For a moment, Arjun wasn't in his cramped home office, surrounded by empty coffee mugs. He was over Dover, the Merlin engine growling, the wind buffeting the canopy. He banked hard, craning his neck naturally to track an imaginary bandit.

He opened his flight sim—a modern masterpiece that cost him $80—and launched a free-flight over the English Channel. The old Spitfire sat on the tarmac, rain spattering its canopy.

He tilted his head down. Inside the game, the virtual pilot’s gaze dropped to the magnetic compass. He leaned right. The viewpoint slid to look over the wing’s edge at the grey sea.

The ghost would be there tomorrow.

"Freetrack Windows 10," he whispered, grinning.

Every forum he found was a digital graveyard. Links led to 404 errors. "Try compatibility mode for Windows 7," one said. "No, Windows XP SP3," another argued. A third, desperate soul had written: "Just install these six C++ redistributables from 2008. In order. And sacrifice a goat."

A single, jagged white dot appeared in the preview pane. Then two. Then three. His LED array.

Finally, at 11:47 PM, he held his breath and clicked "Start."