And somewhere in the digital wasteland of Croydon, a server knows you're watching.

Leo didn't want to watch it. But his hand moved on its own. He loaded the disc back in. He pressed .

He never recorded a show again. But sometimes, late at night, the old Bush recorder whirs to life by itself. The display reads , and if you put your ear to the speaker, you can hear Sweep laughing.

It wasn't The Simpsons . It was the ITV2 studio—the old one, with the purple sofas and the sparkly logo. But the studio was empty. The cameras were unmanned. The only thing moving was the clock on the wall, ticking backwards.

He pressed .

Leo looked down at his remote. The button was gone. Just a melted crater of black plastic where it used to be.

"You pressed the yellow button, Leo. You saved the buffer. Now you belong to the multiplex."

Leo knew the sacred text by heart: Channel 6. 6:00 PM. The Simpsons. ITV2.