The year was 2022, and the hype for Modern Warfare II was reaching a fever pitch. Deep in the corners of a late-night Discord server, a user named "Ghost_Protocol" posted a link that seemed too good to be true:

Suddenly, his webcam light flickered to life—a tiny, predatory green eye. Panic surged through him as he realized this wasn't a game; it was a digital "backdoor." The "Free Download" was actually a sophisticated piece of malware designed to turn his high-end gaming PC into a zombie node for a massive botnet.

Just as he reached for the power cord, a second window popped up. It was a live feed of his own desktop, mirrored. A voice, distorted and gravelly—eerily similar to Captain Price—spoke through his headset: