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I closed my eyes. When I opened them, a notification read: SECURITY ALERT — IDENTITY LEAK. The engine had not only verified the download. It had verified me.

— end hook

Steps behind the door. The neighbor’s cat walked through the threshold, but its eyes reflected a starfield not of this neighborhood. My reflection in the monitor wasn’t mine; it was older, wearing a jacket stitched from constellations. A message scrolled: WELCOME, USER 0980. SELECT ORIGIN OR CREATE NEW. space engine 0980 download verified

I tried to uninstall. The progress bar filled, then emptied into a void of coordinates. The ship icon on the installer blinked, then sailed across the desk and projected a window into a space I'd never seen on any telescope: a sculpture of rings and glass cities held in a gravity well like a jewel. I closed my eyes