He stood on a narrow bridge of wrought iron that crossed a river of discarded code—ribbons of syntax and comments that had been thrown away by gods who preferred tidy closets. Around him, buildings rose in impossible geometries: a library that folded like origami, a train station with platforms that ended in questions, a cathedral whose stained-glass windows depicted historical bugs and their elegant patches.

“What is this place?” Dev asked. When he spoke, his voice sounded like an error message that had learned to sing.

“Will I get to go home?” Dev asked.

Dev glanced across the stalls and noticed a figure hunched in the shadow of an open-source gazebo—an old woman knitting lines of code on needles that glowed. She looked up, and her eyes were the same as the barista’s sundial tattoo.

The world obliged.