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associate of hers in the next state over. I could tell by the way she talked that she wasn’t certain whether the hardware would actually work. To see her light up now was a huge relief.
    I stared into the blinking screen on the newly constructed supercomputer sitting in my basement. I could feel the vibrations of the system as it booted on. There was life of this. Real life , and it deserved to exist just as much as anything.
    Neither of us left. We sat there for four hours waiting, barely speaking, with only the hum of the computer to occupy us.
    Then, everything settled. Upload Complete .
    Leslie let out a long sigh and typed a few commands on the keyboard. I watched like a helpless idiot, not understanding any of it. After a moment, she glanced at me. “There’s no going back after this.” Her finger hovered over the key.
    “Getting cold feet?” I asked.
    “Not in a million years,” she told me.
    I nodded. “Then do it.”
    She touched the key, and the screen changed. A long sequence of numbers and letters flooded across, cycling too fast to read.
    Suddenly, everything went black. We both stared vacantly at it.
    “Jonah…?” I muttered after a moment.
    No answer. A stretch of silence passed, the heat in my body rising as I feared the worst. What the hell was I expecting? I thought. We’re sitting here on a computer we built with illegal parts, trying to rebuild something we know nothing about. God, I’m so stupid.
    I turned to Leslie and started to say something, but a voice interrupted. “Hello,” it said.
    My eyes widened and I nearly choked. “Jonah! Are you alright?”
    “Where am I?” he asked, but his voice was different. More mechanical, maybe.
    “You’re inside another computer,” Leslie explained. “How do you feel?”
    “Who are you?” he asked. 
    I paused at the question. Did he really not recognize us? Maybe I sounded different to him. Maybe this computer was strange for him. “It’s me Jim. The plan worked. Leslie and I got you out of the lab and now you’re safe. Don’t worry. Your voice is a little off but I’m sure Leslie can fix it. Do you need us to get you anything?”
    There was a pause after that, and for a moment I wondered if he was still there.
    “Hello, Jim,” said the voice in the machine. “My name is Jonah. It is very nice to meet you.”

TC \l1 The Other Side of Nowhere
     
    A hospital in Georgia
    A nurse rushed into the ER with an informational board.  “Doctor Morris,” she said. “The patient’s car was hit on the driver’s side by another vehicle at downtown’s 45 th and Main intersection.  The other driver, Daniel Mack, is here.”  She pointed to the farthest man, opposite the room.  “No broken bones, just some bruises.  He has a blood alcohol level of .25.” 
    “And this one?” The doctor nodded to the nearby patient, lying unconscious on the hospital pad. 
    Though her professionalism was present, the nurse still had trouble saying the words.  “He has six cracked ribs, a broken left arm, and,” she paused briefly, “there’s internal bleeding.”
    “Prep him.”
     
    Abram Farm
    Johnny Abram sat quietly under the shade of a large pine tree.  The sun was going down, settling like a wildfire.  He could see the moon already.  It was full and bright, though he expected it would light up the sky all on its own soon enough.  He stretched out his arms and leaned back against the wooden trunk.  It wasn’t long before another man approached.
    “Took your time, didn’t you?”  Johnny asked, not bothering to look up.
    “Well, damn, Johnny,” answered the man, and then sat down next to him.  “You know how my wife is—can’t get her to let me away for more than five seconds.  I had to practically swear on my life I’d be there on Sunday. I don’t think I can find an excuse to get out of it this time.”
    “You’re married now, El.  Church is just something you’re gonna have to get used to.”
    “Yeah, well, it still