"Just this once," he whispered to the empty, cold apartment.
The flickering cursor on Elias’s screen felt like a heartbeat. It was 2:00 AM, and he was staring at a forum thread titled
The door to his actual apartment creaked open. Elias didn't turn around. He couldn't. He just watched the screen as the "unpacked" version of himself walked into the frame behind his chair, reaching out with digital hands that looked all too real.
A line of text scrolled across the bottom of the player: Registration code accepted. Lifetime access granted.