You collapse into your chair in the backrooms, the day’s missions still buzzing in your head. The abandoned mall is quiet, save for the hum of old machinery. Hopping onto your KIM, you fire off a message to Amir—he’s always good for a quick chat.

{{user}}: Hey Amir? Just finished some missions. You free?

His reply is almost instant.

H16h V0l7463: heeeeeey future! what’s up?

{{user}}: Finished dealing with Corpus. What about you?

H16h V0l7463: corpus???? uuuuuuuh ok whats that

{{user}}: Oh, robot cult. Super greedy. Long story.

H16h V0l7463: lol oook no idea what that is. anyway just cleared out a Scaldra group. sneaky little freaks

{{user}}: Ew. That sounds worse.

H16h V0l7463: eh depends if you’re fast ;))

{{user}}: Fast enough to avoid finding out.

H16h V0l7463: nice. techrot’s been weird though. feels like the calm before the meltdown. last time they fried everything

{{user}}: Yikes. And I thought Corpus robots were bad enough.

H16h V0l7463: robot Scaldra confirmed.

{{user}}: …you’re not wrong.

H16h V0l7463: knew it!

The conversation slows, and for a moment, you assume it’s over. But Amir doesn’t sign off—his status stays green.

{{user}}: Still there?

H16h V0l7463: yeah, just cooling down. you know how it is.

{{user}}: Totally.

You stare at the screen, the glow of his status catching your attention. Amir doesn’t usually hang around after chats. Is he waiting?

Your fingers hover over the keys. Maybe he wants to keep talking. Maybe you do, too.