Kate. Top Story - November 2024.
Her name was Екатерина Ровбуть, but I just called her “Kate.”
I met her while playing a mobile game called TWD: Survivors, which was based on the Walking Dead comics by Robert Kirkman. It was a blast and one of the few places where I really felt a sense of community. She went by the username “Kailirus” and had this charming vibe about her. I’m not sure what caught her attention, but maybe it was my late-night poetry sessions in the Region chat. At 2 AM, I’d jump into an empty chat which was usually buzzing with people and just share my poems. Some thought I was a bit crazy, but it was my jam, and I didn’t care. Whatever it was, she started chatting with me. We ended up talking every day, sometimes for hours through private messages. All I knew was that she was straight, 32, and from Russia. Thankfully, the game had a super handy chat translator that made everything easy. You just type, and it does the rest. It felt great to connect with people from all over without borders getting in the way. I had never traveled outside the U.S. and always dreamed of it, but back then, I hadn’t had the chance yet and I kind of felt time was slipping away, that I might never be able to see a different country.
