I never wanted to leave. And for a few years, I almost never did. Those were the last few years of my mother’s life, when she was slipping deeper into depression and the addiction that would end up killing her.
He’s so close to almost saying something about trauma driving him and his mother to treasure their precious time together in the OASIS. This could be a whole aspect of the character to explore both Wade’s relationships with others, and his mother specifically, through technology. You could dive into technology bringing people closer together, but also further apart. This vein is so rich, but Cline is uninterested in mining it.
