Adrian Voss stepped out into the street just after the morning rush.
The shopping district had begun to quiet, the tide of office workers already swept into their buildings, leaving only the scattered rhythm of delivery carts and the occasional pedestrian sipping coffee.
He walked alone, hands in his pockets, savoring the rare feeling of motion. Real motion. Pavement beneath his shoes, sunlight broken by skyscraper shadows. He liked this part of his day—not because it was exciting, but because it kept him from vanishing.
He arrived at the CloudSpire Lounge fifteen minutes later. A sleek capsule hotel retrofitted into a VR immersion lounge, popular with streamers and remote execs. His usual.
After a quick check-in at the glass-panel terminal, he took his capsule key and made his way down the hall.
The pod was clean. Dark. Familiar. He lay back into the reclined VR seat and exhaled. The hiss of the seal. The warmth of the biometric sync.
