“There was something else I couldn't quite define--something that made me uneasy. We were a wrong fit, like unmatching puzzle pieces.”

“Everything was so much sharper without the Link fogging me--sights, sounds, smells. It was exhilarating and shocking and terrifying. I knew my emotions had grown too strong. They were dangerous to the Community. They were dangerous to me.But still, I wanted color. I wanted to soar with happiness even if it meant dealing with the weight of fear and guilt, too. I wanted to live. And that meant that I couldn't give the glitching up. At least not yet. Just a little bit longer.”

“You've felt it, haven't you? Those feelings that seem to get so big in your chest, like something is so beautiful it aches?”

“He pulled me closer until his lips breathed me in, until we were sharing one breath.”

“He looked up and I realised how close we were, both of us leaning in together. I blinked a few times, suddenly light-headed, but not like before when I'd passed out. Being so close to the smooth dark skin of his face, getting lost in the shifting shades of his green eyes, it felt like my insides were fluttering and melting.”

“That you exist this way, Zoe, you're the ultimate proof that we can be so much more than just the sum of our parts and knee-jerk impulses. Something about you just could not be controlled, just had to be free.”

“Being with him made me want to make my own dreams, discover my own path. I was my best self when I was with him.”