Elias paused, his hand inches from the glowing glass. He looked at the pine needles now manifesting on his hardwood floor and wondered: What was wrong with six?

The "6" was the first red flag. It implied a series, a progression of ideas that had been refined, discarded, or evolved five times before.

Elias realized "NewPack" wasn't a software update. It was a reality patch. The previous five versions must have failed—too unstable, too surreal, or perhaps too dangerous. But version six? Version six was leaking into his world.

Then, he saw a cursor on the screen, but he wasn't moving the mouse. The cursor clicked on a tree in the digital forest. In his own living room, the scent of pine and damp earth suddenly filled the air, so thick he could almost taste it.