Chapter 50: Chaos Unleashed

A month before the launch of the VR game Morphantasia,

Casimir Peterson sat hunched over his desk, the dim light of his lamp casting long shadows across the cluttered room. Empty bottles of cheap whiskey littered the floor, testament to his descent into despair. Once a brilliant scientist and programmer, Casimir had been fired from Berenice's gaming company under a cloud of disgrace. His ambitious project, an attempt to create a bridge between virtual and real worlds, had been deemed too dangerous, too unpredictable. Berenice, the company's CEO, had been the one to pull the plug, and Casimir had never forgiven her.

One night, as he drowned his sorrows in yet another bottle, a strange sensation prickled the back of his neck. The room seemed to grow colder, the shadows deepening. He blinked blearily, peering into the darkness, and that's when he saw it: a figure, more shadow than man, standing in the corner of the room.