Then the power flickered.

His apartment in the Fort Grove projects was a tomb of dying electronics. A triple-fan GPU wheezed like a sick animal. The second-hand hard drive clicked a desperate Morse code. Outside, the neon-drenched rain of Silver Rock City hammered against a window he couldn’t afford to fix.

A new line appeared, burning bright green. PRESS [ESC] TO RACE IRL. He snorted. A glitch. Maybe a hidden joke from the repacker. He hit ESC to close the window.