The glow of the dual monitors was the only light in Elias’s apartment, casting long, jittery shadows against the peeling wallpaper. On the left screen, a high-fidelity render of a digital cityscape sat frozen. On the right, a jagged red dialogue box mocked him: Parsec Error 14004

Behind him, the main screen flickered. Not a simulation control panel. Just a black screen with a single line of green text.

The screaming crowd silenced into a dull, digital hum. The sky above the virtual arena fractured, replaced by a void of flat, unresponsive gray. Then, a single white box drifted into the center of his vision, pulsing with a rhythmic, cold light.