It didn't start with a melody. It started with a hum, a low-frequency vibration that Elara felt in her teeth more than she heard. It sounded like the rotation of the Earth, the static of a dying star, the whisper of wind over an empty plain.

The visualizer activated. Usually, it displayed gentle waves of color. Now, the screen went pitch black. The silence in her headphones was absolute, heavy and pressurized.