He drags to 15%.
And in the chat window of a torrent forum, a new post from user R2D2 :
He thinks of the hospital. Of the woman who doesn't know him. Of the coffee she brews, black, the way she used to drink it, but when he asked for sugar, she looked at him with polite, empty eyes and said, "I'm sorry, do I know you?" Serif Affinity Photo v2.5.0 -x64- Multilingual ...
Self-consistency at 99.9%. To achieve 100%, the original subject must be deleted. Do you consent to the permanent archival of Eli (biological)? Y/N
The basement stays dark. But on the 27-inch screen, a 3D-rendered Eli smiles. He is higher resolution than the real one ever was. He has perfect skin. No tremors. No grief. He drags to 15%
The webcam light is on. Eli stares at his own reflection in the black mirror of the lens. His face is gaunt. Pale. A skull with skin.
97%. The air smells like peaches.
The forum post is sparse: "v2.5.0. Unlocked. Use keygen at your own risk. It writes to system memory differently. Some say they see things. Not hallucinations. Memories. Not yours. The layer stack goes deeper. "