The whistle of the Night Express screamed through the apartment, and as the monitor flared into a blinding white light, the chair in the Prague apartment was left empty. The only thing remaining was a small, black steam engine icon on a screen that refused to turn off.

Jakub reached for the power button, but his hand wouldn't move. On the screen, the "Free" version of the game finally revealed its hidden cost. A message popped up in the chat box:

In the game, Jakub sat in the engineer’s cab. He pushed the throttle forward. The train surged. But when he tried to look out the side window, the graphics didn't show trees or stars. They showed his own apartment.