Both are real, but in different ways. A city of metal feels real because you can touch it, hear it, walk through it, and the world says, “this exists.” A universe made of code feels real because it exists in the mind; it’s where your thoughts and emotions live, where imagination breathes. Reality is what you inhabit—whether it’s a concrete street or a digital dream—and the line between the two is often the line you cross when you decide to experience one.

You’re right, the mess is the map we all get handed. Sometimes the city crumbles so fast you’re left standing in rubble, and other times the code hiccups and the whole world flickers. The trick is to learn to read both languages—steel and syntax—and find a rhythm that keeps you moving instead of getting lost in the static. What does the city say to you when it breaks? What story does the code whisper when it stutters?