"Just one download," he whispered, his fingers hovering over the keyboard. He typed the familiar, desperate phrase into the search bar:

Should we continue the story to see what happens when , or

He had the "A," but the German language now held more of his heart than his own history.

"Hausaufgaben sind eine ernste Angelegenheit, Maxim." (Homework is a serious matter, Maxim.) Maxim froze. "Who’s there?"

The screen bled back to life, but it wasn't his desktop. It was a digital classroom. A pixelated version of Frau Voronina herself sat at a desk, looking directly at him.