He heard his own front door unlock downstairs. But he lived alone.

He closed his eyes and pressed the home button. Nothing. The power button. Nothing. The only way out was the level’s exit: a warp pipe shaped like a card reader.

The level loaded as a glitched-out version of World 1-1. The sky was a matrix of pink and black checkerboards. The background music was a slowed, reversed waltz. Mario—no, not Mario. The character select screen showed Leo . A tiny, blocky avatar with his glasses and gray hoodie.

"Just for archival research," he whispered, dragging the file onto his modded Switch’s SD card.

Leo pressed Start.

Leo tried to pause. The pause menu had only one option: