At first, it was exactly what he expected: blocky characters, a rainy city skyline, a main menu with a siren wailing. He started a new game. His character, Officer Ray Kilian, stood in a precinct locker room. The mission: “Patrol District 7. Respond to calls. Uphold the law.”

Inside: his emails. His browsing history. A webcam screenshot taken two seconds ago—Leo, slack-jawed, staring at his monitor.

A chat box appeared at the bottom of the screen.

Final_Shift_99: Do you remember why Police Force 2 was cancelled, Leo?