nne

d confirmation popped up on my screen

ve imme

staring at

pre

suf

rinne S

cked up m

r Lily's number - a ritual I had mainta

stop

o a number I hadn't c

ked up on the

It's me.

ed with a hint of teasing. "Corinne? I th

Casey F

e and the co-founder of ou

from day-to-day operations, remaining on

lowly lo

e inside out. "Casey, long tim

"What? Did you finally leave

never li

said, avoiding a direct

me

sitat

month. I need a pass. The kind t

quiet for a

with a suppressed excitement. "You

d. "I just took a long

er slot as a special guest from Nexus if you

d rather keep a low profi

o this one st

email you the e-ticket. We have to ge

," I

o have an old

blueprint for my f

it would be m

on the kitchen c

rned it f

up again and put

e ti

ily like a smoker throwing

ouldn't light a match a

fade, slowly,

a Lab - a short, professional note about my zone-e

d a pitch dec

slides: the data, the

as r

the keyboard like they we

finish

was e

amic mug and drank it

called

e the remote was or

a kitchen, drinking cof

't feel

finally filling the

ock came

n't c

my phone for

el like a betrayal -

ice again

e for m

t I couldn't exp

abandon

she could one day be proud of,

for my phone again, th

ed over Lily's

oice, "I'm playing with Auntie Dayna

put the ph

s a sil

my concern for them, li

hard, especi

pected couldn't be a good r

elf to turn

n downloading game data fro

were more comforting than

ean of data, building m

and that long-lost feeling of bei

ta correlation that could potentially

s the keyboard, a fir

s the r

wife, not some

scien

received the e-t

s, all-ar

ame on the ticket

ix, no

t m

he light, I checked m

essa

t - that tight, waiting ache I used to

phone down and

neighbor Mrs. Mil

who thanked me with a ba

connection made me feel t