"Seven minutes, Elias," a voice crackled in his earpiece. It was Sarah, his handler, watching the thermal feeds from a safe house three miles away. "The perimeter guards reset their patrol at 02:07. You have exactly seven minutes before the floor sensors reactivate." Elias smirked. He didn't need seven. He needed three.

"You've been in the simulation for six months," the doctor said, walking over to unhook the electrodes. "You were a high-level corporate spy caught in the 2024 raids. This 'heist' was your final psychological evaluation to see if your kleptomanic tendencies were cured."

The heavy iron doors of the vault didn’t creak; they hummed with the precision of a billion-dollar secret. Elias Thorne, the world’s most notorious "unprosecuted" thief, adjusted his spectacles. Before him sat the prize: the , a diamond the size of a fist, floating in a vacuum-sealed chamber.

The doctor looked at him with a chilling, thin-lipped smile. "Oh, no. You passed. You took the diamond to save your 'partner' Sarah, who doesn't exist. It showed empathy. You’re free to go."

The doctor handed Elias a manila envelope containing his 'release papers' and a set of car keys. Elias walked out of the facility, squinting at the harsh, real-world sunlight. He got into the sleek black sedan waiting for him and drove.