Page 254 of Light Leech

Ralia shook her head. “I monitored them remotely but they are on their way home. I think we got what we needed from Haven, even kept up the illusion that we are still involved with them by the three of us showing up. I guess Nichley hasn’t bothered to say who offed Cut and Abbas said he crushed his neurospace after he bit the shac’s mouth off.”

“Well, did you learn anything?” I asked.

“Abbas and Akna can cover it when they get back.”

“What about Naoma’s rivals?” Boyband asked.

“Like I said, they’ll cover it wben they get back.“ Her glare was quick to fade as she smiled at Kuni. “You sick of him yet?”

Kuni shook his head.

“You will be soon enough.”

“Piss off.”

Ralia looked up at me. “You want to tell me what’s up?”

I sighed, then relayed everything we had experienced with as much clarity as I could manage, despite half of the story being a psychedelic trip to a child’s fantasy. I relayed how it felt similar to the therapist’s attack, then looked to Denji. “They both had that same black light. Not the pure light that our Gui have, but it was close.”

He shrugged. “Sorry, du, but I have no idea.”

I ran my hand through my hair. How long had it been since I’d showered? Weeks? Self-care was lost in my list of priorities. I glanced at the others. Denji wasn’t too far out of his usual routine. Ralia looked nice, but half of her was tech. Kuni looked like a mess, but he was a kid. That was our fault. Boyband looked decent, besides his hair that was starting to look more like a helmet than a bowl. But Naoma… Naoma was as beautiful as ever. She wasn’t painted like the Neon Idol and she wasn’t as extravagant as she might have liked to be, but she looked perfect. She smiled at me. I turned away before I got carried away, and blushed.

“Still doesn’t tell me who she is.” Ralia reached through her clothes and pulled out an ID badge. “Sanna Kamina, Student Executive Reform. The zeg does that mean?”

“Means she gets paid lumens to tell people what to do,” scoffed Boyband.

“And you didn’t know her before?”

He shook his head.

She nodded. “Pull her over to the neuroset. We’ll see what I can extract from her neurospace, but if she’s encrypted like the therapist, I think we might have to resort to some good old conversation, if you plug.”

“I figured as much,” I said.

“Do you all need to feed?”

I glanced at Boyband.

“I could wait a bit.”

I nodded. “Same.”

We moved over and lifted Sanna by the legs and armpits, then pulled her into an adjacent room with a table and the neuroset.

I let her torso down, but Boyband was quick to drop her legs and walk over to the desk. “Really made yourself at home here, Ral?”

She flipped him off as she pushed notes and an assortment of glowing tea bottles to one side, then an assortment of light makeup to the other. “Look, plenty of room.”

Boyband picked up one of her writing pads and turned it on.

“Don’t.” She reached over but he stepped away.

“Writing again, huh?” He read aloud. “A family of four watched their father melt. Gich did not intervene. He watched them weep and cry–”

Ralia pried it from his hands.

Boyband smiled. “You like your whack fiction, don’t you?”