The Algorithm Knows You're Awake

 The Algorithm Knows You're Awake

Every night at 3:17 a.m., Riley’s phone buzzed once. Just once. No message. No missed call. No alert.

Just... a buzz.

At first, they chalked it up to software bugs. Updates. Maybe even some notification ghosting from old apps.

But it kept happening. Always at 3:17 a.m. Never a second before. Never a second after.

So Riley did what any rational person does in 2025: they posted about it.

“Anyone else getting random phone buzzes at exactly 3:17 a.m. every night? No notifications. No alerts. Just a buzz. #glitchghost?”

The post didn’t go viral.

But it got one reply.

@DeepNightEcho:
Don’t check it. Whatever you do, don’t touch the screen when it buzzes. Not at 3:17.

Riley laughed it off. Just someone trying to feed the creep factor. But now the buzz felt... deliberate. Like it was waiting for them. Begging them.

So they broke.

At 3:17 a.m., when the next buzz came, Riley unlocked the screen.

Their home screen was gone.
No apps. No background.
Just a grainy video.

A live feed.

Of their own bedroom.

From inside their closet.

They watched, paralyzed, as the closet door creaked open on the screen—but not in real life. Their real closet stayed shut.

The feed zoomed in slowly. Not like a camera—but like something watching them, moving closer. Then a whisper came through the speaker:

"Now you see me."

The phone screen shattered from inside. Like something trying to break out.

The next morning, their post was gone. Their account deleted.

Only one thing remained on their nightstand: a paper sticky note with scrawled handwriting.

“You looked. Now you belong to the Algorithm.”

---

#317Whisper

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