It was Season of the Witch . But not the version Arjun knew. The colors bled wrong. The subtitles were in a language that looked like Sanskrit but moved like binary. A scene unfolded: the witch, a gaunt woman with ash-smeared hair, was being tied to a chair. The director—a ghost-faced Italian named Bellocchio—appeared in the frame, holding a 16mm camera. He spoke directly to the lens:

“You’re isaidub?” Arjun whispered.

The screen went black. Then, a low hum. The witch began to chant. Arjun felt the temperature drop. The hard drive in his backpack clicked once, then began to whir—unprompted.

“Isa… dub… Isa… dub…”

“We are isaidub. Now shut up. Watch.”