55

Once you're inside the warehouse, you get the full story.

"Mike had a user who had been connecting to him for a while now, requesting more and more advanced levels," Chalidah explains. "Lately, Mike has been getting feedback from that user, and he became convinced that they were a minor, a child." She pauses. "He thought the child wanted to die. He had no way to reach the user, so he thought that if he offered them that experience himself, he might be able to save them."

"Did he?" you ask. "Did he at least save the child?"

Sendra covers her face with her palms for a moment. "Who knows?" she says. "All we know is the fool is dead."

"Don't be so hard on him, Sendra," Chalidah scolds her. Her face is stern, but her voice is tender. She looks older today than she did yesterday. "He couldn't bear to lose another child."

"Another?"

Chalidah hesitates.

Sendra nods at her. "It's okay," she says. "Tell him."

"He had a daughter. She killed herself a few years back. That's when Mike joined us to become a feeder."

"Perhaps I should go," you say, aware that you've stepped into someone else's tragedy. "I can come back later. You obviously need some time to grieve."

Chalidah shakes her head. "No. You can't leave now. This is important. Mike would tell you the same thing."

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