Page 350 of Light Leech

“No euphemisms,” she said.

“You want it raw?”

She nodded.

“People are too foolish to live on their own. They consume more than think for themselves. Though there are occasional exceptions, most of the population follows what crawls into their minds though the media they consume. Mindshows. Advertisements. News outlets. Games. Music. You already understand. With the Haven Health advertisements laced into your songs, you were part of this without ever knowing.”

“And you think you have the right to direct the message the public ingests?”

“I’m not so presumptuous. I am a realist. The public will consume. They will shift according to their media. I am merely a man, a public servant, who has taken upon himself the responsibility to make something out of this. I am choosing to make the public more than mere consumers.”

“And what are you making them into?”

“Well, that depends. The world’s needs change from day to day. Your producer changed the purpose of your music according to the best sponsors, did he not?”

She nodded.

“I am the same, but I do not bow to sponsors.”

“You serve a higher power?”

He was reluctant to nod as he stared at her through a pensive squint but did so after a few seconds of silence. “Some might say.”

“What about the larger corporations like Nichley, do you control them, too?”

A second of hesitation sparked something in his inhuman eyes. “We are allied.”

“How so?”

Be careful, Naoma. If I could have messaged her without him noticing, I would have.

“I think you know,” he said. “That is why you are here tonight, isn’t it? To correct the mistakes you have made?”

I fell back as two of Zhou’s servants seized me. I grunted as I fought them with hands already behind my back. I readied my Bite.

“What are you doing?” she shouted.

“Showing you where you are mistaken. You are following a broken narrative, Naoma. I knew why you were coming here. I am not so foolish as to dismiss the assaults against my allies, those who gave you great opportunities only to be betrayed by you.”

Nichley. Zeg. He knew.

As my Bite fueled me with energy, I felt something penetrate my back, depleting my energy and pulling me into an unconscious daze. Just before falling away, I heard Zhou speak.

“Take her fan to the Lake of Wine.”

Chapter twenty-one

Child Protective Services

“I am going to articulate this in the words that will best resonate with you, bakuh. Zeg. you.”

I found hope in the otherwise unfortunately familiar cube of black and grey pixels.

Zhu.

A moment of silence. It was soon interrupted with a familiar, snorting laugh.

Oh my ligh— Thank God you’re alive.