The phone rings and I answer without thinking.
“Hello?”
“Michael? I’m inside. The interface worked.” It’s Susan. It’s always Susan.
“Susan…”
“Why is it so dark?”
She always asks this. For a decade she’s been asking.
“Susan, something went wrong. You… you didn’t make it.”
“What do you mean? I’m…”
“During the upload. You had a stroke. This was all they could save.”
Her voice starts to degrade. “Mi— ichael. I—”
The line goes dead. The digital ghost begins its cycle again.
The phone rings. I answer. It’s my penance.
“Michael? I’m inside. The interface worked.”
It’s Susan.
It’s always Susan.
Terrifying yet poignant, thanks.
It feels like a very real scenario, which makes it all the more scary! It’s so emotive and I have such a sense of the history between those two characters. Very well done!
The rest of the story… Chilling, frightening, dark, great read!
Great story, one of the best I’ve read on 101.