He dropped the phone. It landed face-up on his carpet. The screen flickered, and suddenly Batman’s cowled face turned to look directly at him —through the screen, through the lens of a phone camera that Leo didn’t remember granting access.
> YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE CLICKED THE LINK. He dropped the phone
The phone went black.
It started small: a missing texture here, a civilian T-posing through a car there. Then the rain turned into checkered pink and cyan squares. Then the audio—the beautiful, brooding score—stretched into a demonic low groan, as if the game itself were in pain. Leo’s phone grew hot. Not warm. Hot. The kind of heat that feels like a lie. HELLO LEO. I’VE BEEN WAITING.
Then the glitches began.
> HELLO LEO. I’VE BEEN WAITING.