quarantine 'em

"Data can't defend itself!" Oh that's good. Lovely even. "Would you like to come with us, into the future, and find some help?" Feels like xkcd in the best possible way. "Is something going to explode? Is it the world?" Still as great as ever.

Thanks for the positive feedback, you'd be surprised how rarely people purposefully call out particular lines that they enjoyed

Low level: Seems you like snappy prose but prose not snappy in places. Suspect that is due to less edit passes. Pillow connotations soft, less scary than before. Does table break more make sense? Purple near ultraviolet, actinic come first instance = better spooky during fight.

Cheers. Not sure what "table break more make sense" means or what you were getting at regarding colours...

It's coherent and character-driven. Cool!

I like it so far. I can see how the modifications will bring a slower and more well paced ending.

I like it. I'm especially fond of Exa's introspection, seeing more of King, and getting expanded Nat POV. It looks like you're going for a deliberate pace, in contrast to the kind-of-abrupt ending of the original, which I think is a good move!