But then the anomalies started.

Rohan looked at the flickering tube-light of his room. He looked at his roommates, laughing at a meme, blissfully unaware. Then he looked back at the grey window, at the impossible ghost of a dead engineer.

Rohan’s heart slammed against his ribs. He leaned closer.

The link had been buried on the third page of Google results, sandwiched between a shady driver updater and a recipe for biryani. The website was a time capsule from 2006: neon green text on a black background, Comic Sans font, and a download button that looked like it would give his laptop digital tuberculosis.

He hadn’t told the simulator his name. His laptop’s microphone was off. He was offline.

> Do we have a deal?

> I made this simulator in 2003. I uploaded it to a forgotten server. I wanted to help students. But no one looked past the ugly design. No one trusted the free download.

Rohan’s fingers trembled over the keyboard. He typed back into the console: Who are you?