The screen went white.

When his vision returned, he was parked outside a safe house. The pause menu was in English. The radio announcer was talking about the heat level in Redview County. It had worked.

After three hours of searching forums older than he was, he found a thread: “NFS Rivals English Language Pack – Direct Download (No Virus, Trust me).” The link was buried on a file-sharing site that looked like it hadn't been updated since the game’s 2013 release. The download button was surrounded by ads promising to optimize his RAM or introduce him to lonely widows.

To pass the time, he booted the game. He chose a police cruiser, because the rules of the road meant nothing to him. As the muted, Russian intro played, he mashed the accelerator. The screen blurred. The tachometer redlined. He slammed into a racer’s Ferrari, and for a glorious moment, the only language that mattered was the crunch of metal and the squeal of tires.