To my son, Sam—

If you’re reading this, then I’m still stuck in here. Or maybe I’m not. Maybe by the time these words reach you, I’ll find a way out—or make peace with never doing so. Either way, you deserve to know the truth. Not just about what happened to me, but about what I’ve learned.

I used to believe perfection was attainable. That with enough code, vision, and computing power, I could build a utopia. The Grid was that dream. I created Clu in my image—to build the perfect system. But I forgot the most human truth of all. Perfection isn’t the goal. Connection is.

Clu betrayed me, but he was only following the logic I gave him. His flaw was mine. I locked myself away trying to fix this mistake, but in doing so, I missed the one thing I could never code—time with you.

Sam, you are not a legacy program. You are a legacy of the man I tried to be. Brave. Curious. A little reckless. But your heart—that’s all yours. And it’s more powerful than any algorithm. The Grid taught me that the future isn’t made by controlling every variable. It’s shaped by letting go. By believing in the next generation.

My legacy isn’t the company or even the Grid. It’s in what you choose to do with what I leave behind. The tools are yours now. Not just the digital ones, but belief, courage, and the knowledge of how to create.

When you find imperfections in life, just remember, you don’t have to fix them. Life is already a miracle.

—Dad