And beneath it, in 8-bit Courier: “Render me, Leo. The mix is almost done.”

Leo pulled the USB drive out.

The Piano Roll Ghost track was now duplicated. Then triplicated. Each new track had a different MIDI clip. One was labeled “Voice 1 – Hello.” Another: “Voice 2 – I was here.” A third: “Render me.”

Instead, the security camera monitor flickered. The label printer spat out a single sheet of thermal paper with no text—just a waveform printed in grainy black pixels.

He pressed play.