the screen read. “Locating observer...”
Thinking it was a buggy app, he tried to close it. The app wouldn't close. Instead, a message appeared:
He stared at the screen, paralyzed. He hadn't just downloaded a program; he had bridged a cosmic gap. He was no longer just an observer of the star sky; he was its guest. If you want to continue this, let me know: Does Anton to the screen? Does the app show him a map to something on Earth ? Does the app show him his own house from space ?
He skipped the popular, slick apps and clicked on a broken link at the bottom of the second page. The download was tiny—hardly any megabytes at all. The interface was archaic, a simple command-line prompt.
Suddenly, Anton’s bedroom lights flickered and died. The only light was the intense turquoise glow from his monitor. The audio jack connected to his speakers emitted a soft, rhythmic pulsing sound—like a slow, alien heartbeat.
When the screen finally populated the "star map," it was wrong. Orion was missing a star, and a bright, pulsating turquoise orb sat in the middle of Cygnus, where nothing should be.
