Weeks later, replies trickled in. One researcher confirmed the mod's odd propagation. An investigative journalist pinged back with a question about timelines. A community moderator posted a purge script. People who had once been players wrote, in small, apologetic posts, about the night they wandered off the map and found a van that shouldn't have been there; about the metal taste of adrenaline that had felt too much like profit. Some thanked the log. Others did not reply.
Kai sat back, breathing hard. The monitor hummed, then displayed a single prompt: Modern Combat 4 Zero Hour v1.2.2e mod data -a...
