A Debt of Time and Tears
, filled the screen, a language that was supposed to build worlds but for me, only built debt. I was Liam, an in
a simple, black box, like an old command prompt, with a single green line of t
t, but the window wouldn't respond. Then, the black box flickered and an image resolve
at room w
m ten years ago, her face bright with an idealism I hadn't seen since our own college days. She was hunched
as this a hack? A cruel prank? On a desp
dying the wr
t en
ked around her empty dorm room, her eyes wide w
ng my breath. It
ead as if dismissing a strange th
e sure. I
lular automata, not
ysically looked for the source of the voice,
in and young, came through m
s a thought. This stream, whatever it was, it was real. I could s
a bridge to the pa
ed, my mind racing. "I a
more time before her eyes landed on her own compu
an whose heart you're going to grind into dust. I' m contacting yo
Something she might even trust. In my games, wh
yst
oreign and powerful. "A guidance protocol des
n, her fear slowly bein
? Like in a
ed iteration. You c
, the brilliant, curious part, was hooked. "You say things like 'our
the architect of her downfall, and mine. "You will," I typed. "Th
Chloe I remembered, always demanding proof. "If you're so
memory from the good days, a story s
everyone he ran away to a farm upstate, but you know the truth. He was hit by a ca
d flew to her mouth. No one knew that. She ha
" I continued, pressing my advantage. "It's a worn-out copy of
n the bottom drawer, and lifted out the tattered paperback. She looked
" she wh
, letting the statement hang in
by a wide-eyed awe. She believed me. This young, trusting Ch
her fingers clumsy. "Oka
I had a chance. A chance to undo it all. A chance to save her f
ith him. The sou
hin the week. He will offer you a business partnership. I want you to listen to