Beside Myself Free Download [ Deluxe ]

The link arrived in a thread on an anonymous imageboard. No description, just a file size that didn’t make sense—0 KB—and a button:

As the original Elias felt his consciousness dissolve into a string of binary code, he saw the other Elias hover the cursor over a new link on the screen: Beside Myself: Premium Upgrade. Beside Myself Free Download

The first sign that something had changed was the humming. It wasn't in his ears; it was coming from the kitchen. Elias walked in and froze. There, leaning against the counter and drinking from his favorite chipped mug, was Elias. The link arrived in a thread on an anonymous imageboard

Elias was a man who lived in the margins of his own life. He worked a desk job that felt like a looped animation and went home to an apartment that smelled like dust and unwashed coffee mugs. He clicked the link because he was bored, and because he felt like he was already half-gone anyway. The installation didn't take time. It simply was . It wasn't in his ears; it was coming from the kitchen

The other Elias looked at him with eyes that were a little too bright, a little too blue. "It's not a bug, it's an optimization," he said, opening the laptop. "The world only needs one of us, and the users prefer the version that doesn't lag."

"There’s a bug," the original whispered, his voice sounding like static. "I'm disappearing."