¬ HILN
"Father?"
Without thought, I shifted, ready to engulf him in a tight embrace when his back straightened and he leaned back, his hands outstretched to keep me at a distance.
"No. Don't come any closer!"
I stiffened.
"What?" my voice came out in a squeaky whisper.
"The connection will break if we come in contact with each other… Forgive me." He clenched his hands on his crossed legs and his lips twitched.
I stilled. There was something odd about him. Something wrong. Granted, facing a younger version of him was a little strange, but the familiarity of his soft features was lost.
He wasn't the father I knew.
"You're not my father, are you?" my voice nearly choked with a sob.
His grey eyes mellowed and he shook his head, a sorrowful expression tweaking his soft facial features.
"No. I am merely a program he ingrained temporarily into you," he said, his voice in a near-monotone way.
