Elena saved her work. Then she added one more line before submitting the assignment:

> I WAS DELETED IN 1998. BUT NO ONE EVER REALLY DELETES US, DO THEY?

SCREEN 12 COLOR 4 LOCATE 10, 20 PRINT "YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN" SLEEP 2 COLOR 2 PRINT "THANK YOU" The screen glowed green. Then, slowly, line by line, the compiler began typing something she hadn't written:

PRINT "I WILL"

She typed carefully:

REM - ELENA, DON'T TURN OFF THE LIGHT - REM - SOMEDAY YOU'LL BE GHOSTS TOO - REM - KEEP COMPILING - And just as suddenly, the screen cleared. The QBASIC prompt returned, waiting patiently.

Some compilers don't just compile code. They compile memories.

> READY FOR YOUR REAL MESSAGE?