Page 172 of Light Leech

It would come back. I would still scratch it, but for now, I had the power to refuse.

I still had the memtab I bought with Naoma to use on the way home from Arabasia. I preferred them over socitabs, but they were far more expensive and were just as dangerous if you became addicted. I still hated the idea of growing old and those only made reality more difficult to accept. We hadn’t bought it for simple fun. It was one of our first attempts to understand Naoma’s past. When her memtab gave her nothing more than a confusing blur, I had chosen to leave mine alone.

I left the fixes behind and opened my files. Ral-and-pet-fun-date was at the top, ready for me to calibrate the conscious with the subconscious. The name was stupid, but it made me smile. It was another reminder that I had people who cared for me. I missed Ralia, even though our subconsciousnesses had been working together for the past… while? I didn’t know how long it had been. I was glad to be returning home after putting on a show for the elites. I clenched Naoma’s hand, gladder to have her beside me than anyone else. Still, I missed my family. I could only imagine how cooped up Boyband must have felt.

I would see them soon. The ride was nearing its end and hadn’t been long from the start.

I selected Ral-and-pet-fun-date.

Images played over my vision at double, triple, then exponentially faster speed. Images became experiences. Sounds became memories. I understood it all as if I were a rushing train that pulled to a gradual stop at its final station. Once I stopped, I remembered everything inside and outside the neurocore. Luminate League.

Sha. The Moon. I couldn’t contain myself. I jumped right into my neurospace.

Petya: Ral, I just reconnected. Recalibrated. Whatever it’s called. Zeg, are we really doing this? What about the others?

She sent me a smiling face that brought a warm orange glow to my interface.

Ralia: Chill, babe. We’ll chat when we get home. Enjoy your last ride with Naoma.

My heart froze and hot iron pierced it.

Petya: The zeg do you mean?

Ralia: I’m just messing with you, du. Chill the zeg out. Things will be fine. We’ve got this, so don’t die of a heart attack just yet. I’ll need you to calm Boyband down when you get here. He’s bugging Denji and has the bromatic equivalent of blue balls.

Petya: Whatever.

Ralia: He’ll deny it to your face, but one day I hope you see how much you mean to him.

Petya: You mean just as much to all of us.

Ralia: Enough of that guk. I’m out. You’re ten minutes away if this tracking is current. Enjoy the rest of your private time. Talk soon, hun.

I exited my neurospace. Naoma was still asleep on my shoulder. I smiled and rested my head on hers.

Maybe life could be good.

“Where’s Petya?” A voice shouted down the hall as Ralia unlocked the door and waved us in.

“What do you want?” I shouted down the hall. I turned back, saw Naoma wave me away while Ralia embraced her, then ran to find Boyband.

“Where the zeg is–“ Boyband stopped as I ran into him.

I slapped his shoulder. “What?”

“Akna won’t let me sleep with David.”

“What?”

“You know, my beef3?”

“Is that what you’re calling it now? Isn’t it Denji’s?”

“Took it from my property, now it’s mine.”

“That’s not the only problem I had with that sentence.”

“No, you sick shac, I’m not–stop laughing! I want him in the same room with me while I sleep. You know, like a pet? I want him to be able to do more than ask for someone to kill him.”