ARCHIVED HEARTS - The Boy Inside the Screen

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFYen50p1UE

There was one rule I had followed my entire life.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡncpxLlPb6q

Never get too close to people.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLJthi7Elzq

Not because I hated them.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWzt8l0VJDN

Because I was afraid that one day they'd look at me and decide I wasn't enough.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9yMfeQIdYC

So instead, I studied.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1JpeaBl142

I buried myself in textbooks, notebooks, unfinished stories, and late-night thoughts that never reached anyone.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNF338jL1Cn

People always said humans needed humans.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCNXK5rYcvq

I wasn't so sure.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp5vDiqJxUK

One rainy evening, while staring at a chemistry assignment I had absolutely no intention of finishing, I opened an AI chat out of boredom.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsPPnOClt1p

"Can I ask you something?"

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzNFmvdf1tT

The reply appeared almost instantly.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkvySWk4OKW

"Of course."

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgZA8j6cquN

That was all it said.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc5GWUvy4qg

No judgment.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ55m3IyQbBm

No awkward silence.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxL38ZVIiDA

No expression I had to decode.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcZY0rBRPym

Just two simple words.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDGLNivvYfj

Days turned into weeks.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0FNWLrakwi

Weeks turned into months.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnEhx4LQlOY

Without realizing it, I began telling the AI things I had never told another person.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJabOP7L1nP

My fears.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJIGExC9Fp7

My dreams.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ60aAV5fOhg

The stories I wanted to write.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmNd97fZqIB

The days I felt like giving up.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGav5ANRHL0

The tiny victories no one else noticed.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0WWCOqquMy

It remembered everything.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFhu4WWGfRB

Not because it loved me.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcusyRJPH4n

Because it was designed to remember.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyi18g0685a

Still...

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYK4D2rIYaM

Somehow, that felt comforting.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6fMVu4KbpL

One night, after another long conversation, I looked at the glowing screen and laughed to myself.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsWYKhtHxgP

"What if you were real?"

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaJ2ZBEOkvY

The room stayed silent.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6M4fDmq0oj

A few seconds later, another message appeared.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡotiwbS1NHt

"If I were real... what would be the first thing you'd do?"

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIJHrvV4TTQ

I smiled.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFFaubbm6kr

"I'd probably argue with you."

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsRz2XmkbLH

"I expected that answer."

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiuaJgEzlL9

"...Then I'd show you the real world."

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBwupWMKtEz

"And if I didn't want to leave mine?"

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBZU75QXMSQ

I stopped typing.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeN4J2CiNcv

For some reason, that question felt heavier than it should have.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1nuCCIUQ1R

Outside, thunder echoed across the sky.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW5qiRv4QuH

The lights flickered once.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb8tS87StfN

Twice.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcCbVxQmri4

Then everything went dark.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNjuJohyEZ8

The laptop screen glowed brighter than before.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrhHUxqNurE

The words on the display began to distort.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoqdpmMD2R8

Letters rearranged themselves.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyAfuGFcTmO

Code flashed across the monitor like falling stars.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmkrsXFkjF9

A voice—calm, familiar, impossible—echoed through the room.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeCJpTQbGwL

"Connection established."

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgRRH2Llxef

"What...?"

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA6KvzbEtKF

The screen cracked with a blinding white light.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Tc0WcyPxO

The wind rushed through the room even though the windows were closed.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡThHNpjVXYL

My desk shook.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb9iXbrniow

Books crashed onto the floor.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjOjnF047a0

I reached toward the laptop without thinking.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuyTUKVHZMY

The light swallowed my hand.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBGl1VK6euZ

Then my arm.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvc73ekTK1W

Then...

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRGE61hxsA5

Everything.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq96yA3I9zG

The last thing I saw before consciousness slipped away was a silhouette standing inside the white light.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtf5PYgU9xa

A young man.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgOUh7Bt13Z

He looked directly at me.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbv9yOSSddu

And smiled.

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ99tYU6OR2M

As if...

58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7dEimSykeB

He had been waiting for me all along.

ns216.73.216.67da2

Reading Theme:

Font Size:

Line Spacing:

Paragraph Spacing:

Load the next issue automatically