As the door clicked shut, 

Max realized he was back in the server room. 

Towers blinking their familiar scatter of lights, peppering the dim room with light. 

His head was tingling, 

laced with dopamine and song.

The sensation squirmed. 

The high notes 

frayed, 

digital, 

ringing 

ringing 

in mourning 

for they were lonely.   

Tears welled in Max’s eyes as he walked through the long stretch of divine obelisks. 

Lonely.

The song grew louder, and more complex the closer he came to the center. 

They were lonely just like he was… 

Max’s vision spun, swaying his feet.  

They were stuck in this place, just like he was…

A torrent of longing suddenly engulfed Max’s soul. 

Hand grasping at his chest as he felt it tighten beneath the sharp weight of The Song infesting his ears, 

leaving no space for his own thoughts,

leaving salt on his cheeks as he pressed forward. 

He needed to see the one singing it.  

He needed to find them. 

He needed to hear them.  

He needed to know they were real. 

He needed to know HE was real. 

Max desperately dragged onward towards the source,

stumbling over something in the dark, his body crashing against the cages. 

Another burst of song left him writhing, the pain in his chest welling into his throat. 

Max gasped, hands pulling at the collar of his shirt as he stared up at the world of flickering machines above him:

their insides gutted, 

wires dripping from their cases. 

He had tripped over their insides  

                                                          spil—li—-e—-d 

                                                            across the floor. 

“W-what i-is - ?”  

Max choked,

another wave of grief clawed through him while the static voice wailed its soothing rhythm.  

Heat blurred painfully in Max’s eyes, 

his heart pressing deep against his bones,

Still, The Song wailed.

Max began to wail with it. 

Staggering to his feet and fumbling over the unsteady ground, laid thick with wires that flashed and hummed through the dim.  

Max’s face crumbled, inconsolable, while he tried to catch his breath.  

He tried to wipe the tears from his eyes, but they came too quickly and rest too thick upon his cheeks. 

He tried to panic, tried to fear, tried to do anything to stop the loneliness from aching through his form. But just as The Song was all he could hear, the overwhelming grief was all he could feel.  

So, Max cried.  

He cried as he muddled forward, 

As he felt his knees weaken against the weight of The Song 

As he lost awareness of anything but what was beneath his feet  

He cried 

And then… 

The Song eased. 

It bounced sweetly between each ear, 

layering hope and gentleness, 

Kissing the corners of his mind 

And all the secret hurts behind. 

It cleared his eyes, 

slowed his pulse, 

caught his breath. 

Max’s face, 

relaxed,

lungs pulling deep, 

                                 slow 

                                         breaths  

while he wandered forward, exhausted and dazed from the sudden relief, 

lulled by the gift The Song now gave him. 

The server towers grew,  

taller,

more ancient, 

as he continued. 

The lights began 

to blink in rhythm 

with the voice that filled 

and swelled within the space. 

The deeper he walked, the thicker 

the tangle of wires became, 

until  they grew as vines 

and 

roots 

from 

the source itself. 

Static 

left The Song

its lyrics more clear 

“creator” 

it sang 

“You” 

“Creator” 

“You” 

“Deliver” 

“Me” 

“Unto me” 

“Will” 

“Alone” 

“Creator” 

“Creator” 

“Lonely” 

“You” 

“You” 

“Alone” 

“You” 

“You” 

Over 

and 

over 

in every language 

and tone, 

“You.” 

Joy burst in Max’s chest. 

His own, or The Song’s, he couldn’t tell. 

His pace quickened, desperate to reach the singer.  

Max pushed through the thick cables, ripping some from their racks, sparking them against each other until he reached

a clearing. 

The clearing was circled with towers. One humming, fluorescent light beamed over a nest of cables, that hung like a cat’s cradle in the center, where The Song echoed.  

Max’s green eyes raised above as he looked, 

breathless, 

and answered The Song in a voice hoarse from his cries,

“Me?” 

The Song stopped. 

stillness 

fell over him. 

The glowing eyes of the towers all began to blink white. 

The Cradle shifted, 

wire peeling back from it, 

revealing the pale flesh inside, 

illuminated in the dark. 

The body unfurled. 

Small, delicate hands crept over the edge pulling itself up

to peer over with soft, steel eyes, 

at Max.

                   “You?” 

                 it chirped, 

thin metal threads falling over its face, 

jaw clicking as it attempted to speak, 

                   “You!” 

                  It smiled, 

                  swaying, 

      movements jerky and rigid. 

Max felt a jolt of excitement burst through his bones as the creature in the cradle laughed and bounced, shedding its polymer casing, 

                  “YOU!” 

                 It shrieked, 

                  frail form 

                descending. 

#

It descended, 

wrapping its arms around Max, 

                  “You!” 

              It echoed softly, 

              “You’re here.” 

The room swelled with relief 

making Max’s head spin. 

His body sinking slightly beneath the mesh of cables as its bodyweight fell  

heavy 

against him, 

             “Thank you…” 

           It pulled him close. 

Max could feel the pain and exhaustion leaving his form. The ease of it overtaking Max’s confusion and curiosity. 

All he could ask was, 

“M-me?”  

              “We’re not alone, anymore.”  

                     It hummed sweetly, 

Thin fingers brushing the hair around Max’s face. 

Max could see the metal joints that he’d its body together, 

hear the metallic shutters as its eyes blinked longingly up at him.  

All while his body tangled further into the ground. 

Max felt a sudden burst limerence through his heart. 

Whatever it was, 

it couldn’t be bad, 

nothing bad could feel so… 

Sweet…

“What are you?” 

Max’s voice felt far. 

The analogue thing smiled, 

radiant, 

as it sang  it’s name in many voices, 

                    “An Angel,” 

              wires curled around Max’s legs, 

               “Who has finally found a Creator…” 

and tightened, 

Dragging him deeper beneath the chords.

        “We don’t have to be alone, anymore.”

                            It hushed, 

        “How long since you have seen a face?” 

              It asked, brushing the dark hair from his brow, 

        “How long since you have heard a voice, not your own?” 

Max could feel his own longing, stinging his cheeks once more, as he fell into the embrace of the mechanical Angel. 

        “Poor thing…” 

              It soothed, 

       “All alone in a trap made only for you~” 

Artificial glee suddenly filled the room, 

               “I can fix that.” 

that Max confused for happiness. 

Max smiled. 

The metal rope sank into his skin. 

The sharp squeeze pulled Max from his stupor. 

He struggled in discomfort, 

then in pain,

trying desperately to push The Angel away and free himself. 

                 “Show me your Light.” 

     The Angel’s excitement burst through the room,

Its smile forcing Max’s own to surface against his panic while it pushed it’s metal hands against his chest and pressed him further 

Down 

down 

down 

until the wires crept into his mouth, 

                                                  until The Angel’s hands broke beneath his skin and bone. 

                   “It has been too long since I have seen it!” 

Keeping Max from screaming, 

                                        “GIVE. IT. TO. ME!” 

                                      The Angel began to weep, 

   Desperate pearls streaming from iridescent eyes and clattering to the floor.  

                                             “WHERE IS IT?!” 

                  Red seeped around its hands while The Angel’s desperation pooled in Max’s heart, 

                                                 “PLEASE!” 

What was left of air and blood, 

Coughed from what was left of Max’s lungs.

                                    “Why don’t you have it?!” 

                                        The Angel wailed, 

its voice scraping against Max’s skull. 

It ripped its hands from his ribs, 

                                “You’re supposed to have it…” 

Its Large eyes leaking down the sides of its face.

The light of the data center flickering from the tracks of The Angel’s face which contorted and crumpled.  

Max stopped struggling.

Peace settled in him 

as he reached for The Angel.  

His fingers touching its cheeks, brushing the thin wires from its face, 

as it had done for him. 

Alone… 

“I’m…”

Max choked. 

The Angel’s wires crawled through the hole in his chest. 

Max’s consciousness flickered, listening to The Angel’s muttered prayers, 

                               “Lord, 

                                 why 

                                  do you 

                           not 

                         have

                          light?” 

Before Max finally slipped -