, I 225 00:18:32,079 --> 00:18:41,279 don't think it's over. That made me go still. She 226 00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:45,960 exhaled shakily, and for the first time I realized how 227 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:53,160 afraid she sounded. I've been running tests, she admitted, so softly. 228 00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:57,359 I almost didn't hear her. My grip on the phone tightened. 229 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:04,440 You've what There was a pause, not officially off the record, 230 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:10,000 just following up. Geez Lang, I snapped, you're telling me 231 00:19:10,079 --> 00:19:13,839 you kept working on this after everything, After I had 232 00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:18,200 to She cut me off, her voice rising slightly desperate. 233 00:19:19,039 --> 00:19:25,559 You don't understand something is still happening. I let out 234 00:19:25,599 --> 00:19:30,839 a humorous laugh. Yeah, clearly, you ran trials on something 235 00:19:30,839 --> 00:19:34,240 that cooked people's brains. What did you expect that it 236 00:19:34,279 --> 00:19:41,000 would just stop? She didn't react to my anger. Lang 237 00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:43,799 never back down from a fight. She was always the 238 00:19:43,839 --> 00:19:48,079 first to argue, the first to push back. But now 239 00:19:49,039 --> 00:19:52,440 she just let the silence stretch, and when she finally 240 00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:58,240 spoke again, it was a whisper. I don't think we 241 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:07,160 discovered hyperion, she said, I think it discovered us. I 242 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:12,880 swallowed hard. What the hell does that mean? A longer 243 00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:24,079 pause this time, then finally just come over. I almost 244 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:27,839 didn't go. I sat in my car for a long time, 245 00:20:28,039 --> 00:20:31,400 turning the key, staring at my hands, gripping the wheel, 246 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:34,640 debating whether or not I should just throw my phone 247 00:20:34,680 --> 00:20:39,440 into the river and drive in the opposite direction. But 248 00:20:39,519 --> 00:20:45,160 I went. Lang lived in a small apartment downtown, as 249 00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:48,119 small and out of the way, place not fit for 250 00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:51,599 someone making as much money as she did. I'd been 251 00:20:51,599 --> 00:20:54,480 there a few times before, back when we were still 252 00:20:54,480 --> 00:20:57,799 at Eisen Lloyd, back when we still talked about our work. 253 00:20:59,559 --> 00:21:04,680 I knocked once, and the door unlocked almost immediately. Liang 254 00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:08,400 glugged like she hadn't slept in days. Her hair was unkempt, 255 00:21:08,839 --> 00:21:12,839 dark circles bruised beneath her eyes, and her hands trembled 256 00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:16,200 as she stepped back, motioning for me to come inside. 257 00:21:17,839 --> 00:21:24,240 I hesitated, Lang, just look, she said, already moving toward 258 00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:28,279 a desk, She flipped open her laptop and pulled up 259 00:21:28,319 --> 00:21:32,720 a series of images. At first, they didn't make sense, 260 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:37,400 just a mess of lines, paragraphs, and data points. But 261 00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:40,920 then she pointed at one specific chart, tapping the screen 262 00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:44,599 with her fingernail. This is a brain scan from one 263 00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:50,400 of her last test subjects, taken three days ago. My 264 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:56,319 stomach lurched. You're still tracking them, not officially, she said, 265 00:21:56,920 --> 00:22:02,400 but I've been monitoring the scans. I stared at the screen. 266 00:22:03,119 --> 00:22:06,160 The patterns and the chart were wrong. They weren't random 267 00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:14,799 bursts of electrical activity. They were deliberate repeating. Okay, I said, slowly, 268 00:22:15,799 --> 00:22:20,319 What am I looking at? Lang clicked to another slide, 269 00:22:20,759 --> 00:22:27,079 pulling up a star map. My blood ran cold. The 270 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:36,279 patterns in the scan they matched, not randomly, not approximately exactly. 271 00:22:38,559 --> 00:22:42,559 I looked at her, throat dry. What the hell is this? 272 00:22:44,559 --> 00:22:48,799 Lang didn't answer. She clicked again, pulling up another image. 273 00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:56,119 I took a slow step back. That's impossible. Lang was pale. 274 00:22:57,359 --> 00:23:01,839 I thought so too. I ran a hand through my hair, 275 00:23:02,359 --> 00:23:06,599 my pulse hammering in my ears. So what are you saying? 276 00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:11,319 That hyperion is what some kind of I don't know, 277 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:17,319 she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. We stared 278 00:23:17,359 --> 00:23:20,039 at the screen, the glow of the day to reflecting 279 00:23:20,079 --> 00:23:24,079 off the walls, casting the room in cold light. I 280 00:23:24,119 --> 00:23:27,200 could hear my own heart beat too loud in my ears. 281 00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:30,400 I could feel my skin crawling as I looked at 282 00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:33,480 the images again, trying to make sense of something that 283 00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:38,000 wasn't meant to be understood. Lang sat in front of 284 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:41,759 her laptop, staring at the screen, fingers resting on the 285 00:23:41,839 --> 00:23:47,359 keyboard but not typing. The blue glow washed over her face, 286 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:53,240 hollowing out her already exhausted features, making a look almost skeletal. 287 00:23:54,599 --> 00:23:57,839 I was standing in the doorway, trying to process what 288 00:23:58,119 --> 00:24:03,240 I had just seen. None of it made sense, but 289 00:24:03,279 --> 00:24:06,839 the look in her eyes told me she wasn't done yet. 290 00:24:09,079 --> 00:24:12,200 I exhaled through my nose, rubbing her hand over my face, 291 00:24:12,599 --> 00:24:17,559 trying to steady myself. That's not why you called me here, 292 00:24:18,279 --> 00:24:23,680 I finally said, is it. She didn't answer at first, 293 00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:27,680 her fingers twitched like she was considering what to say. 294 00:24:29,079 --> 00:24:35,000 I saw her swallow, hard, shoulders tinting before she spoke no, 295 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:43,440 she admitted, that's not why I called you. I waited 296 00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:48,039 for her to continue, but she didn't. She just sat there, 297 00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:51,359 staring at the screen like she was afraid to say 298 00:24:51,400 --> 00:24:56,200 it out loud. Lang. I took a step forward, my 299 00:24:56,319 --> 00:25:01,880 pulls starting to climb. Tell me what's going on. She 300 00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:05,880 reached for a mouse, scrolling through something I couldn't see yet. 301 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:11,039 I think it got out, she said, voice barely above 302 00:25:11,039 --> 00:25:15,279 a whisper. The words hit me like a cold slap 303 00:25:15,319 --> 00:25:19,759 to the face. My hands clenched at my sides. What 304 00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:26,519 she nailed sharply exhaling, slowly, forcing herself to stay calm. 305 00:25:28,039 --> 00:25:33,240 I found the file circulating online, she said. At first 306 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:36,279 I thought it was a hoax, someone trying to recreate 307 00:25:36,319 --> 00:25:42,079 it theorize about it. But then I checked. She motioned 308 00:25:42,119 --> 00:25:47,240 toward a screen, lips pressing into a thin line. It's real, 309 00:25:48,119 --> 00:25:55,960 the actual sequence. Someone leaked it. I felt my breath catch. 310 00:25:57,279 --> 00:26:06,640 How long ago hesitated? Twelve hours maybe less. The floor 311 00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:14,160 felt unsteady, beneath me, and Lank's jaw clenched. She opened 312 00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:17,920 another file, clicking through a series of news reports, but 313 00:26:18,039 --> 00:26:21,640 she wasn't looking at the screen. She was looking at me, 314 00:26:22,519 --> 00:26:28,920 watching my reaction. I stepped closer. The first article was 315 00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:35,359 from this morning, Police investigating reports of multiple self inflicted 316 00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:39,440 deaths in an apartment complex. Three individuals frown, deceased in 317 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:44,799 their rooms, no sign of struggle, no known connection between them. 318 00:26:45,480 --> 00:26:50,240 I scored down authorities in Tokyo responding to a surge 319 00:26:50,279 --> 00:26:54,480 of unexplained suicides. Locals report seeing people walking into the 320 00:26:54,519 --> 00:27:01,559 street into oncoming traffic, seemingly unaware of their surroundings. Another 321 00:27:01,599 --> 00:27:07,000 one coastal towns reporting an increase in drownings. Witnesses described 322 00:27:07,079 --> 00:27:11,799 victims walking into the water, ignoring bystanders, disappearing beneath the 323 00:27:11,839 --> 00:27:20,160 waves without resistance. I felt my stomach drop. My voice 324 00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:24,240 came out tight, like my throat was closing up. This 325 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:30,799 can't be real. Blank clicked on a live stream. It 326 00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:35,599 was some security camera feed, grainy and low quality. A 327 00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:39,119 man stood on top of a parking garage, motionless in 328 00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:43,799 front of a laptop screen. He wasn't blinking, His hands 329 00:27:43,799 --> 00:27:49,119 were relaxed, at his sides, his face completely neutral. Then, 330 00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:55,119 without hesitation, he turned and walked straight off the edge. 331 00:27:56,799 --> 00:28:02,119 He didn't scream, didn't react, didn't flinch. The feed cut 332 00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:09,920 to black. Lang exhaled, leaning forward, hands covering her face. 333 00:28:11,599 --> 00:28:16,720 It's happening. I was shaking. It hasn't even been a day, 334 00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:24,599 I know, she whispered. It happened faster than anyone could 335 00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:28,960 have imagined. The leaks spread through some coding forums, obscure 336 00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:34,680 research boards, private archives. Someone had cracked the format, posted 337 00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:41,319 the raw sequence, and people curious, stupid people had opened 338 00:28:41,359 --> 00:28:47,039 it without thinking. They saw hyperion and never looked away. 339 00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:53,480 We watched it unfold in real time. Video clips surfaced 340 00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:57,839 people standing still in front of screens, eyes wide, bodies 341 00:28:57,839 --> 00:29:03,000 are moving for minutes, hours before finally turning and walking away. 342 00:29:04,319 --> 00:29:07,759 Some were found later dead in their homes, sitting peacefully 343 00:29:07,759 --> 00:29:14,039 in front of the monitors, bodies untouched, unmarked. Others vanished entirely, 344 00:29:14,799 --> 00:29:19,759 no notes, no last words. The worst part was how 345 00:29:19,839 --> 00:29:25,160 quiet it was. No panic, no violent outbursts, no struggle, 346 00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:32,720 just a stillness. And then they left. They walked into 347 00:29:32,759 --> 00:29:37,720 the ocean, into forests, into caves and abandoned places, anywhere 348 00:29:37,759 --> 00:29:41,640 that swallowed them whole. They went down subway tunnels and 349 00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:45,440 never emerged. They walked into traffic without so much as 350 00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:49,599 a scream. Lang and I tried everything to stop it. 351 00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:54,039 We contacted people in government, tried to get servers shut down, 352 00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:58,039 tried to warn anyone who would listen. By the time 353 00:29:58,079 --> 00:30:02,359 the world even realized what was happening, it was already 354 00:30:02,359 --> 00:30:07,480 too late. It was inevitable, and it wasn't slowing down. 355 00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:12,839 Lang gave it her all. She still believed there was 356 00:30:12,839 --> 00:30:16,160 a way to contain it, to stop it from consuming everything. 357 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:21,920 She spent every waking moment chasing solutions, theories, some scientific 358 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:26,519 explanation that could fix what we had done. But even 359 00:30:26,599 --> 00:30:32,359 she knew the truth. One day, I called her. She 360 00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:36,200 didn't pick up. When I got to her apartment, the 361 00:30:36,319 --> 00:30:42,400 door was unlocked, laptops still running, data still open. She 362 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:44,640 had walked out somewhere in the middle of the night. 363 00:30:45,599 --> 00:30:51,319 No sign of a struggle, no note, no goodbyes, just gone. 364 00:30:54,599 --> 00:30:58,160 There's nowhere left to run. The world is going quiet. 365 00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:02,640 More people disappear every day. No one knows how many 366 00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:07,279 are left. No one is counting anymore. I've been sitting 367 00:31:07,319 --> 00:31:09,880 in my apartment for hours staring at the gun on 368 00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:13,480 my table. I don't want to go the way they did. 369 00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:16,920 I don't want to walk into something. I don't want 370 00:31:16,960 --> 00:31:22,319 to see it again. I keep hearing Lang's voice, I 371 00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:26,079 hear the echoes of every subject we tested, every person 372 00:31:26,119 --> 00:31:35,720 who vanished. It's everything, It's always been everything. I'm sorry. 373 00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:41,240 I should have stopped this before it started.