The game had followed him.
Over the next 24 hours, reality began to decompile. His reflection in the mirror would freeze, then rotate 45 degrees. His coffee mug would occasionally clip through the table and shatter on the floor. He saw the Hook Man in the periphery of his vision, standing in alleyways, waiting at bus stops, its mannequin face scanning the crowd.
PLAYER HEALTH: 1000 AMMO: INFINITE CLIP: N/A ENEMY AI: ACTIVE ROOM: R113_CORRIDOR_B
He opened the door. The Hook Man stood frozen, its hook raised mid-swing, its pixel-eye dead. Leo walked past it, his heart thudding. He could control the code. He was the programmer.
The Hook Man lunged. Leo ran, his tank controls clumsy. He slammed a door shut just as the hook pierced the wood, splintering it. He leaned against the wall, hyperventilating. That’s when he noticed his vision. At the bottom right of his field of view, a semi-transparent debug overlay flickered.