01 · The closed shop
After closing
You turn the sign to CLOSED. Outside, the last Halloween costumes drift past the radio shop window.
Behind the counter, a cassette deck clicks. Its cable lies coiled on the bench, unplugged.
“Before you go,” it says in your voice.
The tape turns. You could stay long enough to hear the message. Or you could eject it, pocket it and deal with it somewhere brighter.
02 · Listen
The rest of the message
You keep your hands off the deck.
“Leave the tape here,” your recorded voice says. “You only have to carry it once.”
Behind the voice, you hear tonight’s closing sounds: the sign turning, your keys touching the counter. Then three footsteps you have not taken yet.
You step away. The cassette keeps turning.
03 · Eject
Something to carry
You press EJECT before the voice can finish.
The cassette lifts with a perfectly ordinary click. Its handwritten label reads THE LAST TAPE. Beneath that, in smaller letters, is your name.
You slip it into your pocket. The deck falls silent.
For a moment, the room feels like a room again. You take three steps towards the front of the shop.
04 · The door
One hand on the latch
The manual latch lifts easily. Beyond the glass, the street is lit and empty. You can leave.
If you heard the warning: “Leave the tape here” returns to you, quieter than a thought.
If you pocketed the tape: Something turns once against your leg. The cassette has no moving parts on its outside.
You look back at the counter. You could go outside now. Or return to the deck, rewind the tape and find out what came before your voice.
05 · An ending
The street outside
The door closes behind you. The latch settles.
If the tape stayed in the shop
The voice stops. For one long second, every window along the street reflects the same empty counter.
Then a bus passes, the reflections break, and the shop is only a shop again. You keep walking.
If you carried the tape outside
Your pocket clicks.
“Before you go,” it says in your voice.
Across the street, the dark window of another closed shop glows amber. There is a cassette deck behind its counter.
End of this route.
06 · Another ending
Before you go
You return to the counter.
If you carried the tape: You slide the cassette back into the deck. It settles as if it never left.
You press REWIND.
The shop’s closing sounds run backwards: three footsteps, keys lifting from wood, the small scrape of the sign.
The tape stops. Outside, Halloween costumes drift past the window.
Your hand is on the sign. Its other side says OPEN. From behind the counter, your voice takes a breath.
End of this route. The story has returned to its opening; this ending does not automatically restart your playthrough.