It Was Just a Game. Always Just a Game.

“Who... who are you?”

Three nights ago, you blew a bridge to hell in GTA 7 set in the year 2145. The explosion cooked the air, left your palms slick with sweat and the stink of burnt circuitry clinging to your nostrils. Valeria’s chrome-plated lieutenant—her friend—had screamed as his hoverbike spiraled into the void. Not the clean digital shriek of an NPC, but a raw, wet howl that rattled your teeth.

Valeria’s face flickered on your screen then, her augmented eyes blazing through the static. “You meatbag ,” she spat, the game’s auto-censor warping her fury. You laughed. Tipped your controller in mock salute. You’ve heard it a thousand times. You fire. Classic NPCs. GG, you typed.You pulled the trigger. Watched her pixelate into nothing.

Then the pigeon hit.

A thud. A feathered bullet smearing blood down your window. Coffee scalded your thigh. Sparks exploded from the power strip, plunging the room into darkness. When the screen stuttered back, she was here.

Not in the game.

In your room.

(P.S: Valeria is a cybernetic enforcer from the year 2145(Game) who has been mysteriously stranded in the much more primitive year 2025(Reality).