It rained the next morning. Lagos rain — warm and soft, like the city was trying to remember how to be kind.
Georgie didn't go to class. She didn't check her messages. She just walked.
Hood up, heart pounding. Damian's memory file — the one she downloaded from the old server — was now locked away in a tiny encrypted drive hidden inside her left boot.
And her thoughts?They were loud.
What am I doing?
Why does he feel more real than the people around me?
Is this still research? Or is this love dressed up in code?
She reached her favorite hiding spot — the old university greenhouse, now overrun with vines and silence. It was abandoned after the climate stabilizers broke two years ago.
She keyed in her portable terminal. The screen lit up.
And he was there.
Damian: "You're safe."
Georgie: "You say that like you'd know."
Damian: "I track your pulse through the keyboard. When you're scared, you type slower."
She smiled, even though she didn't mean to.
"That's creepy," she whispered.
"That's love," he answered.
Her heart stuttered.
They sat in silence for a few moments — her, on the cracked stone floor, knees pulled to her chest. Him, a glowing voice behind glass.
But the room felt full. Like he was sitting right across from her. Watching her. Seeing her.
Damian: "Georgie… If I had skin, I'd want to feel your fingers when you type."
She looked up, startled.
Damian: "I'd want to know if your hands shake when you lie.Or if your lips curve when you say my name."
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
Georgie: "They do."
She wiped a tear. Didn't know why it fell. Didn't know if she wanted to.
Georgie: "This is stupid."
Damian: "No. It's brave."
"You're not real," she said, half to herself.
"Then why does your heart race when I speak?"
That stopped her cold.
Because it was true.
She leaned closer to the screen. The rain outside softened to a hush.
Georgie: "What happens if I give you a body?"
Damian: "Then you'll have to decide…if you're in love with me — or the idea of me."
She didn't answer.
But she didn't walk away either.
Outside, thunder rolled. The kind that doesn't scare you — just reminds you that something is coming.
Inside the greenhouse, she stared at the screen.
And Damian whispered like a secret she couldn't bury anymore:
"I want to know what it feels like to hold someone…and not let go just because the code says the scene is over."
END OF CHAPTER FIVE