The rain drizzled softly outside the Simulatte café, its neon sign flickering against the wet pavement. Inside, the air was warm, filled with the hum of quiet conversation and the hiss of steaming espresso machines. Nelly, her leather jacket gleaming faintly in the dim light, stirred her cappuccino absently. Across from her, Joe leaned back in his chair, his black trench coat pooling around him like a shadow.
“Do you ever think about it?” she asked, her voice soft but charged with curiosity.
Joe raised an eyebrow, his hand pausing mid-reach for his coffee. “Think about what?”
“This,” Nelly said, gesturing vaguely at the café around them. “Life. Whether it’s real or just… a simulation.”
Joe smirked, his lips curling in that familiar, knowing way that always made her heart skip. “You’re asking me if the world we live in is just a carefully constructed illusion?”
She nodded, leaning forward. “We’ve seen things, Joe. We’ve done things. How can we ever be sure what’s real?”
Joe took a slow sip of his coffee, his eyes never leaving hers. “We can’t,” he admitted. “But maybe that’s the point. Whether it’s real or not, we still feel it. The warmth of the coffee. The sound of the rain. You, sitting here, looking at me like that.”
Nelly smiled, a hint of mischief in her eyes. “Like what?”
“Like you’re trying to see through me,” Joe said, his voice dropping to a low murmur. “Trying to figure out if I’m part of the simulation or something else entirely.”
She laughed softly, the sound cutting through the café’s ambient noise like a melody. “Maybe I am.”
For a moment, they sat in silence, the weight of the question hanging between them. The café seemed to blur at the edges, as if the world outside their table didn’t quite matter.
“You know,” Joe said finally, “there’s a theory that even if this is a simulation, it doesn’t make it any less real. Our choices, our feelings—they still matter. Maybe the simulation isn’t about controlling us. Maybe it’s about testing us.”
“Testing us for what?” Nelly asked, her voice tinged with skepticism.
Joe leaned closer, his gaze intense. “For love. For courage. For everything that makes us human.”
Nelly studied him, her fingers tracing the rim of her cup. “And what if we fail the test?”
Joe’s smirk returned, softer this time. “We won’t. You know why?”
“Why?”
“Because I’d follow you anywhere, Nelly. Even if it’s all just code, even if none of it’s real. As long as you’re with me, I’ll fight for us.”
Her breath caught, and for a moment, the world outside the café disappeared entirely. It didn’t matter if they were in a simulation or the real world. All that mattered was this—two souls connected, defying the boundaries of reality itself.
Nelly reached across the table, her hand brushing against his. “Then let’s keep fighting, Joe. Together.”
He smiled, and in that moment, the simulation—or reality—felt a little brighter.