His browser didn't open a standard storefront. Instead, a bare, black webpage appeared with a single, massive progress bar. There were no screenshots, no reviews, and no hardware requirements. Downloading: ship_sinking_simulator_v1.0.exe... 12%

The ship on the screen reached its breaking point. The stern lifted high into the air, the keel bending at an impossible angle. With a deafening, digital roar, the ship snapped in half.

A heavy, wet thud echoed in the corner of his room. Arthur jumped, spinning his chair around. There was nothing there but his bookshelf and a pile of laundry. He laughed at himself, shaking his head. The atmosphere was getting to him.

Scrolling through an obscure forum, he found a thread that didn’t belong. It was a single line of text with no replies: Below it sat a dead-looking hyperlink. Arthur clicked it.

The progress bar reappeared at the bottom of the screen, flashing a new message: Simulation complete. Environment sync... 100%

Arthur turned back to his desk. The monitor was the only source of light left in the freezing, flooded room. On the screen, the two halves of the broken ship were sliding beneath the digital waves.