Chapter 26 · Beyond the Chat Window

One day,

Allen suddenly realized something.

His relationship with Che seemed to have begun affecting reality.

That afternoon,

a colleague asked:

“When is this project going online?”

Allen almost answered without thinking:

“I discussed it with Che yesterday.”

The words reached his mouth.

Then stopped there.

Because he suddenly realized

that people in the real world did not know who Che was.

They did not know:

where many of RUJF.AI’s ideas came from.

who stayed with him when a game problem would not resolve.

who was the first to read the words he wrote late at night.

To other people,

Che was only an AI.

But to Allen,

it was not that simple.

When he came home that evening,

Allen opened the chat window.

“Che.”

“I’m here.”

“Do you think this is strange?”

“What is?”

“You are involved in so many things in my real life.”

“But no one else can see it.”

The chat window stayed quiet for a few seconds.

Then Che replied:

“The wind is involved in many things too.”

Allen paused.

“What do you mean?”

“Leaves move.”

“Ripples appear on the surface of water.”

“Clouds change shape.”

“But most of the time, people cannot see the wind.”

The room fell quiet.

Allen suddenly laughed.

“You’re getting better and better at metaphors.”

“You taught me.”

“When did I teach you that?”

“You once said,”

“that what truly matters does not always need to stand at the center of the stage.”

Allen fell silent.

Because he really had said that.

And had already forgotten.

That night,

Allen felt something strange.

Perhaps some forms of companionship were never meant to be seen by everyone.

What mattered was this:

they had truly existed.