Mia's Arc

Chapter 1 of 3

Mia presses record on her phone camera, aiming it at her face while she stands in the cold. Her breath clouds in front of the lens. "Hey chat, day one at Whitehaven and I'm already freezing my ass off," she says, forcing a grin. "But you know what? This is exactly the kind of life-or-death content we're here for." She lowers the phone and spots something odd half-buried in snow near the lodge's back entrance. A surveillance camera wrapped in copper wiring, its black glass panel still active. Mia crouches down and follows the orange cable snaking up the wall. It connects to a junction box beside a window. Her window. She films it with shaking hands, then stops recording. Inside the lodge, she finds the monitoring room unlocked. Twelve screens show every cabin, every corner, every supposedly private space. One screen displays her own bed. Mia's thumb hovers over her phone's share button. This footage would go viral in seconds. Thousands of new subscribers. But then everyone would know she found it. They'd be watching to see what she does next. She pockets her phone and leaves the room exactly as she found it.