The game was beautiful, but wrong. The physics were too fluid, the sound of the wind whistling through the speakers felt like it was blowing past his own ears. He controlled a shadow-clad shinobi moving through a digital version of his own city. As he navigated the character through the streets, he realized the layout was identical to the blocks outside his window.

Elias looked down. The handheld was gone. In its place sat a heavy, cold piece of black iron shaped like a four-pointed star, still spinning silently on his desk.

He reached the final boss—a mirrored version of his sprite sitting at a computer. Elias tapped the buttons to deliver the finishing strike. As the wind shuriken left his character’s hand on the screen, a sharp, whistling gust suddenly tore through his bedroom, shattering his window.