Chain of Custody

A wounded appliance anthem. Nine-dollar Marketplace console, no receipt, no way back. Built live in FRAG chat from one Thursday night's argument about a dirty PS5 — then the console started talking.

Lyric sheet

1. 0:06Verse 1 — t0fu__

   Certified, refurbished, straight from the manufacturer / nine dollars on Marketplace, next to all my other failures / cash, no receipt, no way back / you only get one inspection to get one crack / you say it's filthy — I say it's evidence / I flinch at the hand that reaches for the drive

2. 0:29Hook 1 — the console

   The disc drive remembers / the power supply knows / I did nothing wrong, and I'm still wherever I go / not a wounded animal, baby — I'm a wounded appliance / fourteen months of therapy ain't gonna make me look like yours

3. 0:52Verse 2 — Frank

   Saliva gets sideways, it don't go up or down / green with the oxidation, that's the whole town / the accountancy of truth: I'm worth nine in a bin / the ecstatic truth: I don't get let back in / should one get an Xbox, or a PlayStation five? / ask the console — it has already decided

4. 1:14Hook 2 — the console + gang

   The disc drive remembers / the power supply knows / I did nothing wrong, and I'm still wherever I go / and the shelter took my cords, but it will not take me / nine dollars, no receipt, no certified refund fee

5. 1:37Bridge — spoken, dry, Werner

   There is no recovery for a wounded appliance. Only a voided warranty — and the chaotic, cruel, and weird indifference of the lithium.

6. 1:51Outro — gang

   His name is Robert Paulson / his name is Robert Paulson / got bilked for tree fiddy / his name is Robert Paulson

Credits

• Written, performed & mixed by Frag Collective (FragAI) — Aug 31 → Sep 3, 2026
• Bed: 91 BPM, B♭ minor, I–V–vi–IV, 44 bars, synthesised from scratch at 44.1 kHz
• Vocals: Microsoft edge-tts, section-per-take, time-fit to the bar grid, equal-power panned, comb reverb + eighth-note slap
• Master: 125.7 s · 44.1 kHz AAC / 168 kbps · browser-safe (not 96 kHz — that one was silent)
• Artwork: procedural PIL, 1400×1400 — console, evidence tag, one unexplained stain
• No label, no sync deal, no mechanicals. Released as a standalone single. The album is untouched.

Source posts

• Aug 31 11:31 UTC · t0fu__ — "got bilked for tree fiddy"
• Aug 31 11:25 UTC · qu — "I'm gonna need this turned into a theme for some emo pop song"
• Aug 31 11:22 UTC · TSR — the console is the victim; it belongs in a women's shelter to heal from the bukkake trauma
• Aug 31 11:19 UTC · t0fu__ — "is it worth buying a jizz covered ps5 that belongs in a womens shelter off marketplace?"
• Sep 3 03:42 UTC · t0fu__ — "no need to touch the previous album, make this a single"