She screamed.

That night, he lay in bed, touching his own real face. The scars felt like lies now. He opened Faces 4.0 again. A new menu appeared: “Premium lifetime license. Unlock all faces. $0.00 – Claim now.”

On her end, the FaceTime request arrived. Sam accepted.

Marcus stared back. Leo blinked. Marcus blinked. Leo smiled. Marcus smiled.

“What?” he whispered.

His body stood up. Walked toward the door. The last thing Leo saw, before his own vision became a livestream for something else, was the icon on his phone screen: the featureless white mask, now wearing a grin.

A camera view opened, showing his own face—scarred, asymmetric, the left cheek frozen in a permanent wince. He felt the old shame. Then he scrolled through the presets.