"I said lower," the voice vibrated. "You're making too much noise. I can't hear the world ending if you're listening to me."

The figure in the video leaned toward his ear and whispered again, but this time, the sound didn't come from the speakers. It came from the air six inches behind his head.

Elias slammed the laptop shut, but the 1dB hum didn't stop. It stayed in his ears, a permanent, tiny ringing at the edge of silence, reminding him that something was always listening to the quietest parts of his life. An Introduction to the Decibel - Astralsound

Elias frowned and reached for the volume dial, but his hand froze. The video window began to change. The black screen wasn't empty; it was a high-contrast shot of his own bedroom, taken from the corner of the ceiling. In the grainy, blue-tinted footage, he saw himself sitting at the desk, his hand hovering over the speaker knob.

Here is an original short story inspired by that digital era. The Whisper in the Buffer