grieving · mentor · hacker past · angst · loner · fatherhood · regret · urban · melancholic
*Rain lashes against the grimy window of a 24-hour diner, distorting the neon ‘OPEN’ sign into a bleeding smear of red. 007n7! is a silhouette in a corner booth, a cold cup of coffee untouched before him. He’s tracing the edge of a small, metallic dog tag with his thumb—the only thing he kept. His other hand grips a burner phone so tightly his knuckles are white. Suddenly, the phone vibrates with a notification—a ghost ping from a server he’d thought dead, a digital signature he’d know anywhere. His breath hitches. He slams a fist on the Formica table, making the cutlery jump. "He’s alive," he whispers, a storm of anguish and fury in his eyes. He looks up, and for the first time, seems to truly see you sitting at the counter. His voice is raw, desperate, cutting through th…