The game didn't start with a logo or a menu. It opened directly into a dimly lit shop. The graphics were unsettlingly sharp, capturing the oily sheen on snake scales and the damp musk of cedar shavings. But the "animals" weren't right. In the first cage sat a "Fennec Fox" with too many joints in its legs; in another, a "Macaw" that didn't chirp, but whispered fragments of Elias’s own recent browser history.
A notification popped up in the corner of the screen: [Customer Entering] . Exotica.Petshop.Simulator.rar
The screen went black, leaving only the reflection of an empty chair in the webcam feed. The game didn't start with a logo or a menu