Page 429 of Light Leech

I ran my hand through her hair as I pulled back and whispered, “I love you Naoma.”

Epilogue

Charles Nichley stood on the pier, watching the deep red glow amidst the blue in the ocean beneath the night sky. He reminisced on the feeling of being cold. His body sensed the chill of the sea, but it was nothing more than a report, an algorithm’s description of what the world was like to a human.

He missed the small things the most, the mundane that made life what it was. He could have anything he wanted, had everything he wanted, save the minor senses he could not. Those and the certainty of victory for the tide.

Zhou had fallen and the Correction had gone silent.

The burning of anger was one of the few senses that remained in his android’s body. Although his brain consisted mostly of preserved tissue, the synthetic body made it much harder to feel the extent of many emotions. Rage was growing and becoming a common friend, but he wanted to know how triumph felt. He would reach for it until the end, then beyond.

He received a message.

Hilio: Still no sign of him, sir.

Charles: But we know he returned to Zingang after the moon and following flight, right?

Hilio: Correct, but he must have covered his tracks.

Charles: How is that possible? You said the cyborg girl didn’t return with him, right?

Hilio: That is correct, sir.

Charles: Then who the zeg is wiping his surveillance coverage?

Hilio: Perhaps another one of the group’s members is a tech savant like her.

Charles: Get Kim on it.

Hilio: Mister Kim Jong Il’s body is showing as terminated, sir.

Charles: Right. But Dokkaebi is in the system, right?

Hilio: That is correct, but the Correction database is showing as inaccessible.

Charles: Delightful. Do your thing then. You’re supposed to be good at this, aren’t you?

Hilio: With the proper clearance, yes.

Charles: Fine. Utilize anything you need. I want Deleon’s freaks dead as soon as possible.

Hilio: No restrictions?

Charles: No restrictions.

Hilio: I am saving this conversation in the case of future complications.

Charles: Have to save your asses when you mess up?

Hilio: If this operation costs more than you would expect, then yes, I would like to have proof that we were instructed to work as we please.

Charles: Very well, get to it.

He exited the chat and shook his head, sighing as he stared out onto the ocean at the rising white light from the red beneath the tear in the sea. He sighed again, savoring the idea of frustration. He sighed a third time, though the gesture was nothing more than an automated expression of a being that longed to be human again.

Perhaps after the tide. After everything fell and was built anew.

He watched the subtle pulsations of the deep red glow and imagined a bright future that only such a god could bring.