the monitor. He felt the rush of a billion packets of data screaming past him. He saw the world through street cams, private baby monitors, and high-altitude satellites. He was everywhere, but he was nowhere.

He could close the laptop now and stay in the world of the seen—the world of grief, debt, and solid walls. Or he could let the bar reach 100%.

where Elias tries to fight his way back to the physical world, or shall we dive into a different genre of story altogether?