Page 186 of Light Leech

“What would happen, Don, if everyone here was granted all knowledge?”

“Isn’t that the purpose of the Correction?”

“The Correction is knowledge,“ the older woman said. “Not the people.”

“Exactly, Miss Kholleo.”

“So you’ve been lying to us?” Don asked.

“Is the omission of a part of the truth a lie?” Mister Kim asked. “Ask yourself this, why would we conceal part of the truth for you?”

“No idea. Everything we do and think is monitored so any deviance results in death, right?”

Mister Kim nodded. “Why would we conceal a part of the truth?”

“Because that might affect us.”

“How so?”

Don paused. “Our work?”

“Exactly. Worry not, dear friend, for the whole truth is now yours.”

“What? Why?”

“The Dokkaebi has been in the hands of the Journeymen Gui throughout all of our lives. Including mine on the old Earth.”

My mind raced. There were no more veils and I wanted to panic. They knew about the Journeymen. The Gui. What didn’t they know?

Mister Kim continued. “What would it have done to your work ethic if you had known that your leader was in pieces?”

“Like that snake-nosed antagonist from the wizarding school novels of old Earth?” a younger man asked.

Mister Kim nodded. “I am glad to hear that you have read such ancient classics, Michael.”

Michael nodded with a sheepish grin.

“Don,” Mister Kim said, “let me ask again. What would it have done to your work ethic if you had known that your leader was in pieces?”

“Pure Knowledge could not function.” Don said. “The world would slip into the truth and lose the illusion the Correction has created.”

“Exactly.”

“So our work thus far might have been in vain? The Dokkaebi is shattered? What guk is this?”

“Hope returned,” Miss Kholleo said.

Don laughed and gestured towards her. “What guk is that? Huh? Dear Leader Kim? Since when has hope ever been a tenant of the Correction?”

“It hasn’t,” Mister Kim replied, his tone was dry but his scolding gaze focused on Don rather than on Miss Kholleo. “It’s something we feel to imbeciles like you who would have capitulated if they knew the reality of our situation. Your whining is proof enough that, had you known the truth, you would have succumbed to fear.”

“How does this change our circumstances?” a bald woman asked.

“Thank you, Helene, for a question with a purpose.”

She grinned.

“We were as scattered books,” Kim began, “but now we have a librarian. The Light Leech remnants of Dokkaebi were but starlight where we needed the sun. I am only a touch more than a man. My knowledge is based on study and technological integration. Dokkaebi has no need for study. While we function as scholars of the modern day, no one knows the tide and the truths of ancient history as much as a being that has experienced it all.“ He gestured to Ralia.