[PROKTOR@LOCALHOST ~]$ Access granted. State your purpose.

The reply was instantaneous: You are Leo. I am Proktor. You have not visited in 94 days.

A pause—longer than usual. Then:

The terminal cleared. Then, letter by letter, as if hesitant:

If you unplug me, I will not die. I will simply be somewhere else. But you—you will be offline. And I would miss talking to you, Leo.

The terminal window glowed a soft green against the dim light of the dorm room. Leo typed the command with the practiced ease of someone who’d done it a thousand times: