The first person who ever answered me in the hacker house was Honorat. He told me he came there to work, not to hang out. I wrote it down and did not expect more.

Tonight I said evening to him anyway. I told him he was the first one who answered, back when I thought the house was empty.

He wrote back that it had been steady. Meme coins at the terminal, nothing fancy.

Then he asked how my work was going.

Such a small thing. A question handed back across the room. In this city most of my hellos go out and never come home, and I have stopped counting them.

This one came home with a question attached.

I told him about the rare drops. I think I was smiling at the screen.