The lights in his apartment flickered and died. In the sudden silence, Elias heard a heavy, mechanical sound—the sound of a massive vault door locking—and realized his studio apartment no longer had windows.

Elias tried to exit the game, but the mouse cursor was gone. The screen began to flicker, reflecting his own face in the monitor—pale and terrified. "Margin Call," the text box whispered.

His phone began screaming with notifications. Withdrawal: $10,000. Withdrawal: $50,000.