Page 49 of Light Leech

“And where do those zegging light ghosts come from?”

Her eyes shifted from side to side.

“You have no idea! You put some zegging ghost into your mind for the promise of knowledge when, for all you know, it might be changing everything you see and take it to be its truth. Truth isn’t relative, ma’am. There is one truth and then there are those who choose to corrupt it. I might look like a kid to you, but who’s to say I’m not a Finian and that ghost of yours is changing everything you see?”

“Where did this side of you come from?” Ralia asked.

He continued without acknowledging her. “You’re just contributing to this cloud of misinformation that you–sorry, I forgot you weren’t actually one of them–that Water Hills forces upon kids! I used to make fun of those kids who had android teachers at home, but maybe they were right for not contributing to this mess! That’s what you want, isn’t it? To be another one of those dominating minds that decides what is Pure Knowledge and what should be ignored, or scorned, because you disagree with it? It happened to the Cross followers but look at them! Still standing despite the guk the world has thrown at them. Zeg you and your prideful idea of knowledge! I shit on it and hope you choke on it while you eat up their shit, too! That’s all it really is. Truth eaten by a monster, shat out, and shaped into that image these tyrants want the world to see.”

He took a moment to catch his breath, still staring at Kalacia who saw, just as we had, the frustrated scholar that had erupted from the teenager that was Boyband.

Ralia clapped. Kuni joined.

I knew he wasn’t a scholar, but I hoped this eccentric display of societal criticism showed his value.

It was a reawakening for me. Seeing the mind within the constant slang and sarcasm made me want to chastise myself for any doubts, especially those related to his conscience. It was in there, now out and screaming for injustice against the world. Perhaps I was wrong in mentally scoring him for how he was treating this woman. Still, she had no part in this. No current part, despite her intentions. He wasn’t right or wrong. None of us were. We failed and succeeded on moral and corporate ground every day. We wouldn’t stop. My only hope was that the good would outweigh the bad in the end, despite the world’s ever-changing view of what those words meant.

That was all we were. Flawed people trying to do our best.

Boyband slapped her.

Trying to do our best just like him.

“Nothing,? Really?” He guffawed. “Fine, we’ll take a break from criticizing you. Tell us what your Light Leech did and why we all had a kid’s toy battle fever dream.”

“My Light Leech lets me manipulate ands and turn them into vehicles.”

“Cool, but that doesn’t explain the zegging hallucinations.”

She scoffed. “That was all Veren. Before heading in to meet you–”

“To kill me, which you failed to do.”

She nodded. “I researched the ands on the premise, even though I knew many were disguised as humans. Veren was a high tier and I had seen her therapeutic work with kids, allowing them to revert to childhood memories for cognitive practice.”

“Sounds like a fun excuse for manipulating their minds.”

She shrugged. “Are you surprised?”

“No, just upset that it worked on us.”

“I amplified the signal. It’s not magic, you know, just a reskinning of your vision and a mind modification, all tied to your neurospace.”

“Ascend.” Zhu’s reminder echoed loudly in my mind.

“I think we’ve learned enough,” Ralia said.

“What about what these Light Leaches are?” asked Boyband.

She looked at Kalacia. “Do you know? No? What about who is running Pure Knowledge? Why our mods aren’t working?”

Kalacia shrugged, lacking confidence.

“I think we’ve run her dry, BB. She’s just another wannabe scholar who can’t answer the questions you bombarded her with.”

“Then what now?”

“We gotta head into the neurocore. I’m not saying it’ll be simple to double the admittance, but this wouldn’t be the first time I’ve used someone else’s access to enter a database. You ready, Pet?”