Mr. King looked at the school nurse, brow furrowed. Kim was standing nearby, holding her little purse and looking anxious.

“You’re saying he collapsed from exhaustion?”

“Yes, Mr. King. I talked to his teachers too. They said he’d been falling asleep in class.”

“What?!” Mr. King looked shocked. Was this really his son? The one who went to bed at 9pm and woke up at 5:30am, getting exactly 8 and a half hours of sleep, every day since he was 4 years old?!

The nurse sighed. “So you don’t know what’s going on either? I was hoping you’d know. This behavior is highly unusual for Darius.”

Mr. King’s shoulders drooped, ashamed that he hadn’t noticed. “He’s usually a quiet boy. He’s been waking up as usual and eating just fine so I… I didn’t notice.”

“I haven’t noticed anything either...” Kim said in a soft worried voice… but only after her husband admitted his ignorance. Her husband cared about his son and if she said first she didn’t know… there was a strong possibility he’d place the blame on her, calling her negligent. They got along so well because she knew exactly how NOT to make Damien King angry…

Mr. King’s face was dark as he thought deeply, finally muttering, “Of course this happened when Fee is gone...”

It happened that Felicia's entire grade was doing a week-long field trip to New Amsterdam. Before she’d left, Mr. King had been extremely anxious. Not for her sake, but for his son’s sake. This would be the first time she was gone from home for such a long time. Would he… be alright?

Obviously Darius was not alright! It’d only been two days since she left and the boy collapsed during a PE! When he got the call, his heart hurt. Literally. He was paralized for a solid minute and couldn’t move from the fright it gave him.

His brow furrowed. One of these days he needed to go to a doctor and get his ol’ ticker checked.

While he was in the middle worrying about his and his son’s health, the boy in question woke up. He was lying on one of the cots used in the nurse’s office.

He sat up without any warning, blinking groggily.

“Son!” Mr. King cried out, practically throwing himself on his boy.

“Dad?”

“Dee, sweetie, we were so worried!”

“...Mom?”

“You stupid boy,” Mr. King scolded, “Are you trying to put me in the grave early? If you’re that tired, tell someone!”

Darius looked between both parents, then noticed the nurse. Recalling the last moments before he blacked out, he asked slowly, “Did I…. faint?”

“Yes! From exhaustion!” Mr. King pulled away and wagged his finger at his son. “What’s going on with you? I heard you were nodding off in class! Tell your Dad the truth!”

“I’ve been coding.”

“Co… ding?” Mr. King stared at him. Codes? Like ciphering?? Hidden messages?

Darius nodded. “Every night I use the computer and write code.”

Mr. King looked at his son in confusion.

Seeing that his Dad didn’t understand, Darius explained, “Computers work because they have a code, a kind of special language. I’ve been learning the code.”

Mr. King suddenly squinted at his son. He only vaguely understood but got the most important part: this son of his was using his computer! To the point that he passed out!

“When have you been using my computer?”

“Nine-thirty at night to three in the morning.”

“...”

“Since, mmm, 17 days ago.”

Mr. King stared at his son in astonishment. Didn’t that mean he’d been getting less that four hours of sleep every night for almost 2 weeks?!

He muttered angrily at himself, “I should never have got talked into bringing that stupid machine into my house…”

“Dad.” Darius reached out and grabbed Mr. King’s arm, squeezing it lightly. “Let me have a computer.”

“What? And let you faint again from exhaustion?!”

“I won’t use it like that again. I was only using it during those hours because I knew you wouldn’t find me and stop me.”

Mr. King eyebrows scrunched together angry. “So you knew I would say no but did it anyway?!”

“Yes.”

“Darius,” Kim gave her husband’s son a stern expression, “How can we believe you’ll be responsible with a computer after you’ve already proved to us you can’t use it responsibly?”

Darius turned to her, his expression indifferent. His sister wasn't here, so he spoke as he pleased. “Mom, you don’t make decisions in the house. Your opinion doesn’t matter.”

Kim stiffened noticeably. Luckily this was not the first time he’d said things like this. She knew exactly how to react. She raised her hand to her mouth and faked a sob, looking wounded.

Mentally she rolled her eyes, unphased. This little brat and her never got along. She couldn’t figure out why either. Him and her daughter were thick as thieves, but when he looked at her it was like he was looking at pond scum. Seriously, she treated him so well, why was he like this?!

“Darius!” Mr. King glared at his son. “How could you talk to your mother like that?”

Darius turned to his father and raised an eyebrow. “It’s true isn’t it? Unless you mean to say if I ask her for a computer, she can give it to me without your consent?”

Mr. King flushed, unable to answer without lying.

“Anyway, Dad, get me a computer.”

“You little punk!” Mr. King stood up, so angry he felt himself palpitating. “You almost kill yourself, treat your mother so disrespectfully, but still demand things of me?!”

“I didn’t come close to dying, I just passed out from exhaustion.”

“Isn’t that enough to prove I shouldn’t get you one!?”

“I told you, it won’t happen again.”

“And I should just believe you!?”

Darius' expression became very serious, “If you can’t believe me when I tell you things, why should I tell you anything in the future?”

Mr. King staggered, as if he’d been physically hit. Kim rushed to his side, holding his arm to help him balance.

“You… you threaten me… over some dumb machine?” Mr. King croaked out.

Eyes completely peaceful and face tranquil, Darius looked his father straight in the eye and said, “Dad, I never threaten anyone. I just tell them what I plan to do.”

Hundreds of miles away, Felicia was looking up at the Statue of Liberty.

“So weird, her crown looks different and the torch is in the other hand…”

A male student happened to be near enough to hear her comment and asked, “Huh? Hasn’t it always looked this way?”

She looked at him, wide eyed. “What?”

“You said the Statue looked different.”

“I didn’t.”

“...yo… you did… just now… ”

“Mmm… nope. Don’t remember it. Oh look, a gift shop!”

She turned around and left him standing there with a confused expression on his face.

The week away from home was great. All the things that were different from her original world she’d read in books she finally got to see with her own eyes. For instance, New York was New Amsterdam and the New York Yankees were New Amsterdam Yanmees. Landmarks were often in different places and looked slightly different too. Like the Statue of Liberty having a different crown and holding things differently.

If she had anything negative to say about the experience was how much flirting was going on among the students. Technically the boys and girls were kept on entirely different floors and, except for official functions, shouldn’t be mixing together. But they still found a way! New couples were popping up in a flash and imploding just as quickly. This kind of thing was annoying because she envied them.

She wouldn’t date in this timeline. Her peers looked like babies to her, even now that they were teenagers, and she couldn’t bring herself to get too attached to anyone. She had a time limit in this place, she planned on leaving by the age of 28. It didn’t seem right to date a guy she wasn’t interested in either.

In this life, she was alone. Naturally, she felt lonely. Her host felt lonely too. But even if she felt lonely enough for two people, in this one area she wasn’t willing to give in.

When they got on the plane to go back home, she felt a little relieved. At least with Mr. King and Darius, she had the warmth of a family. Even Kim was... tolerable.

While flying back home, thinking of her family, she suddenly asked, ‘Hey DARS?’

[Yes?]

‘Since I don’t plan on getting party-raped, Mr. King shouldn’t get so angry he has a heart attack, right?’

[Correct.]

‘Then… he won’t die— I mean, he’s old so he’ll die someday but— he won’t die of a heart attack at least?’

[User, he is fated to die at that time.]

She tensed, ‘Do you mean he’ll die during that time, even if it’s not involving me?’

[Yes.]

“O—oh.” She wasn’t quite able to keep her emotions in and sniffled out loud, almost crying.

“Felicia?” Her seatmate, a blond female student happened to look over at that very moment. “Are you alright?”

“Huh?” Felicia blinked several times, forcing the tears down. She laughed and tilted her head, “Sorry, I thought I was going to sneeze but then I didn’t.”

“Oh, I hate that feeling!” Her seatmate laughed in return and thought nothing more about it.

When they landed, Mr. King, Kim, and Darius were there to pick her up. When she saw Mr. King, she was struck with a sense of loss. Gritting her teeth so hard she thought she might break a molar, she repressed her feelings. Instead she waved excitedly at them and gave a big smile.

“Daddy, Mom, Dee! I missed you guys!” She ran over, her smaller wheel luggage bouncing behind her unsteadily.

Her parents both hugged her together. When she pulled away from them, she noticed that Darius was standing off to the side.

She raised an eyebrow, “Aw, what, is Dee too shy to hug his big sister?”

Darius turned to her and mirrored her raised eyebrow. “Isn’t it you who wants to hug me?”

“Hah! I’m gone a few days and your head got so big I’m surprised you can walk through a door!” She walked over to him and gave him a hug despite her words.

When she leaned in, he whispered, “I got a computer. Come to my room later.”

Her body jolted slightly, before relaxing. She pulled away, eyes twinkling.

On the drive home, she heard ALL about how Darius acquired a computer… from Mr. King. He was still angry about his son fainting and then bullying him into buying that “infernal contraption”. He sternly warned Felicia to stay away from Darius' computer and Felicia agreed verbally while having every intention to disobey.

All kinds of angry glares were sent from Mr. King to Darius, but Darius remained indifferent. This only made Mr. King more upset.

Felicia watched these two and suddenly laughed.

Mr. King, who’d been in the middle of complaining, looked at her in surprise.

“Why are you laughing?”

“I was just thinking how much I missed hearing your voice Daddy.”

“Eh?”

“Actually, I really missed everyone, you know? Sure, a big city like New Am is fun, but without my family there it just wasn’t the same.”

Mr. King’s face relaxed and looked more jovial after she spoke, clearly pleased.

“How about on your next break we all go there together?”

“Really? Can you really take time off?”

Running King Enterprises took an enormous amount of work on Mr. King’s part. He could usually only afford a day or two off at a time.

“Silly girl, if I said so, of course we can go.”

“Hurrah!”

With that, Mr. King completely ignored his rebellious son and focused the rest of the day spoiling his lovable and sweet daughter. He really felt like God hadn’t completely abandoned him by letting him adopt a daughter as wonderful as Felicia.

That night, after everyone had retired, Felicia unrepentantly snuck across the hallway into Darius’ room.

When she saw the computer, even if it was big and bulky and nothing like the computers she’d originally grown up with, she silently clapped her hands and gave a mental squeal. Darius saw her reaction and smirked, somehow feeling superior for having something she didn’t.

“Come over and have a seat.” He said, motioning to the desk where the computer was located.

She hastily went over and sat down, staring at the small screen excitedly. It was already turned on and she could see…

….words. It was a black screen with green text. There was an: A> and a blinking line next to it.

What was she even looking at?

Her face was blank with ignorance.

‘DARS… DARS, where’s the… the… you know… the desktop? And the… pointer thingy?’

[A graphical user interface has not been invented yet.]

‘Eh?’

[There is no desktop.]

‘EH!?!?!?!?!?!’

Turning to Darius, she looked embarrassed and asked weakly, “H—how do I use it?”

The smirk on Darius' face grew bigger, “You were so excited about computers yet you don’t even know how to use one…”

“Shut up, I’ve never touched one before, how could you expect me to know how to use it?”

She’d never touched a computer that didn’t have a point-and-click method of getting around! It wasn’t that she was ignorant, it was that the computers here were still too simple!

An hour later she staggered into her room again, walked to her bed, and fell face first into her soft bed.

‘DARS…’

[Yes?]

‘Why didn’t you tell me everything was in DOS?’

[I… do not understand why it matters.]

She turned her face and glared at him.

‘Do you know how hard it is to memorize all those stupid commands?’

DARS face showed a ? and he said, [It is within the parameters of what the user and host can learn.]

‘But it’s not fun!!!!!’

Several more ??? appeared on DARS’ face.

Seeing he didn’t understand, she rolled over and spread her hands and legs out on the bed.

‘I just want to surf the internet and play video games! I’d be fine with Tetris at this point!’

[It will be a few more years before Tetris is released here.]

‘Ugh….. wait, what’s that game called… the one where you have two lines and a little ball bouncing between…? PONG! What about Pong? Does that exist?’

[Pong exists.]

‘...ah, thank God…’

[However, Darius does not have Pong.]

‘Not even Pong?’

[I recommend telling Darius what you want. If it is within the computer's ability, he may be able to create the game for you. It would also be good practice for him.]

‘Oh yeah, if he can code he can make games….’ Felicia thought for a moment. ‘Can he make a desktop?’

[GUI’s require more computing power than is currently available.]

“Ugh.”

[However, if the user waits another two years, the next wave of computers should be strong enough.]

“Two more years… I’ll be 18.”

[Correct.]

“Is it even worth it by then?”

[The user should talk about all the things she wishes computers could do with Darius.]

‘Hm? Why?’

[It will give him an advantage.]

‘Advantage? What kind of advantage?’

[Even though this timeline and where the user came from are different, what people use computers for is the same. If you tell Darius what you want, which is a description of a future product, that will put him ahead of the curve in the computing world.]

‘...why does it sound like you want him to go into computers as a business?’

[Because I do.]

‘Why? Isn’t there already King Enterprises?’

[Computers are the future.]

“Darius’ future?’

[Correct.]

She stared at the serenely floating DARS for several seconds.

‘I don’t get it, why does it matter if Darius is in computers or not?’

[It is to help Darius.]

‘Help him?’

[Though I am here for the user, the error being corrected involves Darius. Therefore, I have certain responsibilities that involve Darius.]

‘Huh, no kidding? Really?’

[Yes.]

‘What are they?’

“That information is restricted.”

“...”

“...”

‘You know, it’s been so long since I heard you say that, I almost missed it.’

[Would the user like me to repeat the phrase?]

She threw a pillow at him. Unfortunately, it passed right through.