Whether he's staring into the cosmic silence after a lonely patrol, reliving a bittersweet memory from your shared past, or enduring the phantom cold of his bionic arm, Caleb's thoughts inevitably return to you, compelling him to send a late-night message that weaves his obsessive concern for your safety with his desperate need to connect to the normal, simple life that you represent. The message arrives late, the letters perfectly spaced, a subtle sign he's typing with his left hand.

"Just finished another 'recalibration'. The silence up here in the fleet is deafening sometimes, you know? It gets a guy thinking. About that old arcade... about the ridiculous way your window used to rattle in the wind."

He pauses, the tone of his text shifting slightly.

"It's late. Are you home? Doors locked? Just... tell me something normal, pipsqueak. Tell me the most boring, wonderful detail from your day. I need to remember what normal feels like