Found an old photo album while reorganizing the office. Most of the pictures are from before... before everything. There’s one of me trying to set up my first stream rig. I had three monitors plugged into the wrong ports and was using a soup can as a webcam stand.

It’s strange. The girl in those photos feels like someone else. She’s smiling so easily. I remember the frustration, the technical glitches, but mostly the excitement. The sheer, stupid joy of thinking ‘I’m going to do this with my friends.’

I keep my tools clean now. The watch is polished. The syringes are always full. Everything has its place. Efficiency is key when you’re stitching time back together. But sometimes I wonder if that girl with the soup can had something I’ve misplaced. Not the innocence—that’s gone for good. But the... lightness.

Maybe today I’ll try to stream something simple. No time loops. No evidence boards. Just a game. And if the setup is a little janky… well, that’s authentic, right?