Page 262 of Light Leech

“I’m pretty hungry, Kalacia. Do I really need to take more? Or is this one of those ‘they’ll hurt me worse than you ever could if I tell you’ situations? Still not pumped to answer? Fine, let’s start with something adjacent. Who the zeg is Veren? Let’s act like we’ve already discussed my parents, even if you don’t care about them. I know that mecha-lady was on the PTA with them, so if you two are connected, there must be a reason.”

She spat out blood and stopped her gums bleeding with the edge of her sleeve. Her blood gleamed over the violet-lit gems. The gaps in her teeth made it harder for Boyband to maintain a serious composure as she spoke. “She was an and placed in by an outside company after seeing your parents probing activity. When they died, she took the helm.”

“Other company my ass. Who?”

“I don’t know! Someone who works with… the… um.”

“Your boss?”

“No, it’s–”

“The Correction,” I said.

She furrowed her brow. It looked like recognition, but that wasn’t right. Maybe something that led to it? It all had to be connected one way or another. Even if she had no Gongtide ties, Gongtide had its tentacles in every part of the world: Education, Entertainment, Pharmaceuticals, Government. We were only at the cusp of it.

“Pure Knowledge,” she said, as if it wasn’t a statement but rather a title or thing in itself.

“Explain,” Boyband said, then picked his teeth with bloody fingers.

“It’s… a concept. An ideal… it’s hard to explain. It’s something core neurocrawlers speak of, but few pursue.”

“I’ve heard of it,” Ralia said.

“Are you a neurocrawler?”

“Deeper, ma’am. I don’t limit myself to titles, and by the way, Pure Knowledge is a zegging myth.”

“Say what you want.” Kalacia smirked.

“Don’t get all cheeky with me.” Boyband spat on the ground before her. “Is that what the admittance was for?”

She stared.

Boyband laughed. “You can lie with a false face, but you’re terrible now. Why do you need to kill one of us to get in?”

“It’s the Correction,” I said.

“You sure?” he asked.

“It has to be. They find out we’re looking for them and two assassins come? It’s got to be Gongtide, regardless.”

He shrugged. “Guess we’ll see.” He pointed at Kalacia. “I’m going to ask you about that other assassin, so start thinking about your answer.“ He then pointed to Ralia. “What makes this Pure Knowledge thing a myth?”

“It’s mind they believe they can tap into–”

“An essence,“ Kalacia corrected.

Boyband eyed me. I shook my head. I doubted it was Neon Essence, yet everything was connected enough for it to not be such an outlandish idea.

“Elaborate,” I said.

“All wisdom, information, knowledge condensed into an accessible core. We might all have neuronet access, but everything you see is manipulated by someone trying to sell you something or make you hate what they hate. Knowledge is preserved. Truth. It’s out there. Once you tap in, you have access to everything that has ever happened and everything that is happening. Complete unrestrained knowledge.”

“And you gain access to it by killing one of us?” Boyband asked.

She shook her head. “That only grants access to testing.”

“Testing?” he asked.