For a moment, just relief.
Then his phone buzzed in his pocket.
Then: Welcome back, Leo.
Leo's blood went cold. He didn't have streaming history. He'd only just logged in.
The little yellow icon sat among the others on the 3DS home menu, an impossible thing. It wasn't a game. It wasn't a utility. It was a lime-green music note on a black circle, and it bore a single word: Spotify . spotify 3ds homebrew
A notification from Spotify: New login detected. 3DS Browser (Unknown Location).
He pressed Home, but the button did nothing. He held the power button. The screen flickered, but the music continued—not the song he'd chosen anymore, but a low, droning hum, like a server room breathing. For a moment, just relief
He swiped it away. Then another buzzed. And another.