Page 382 of Light Leech

“You’re a Luxist aren’t you?”

I held my face still, not letting any reaction betray my confusion.

“The Elcaines failed, so you come to finish their job? I never had the pleasure of meeting them, but all of you Luxists are the same. You center your life on preserving a lost cause. This world will die just like the last.”

“I’m glad we’re being candid now,” I said. “Beacon?”

“I am a man who does what I see fit. People throughout all time have created these wasted labels to attach them to one cause or another. For this purpose, I am a Beacon, but that is not all I am. The word is meaningless. All this really is in the greater expanse. You are so young to have committed yourself to such a waste.”

“You want this world to end then? Wouldn’t that spoil your pursuit of pleasure?”

”’Ending’ is another wasted word. I did not die before, I will not die again. Hedonism and zen join in my mind. There can be no true pleasure until the universe is at peace. The things I do are glimpses at that greater nirvana.”

“And that balance requires the destruction of this world? Do you even grasp what you are saying?”

“Would you let ants decide what peace means for humanity? Do they have any say in this war in Arabasia? Would you like to let them voice their opinion?”

“Is that all we are to you?” Naoma asked. “Ants?”

“You? That is another matter. Him? And any other human who thinks they understand the cosmos? Yes! Even I am but an ant.“ He stared straight into my eyes. “You’ve seen him, haven’t you? You didn’t just annoy Nichley but went one step further. Am I wrong?”

“Did your colleague really not tell you anything?” Naoma asked. I was still stuck deciding how to answer him.

“We’ve already gone over this, haven’t we? That coward retreated before he could even see how far you went.” He focused back on me. “You saw the fetus.”

I nodded.

“If only you could understand what glory you beheld. But why am I telling you all of this? Why give up? Oh, I am far from surrendering. I am merely telling you what you need to know to turn back before you hurt too many people. That’s all this path will bring you. Pain to you and everyone you touch.“ He eyed Naoma.

I didn’t care how twisted his logic was. Even if he saw good in what he was doing, he was right. The path to the end would be paved in blood and tears, shed by the dearest people to me.

How many of us could make it until the end?

I didn’t want to think about that. Now was not the time or place to reconsider my life. I needed assurance now more than ever. “Who are you?”

“I am exactly who I say I am.”

“Who is Zhou?”

“Shou,“ he corrected. “It is not a name of endearment but my very name. Shāng Wáng Shòu, the last King of China’s great Shang Dynasty. After my death, I was called Dì Xīn by some. I may have died before, but the collapse of the old Earth was not the reason.”

I looked at Naoma, eyebrows tented in confusion.

“How long have you been living in this body?” she asked.

“A few decades, enough to—“

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“How so?”

“Zhou’s bones would have died with the old Earth.”

“What good is an organization without a proper historian to collect such important relics?”

“Explain or I’m going to rip out that tube.”

His voice went higher. “Have you met the Correction yet?”