Maya, of course, put the visor on.

The air shimmered. Sweat beaded on her forehead. The soldering iron on her bench began to glow a faint orange—no, wait. That was real. The actual soldering iron. The VR overlay was bleeding into reality.

That’s when she noticed the file name blinking on the headset’s debug screen: .

She didn't finish. She didn't need to.

“The heat’s coming from their basement. They’ve been cracking their own hardware to make addicts. Real pain for fake pleasure.”