He cracked the seal on a rainy afternoon. The world inside was smaller than he'd imagined: soldier figurines with painted smiles, blocky turrets, a fold-out map of a cartoon world called Gearfall, and a single silver token stamped with "TOP." Instructions told him the toys could be arranged to defend a fortress on any surface, but there was a warning in tiny italic letters: "Guard with strategy—only then will the TOP reveal itself."