He unplugged his computer. Then he picked up his phone and called Kael.
This time, the installation was different. The falcon icon on his desktop bled, turning a deep, iridescent crimson. The console in his game didn't just show probabilities anymore. It showed intent . He could see the exact button sequence an opponent was about to press, a half-second before they pressed it. He could see the server's next tick, the next packet of data. He wasn't playing the game anymore; he was playing the server .
The world changed.