Maintenancetool.exe -

The response was immediate.

The cursor began to move again, drawing a grid across the black screen. Each line it drew made his vision pulse. Memories he hadn’t thought of in years surfaced unbidden: his mother’s face, his first bicycle, the feeling of rain on his skin in a city he’d never visited. maintenancetool.exe

Please wait. Do not power off your system. The response was immediate

You cannot leave.

Select maintenance action: 1. QUARANTINE (Isolate corrupted sectors) 2. DEFRAG (Reorganize neural pathways) 3. RESET (Restore factory defaults - DESTRUCTIVE) his first bicycle

Then the screen went black again. The green light on the tower flickered once, twice, then turned amber.

CAUTION: USER MOVEMENT DETECTED. STABILIZING.