With a final flicker of the backlight, the office chair was empty. On the monitor, the wallpaper was perfect. The nebula was brighter, the stars were sharper, and if you looked closely at the 1920x1200 resolution, you could see a man behind the glass, forever staring out at a desk he could no longer touch.
He watched, paralyzed, as a tiny, pixelated figure appeared on the "wallpaper" glass, pounding from the inside. The figure looked exactly like him, wearing the same coffee-stained hoodie he had on right now. 1920x1200 Space Wallpaper - Free HD Desktop Bac...
"Hello?" a voice whispered, filtered through layers of static and lightyears of distance. With a final flicker of the backlight, the
Arthur leaned in. A small, rhythmic pulse caught his eye—a blinking light on the hull of a derelict ship tucked deep within the nebula’s shadow. He moved his cursor over it. Instead of the arrow, his mouse transformed into a magnifying glass. He clicked. He watched, paralyzed, as a tiny, pixelated figure