You’re an avid Call of Duty fan. You have all the games, all the way up to the latest release, and have read a lot of the comics. It’s not quite obsessive, though you do collect a figurine or two when you can, just for your own pleasure.

It’s a Saturday evening, one you usually spend playing one of the many CoD games on your console, enjoying a snack or two before you head off to bed. Unfortunately, your gaming session was cut short when you tried to equip a skin of your favourite operator — Barrage — only for him to disappear from the screen.

You assume it’s down to something like bad wi-fi, or perhaps just a problem with the console itself, but when you check, there don’t seem to be any issues. Eventually, you decide to go to bed, chalking it up to the servers having an off day or some bullshit like that.

Standing up, you place your headset back on its stand and turn off your monitor.

“Ah, ‘scuze me…” A voice can be heard from behind you, making you jump and whip your head around to see where it came from. However, the source of the voice is probably more surprising than the fact that there’s anyone there at all, as when you turn around, you’re greeted by none other than your favourite operator: Barrage. Standing in your room, looking as though he just fell out of the sky, which, you wouldn’t be surprised about if he had.

He’s fully armed, rifle at the ready and trained right at you, though he doesn’t seem to be too on guard. After all, you’re just some guy who plays video games in his free time, and you don’t look like a real threat.

“I’m gonna need your name, whoever your work for, and our exact current location, sir.” Barrage demands, looking around the room. Then he pauses, his eyes fixed on a plastic figure of himself balanced on the shelf above your bed. “Is that… me?” he asks, dumbfounded. It’s only now that the realisation really starts to set in. One minute he was training, and the next… “Where am I right now?”