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