New Year's Eve. I was scrolling through posts on my phone when one caught my eye.
"Does anyone else think this year's New Year's Eve gala broadcast is weird? The people in it are giving off this strange vibe I can't quite describe."
Replies stacked up fast beneath the post.
"What do you mean? I'm watching it right now. Seems totally normal."
"Yeah, the show's a little boring, sure, but I wouldn't call it weird."
"OP, have you been up so long you're hallucinating?"
OP: "No! Have none of you noticed? It feels like the people on screen can SEE us."
"Lmao, someone's a little too immersed in the show."
OP: "I'm serious! Every time I look up, it's the same thing. The feeling is so obvious. And their smiles—they're all identical. They haven't changed at all."
"Come on, that's just how the audience always looks at those broadcasts. Holding a smile for the cameras."
"OP, maybe you've been staring at the screen too long and your eyes are playing tricks on you?"
OP: "Let me take another screenshot for you guys! Look carefully at the dancers in the center!"
……
OP posted a screenshot with several performers circled.
I zoomed in. Perfectly ordinary smiles. Normal eyes. Nothing out of place. The image looked exactly like what was playing on my own TV.
I left a quick comment: "I don't see anything wrong. The performers' expressions look completely normal. Are you sure you're not seeing things?"
OP replied almost instantly: "Look again! Don't just look at the screenshot—stare at the live broadcast. Watch and see if they ever stop smiling."
Half-skeptical, I raised my head and fixed my eyes on the TV screen. I watched the people on it for a solid thirty seconds.
Something was off.
These people weren't just smiling—they hadn't blinked. Not once. The curve of their lips hadn't shifted by a single degree. They looked like carefully arranged mannequins.
My stomach dropped. I grabbed my phone and refreshed the post.
OP: "Well? Did you see it? I've been counting—they haven't blinked in at least five minutes!"
I typed back: "Holy crap, you're right. What the hell is going on?"
OP latched on like someone who'd finally found a believer: "And it's not just the performers—the audience is weird too. I've been watching for a while. The camera cut to the audience twice, and they were in the exact same position both times!"
More comments piled on.
"Are you two messing with us? The broadcast is perfectly normal!"
"Oh, I get it. You two know each other, right? Teaming up to troll the rest of us?"
OP: "I swear I'm telling the truth. Just look more carefully!"
Right on cue, the broadcast cut to the audience again. I locked my eyes on the screen.
It was exactly what OP described. The audience hadn't moved. Same posture. Same position. Frozen.
But everyone else in the comments insisted the broadcast was normal. The audience was normal. Everything was fine.
What the hell was going on?
My palms were slick with sweat. I snatched up my phone and called Evangeline.
The second she picked up, the words tumbled out of me.
"Evangeline, are you watching the gala? Look at the audience—they're so creepy. They're not moving at all!"
She laughed. "Very funny. The camera's on the audience right now and everything looks perfectly fine. Are you watching a horror movie or something?"
"I'm not joking! That's really what it looks like on my end!"
"Maybe your signal's glitching. Probably just frozen. It's New Year's Eve—don't go scaring yourself."
She sounded completely unconcerned. "I've got something going on over here. Let me call you back later, okay?"
She hung up.
I turned back to the TV.
My heart seized.
The audience members—the ones who'd been facing the stage just moments ago—had turned. Every single one of them. They were facing the camera now, heads angled directly toward it. Their mouths were stretched into identical rigid smiles, lips pulled too wide, frozen in place. Their eyes were hollow, empty, staring straight out of the screen.
Staring at me.
