She began to draw.
She looked at the portrait of herself again. The hollow-eyed Lena was smiling now. And behind her, in the background of the image, the wireframe city from earlier was starting to fill in—with buildings shaped like all the logos she’d ever designed. Her coffee shop logo was a skyscraper. Her band’s album art was a cathedral.
Her heartbeat thumped in her ears. She clicked Force Quit . Nothing.
The portrait blinked.
Lena picked up her stylus. She had no choice. She had to design something the universe had never seen, or the ghost in the download bar would delete every creative byte she’d ever made.
Lena moved her mouse. The cursor became a closed fist.
> Inspiration is just theft with a deadline. You have 23 hours, 47 minutes left. > Start creating. Or start saying goodbye to your portfolio.
Illustrator CC opened. But it was wrong. The artboard was already there, and on it, something was already drawn. A vector portrait. Of her . Sitting at her desk. The digital Lena had hollow eyes and was reaching out of the frame, one hand pressed against an invisible glass.
