The next morning hit hard. Sunlight cut through the blinds of Cody and Brody's bedroom, landing on posters of Fortnite wins and Minecraft builds. Cody groaned, face in his pillow. Brody was up, glasses on, scrolling his phone.

  "Bro," Cody mumbled, "did we play Forza until three?"

  "You did," Brody said. "I quit at one-thirty when Mia rage-quit lobbies."

  "She was spawn-killed. That's justice."

  Brody snorted. "Tell her Discord rant at 2:47 a.m."

  Downstairs smelled like coffee and toast.

  Grandma Anne sliced apples. Grandpa Richard sat with his newspaper and "World's Okayest Grandpa" mug.

  "Morning, geniuses," Grandma called. "You look like you lost a boss fight."

  "We kinda did," Cody said, grabbing an apple slice. "Team-TX6 carried twelve wins."

  Grandpa folded the paper. "How much sleep did that cost?"

  "Enough," Brody replied.

  Grandma set plates of eggs and toast. "Eat. Then bikes. School in forty-no more 'gaming emergency' notes."

  They scarfed food, grabbed backpacks, and rolled bikes out. D.C. morning air was crisp, leaves turning, distant traffic humming.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Halfway to school, Brody slowed. "You felt it last night, right?"

  Cody glanced over. "The glitch?"

  "Yeah. Not lag. Something looked back."

  Cody gripped the bars tighter. "Probably the HDMI splitter."

  Brody stayed quiet. He hated loose ends.

  School hallways buzzed with tournament clips.

  Team-TX6 trended on esports TikToks-Riley's no-scope clip captioned "TX6 owns ??".

  First period: Technology with Ms. Carter. Twins took back-row seats.

  Ms. Carter tapped the whiteboard. "What does a transistor do?"

  Cody and Brody waited.

  "Switch or amplifier," Brody said.

  "Binary current control," Cody added.

  Ms. Carter smiled. "You two set up breadboard kits."

  They wired a traffic-light sim, then added a sensor. Ms. Carter wandered over.

  "Modifying again?"

  Cody grinned. "Optimizing."

  Brody adjusted glasses. "More efficient."

  Ms. Carter sighed proudly. "You'll be dangerous one day."

  Lunch was chaos. Team-TX6 claimed their corner.

  Riley reenacted his kill with a fry. James argued Valorant maps with Mia. Sam sketched logos.

  Cody dropped his tray. "Weird dream last night."

  Brody looked up. "Glitchy screen?"

  "Yeah. Code moving. Shapes."

  Mia leaned in. "Same monitor?"

  "Same," Brody said.

  Riley waved his fry. "Your rig's haunted. RGB exorcism time."

  James snorted. "Or stop energy drinks at 2 a.m."

  Sam looked up. "Or something else."

  Everyone paused.

  "Like what?" Cody asked.

  Sam shrugged. "Felt watched."

  Quiet fell-just long enough for cafeteria noise to rush in.

  Riley clapped. "Enough spooky. Tonight: VR Beat Saber tournament. Loser buys pizza. In?"

  Hands shot up. Moment passed.

  Biking home, the question lingered.

  That glitch.

  That tug.

  Something in the Favourite Stuff Hub was waking up.

  They didn't know it yet, but the spark had caught.