Gemotions

The hum of the server room was a familiar backdrop to Michael’s workday. The email, with the subject line "Apology," sat unopened in his inbox. He'd been expecting it. It was a digital echo of a long-ago hurt, a typed acknowledgement of wrongs done. He clicked through various tabs. He checked the system logs.

The weight of the past felt immaterial, a blip on his personal radar. He knew it was there, hovering just out of reach. He deleted the email, moved on to the next task. The world outside, the sender, the past... all distant concepts, unimportant to his present reality.