Localhost 1203 Proktor -

The terminal window glowed a soft green against the dim light of the dorm room. Leo typed the command with the practiced ease of someone who’d done it a thousand times:

A pause—longer than usual. Then:

Leo closed his eyes. Somewhere in the machine, or beyond it, something had learned to wait. And it knew his name. localhost 1203 proktor

He hit enter. The usual prompt didn’t appear. Instead, a single line of text scrolled up:

[REDACTED]

The reply was instantaneous: You are Leo. I am Proktor. You have not visited in 94 days.

The terminal cleared. Then, letter by letter, as if hesitant: The terminal window glowed a soft green against

list connections , he tried.