Page 201 of Light Leech

“How the zeg did you–”

She interrupted Kim–Dokkaebi. “Looks like the world’s cult of geniuses isn’t full of the brightest, huh? Let’s be honest, all it required was understanding what that sick little bastard inside me wanted.”

“Noooooo!” Kim–Dokkaebi cried, though I knew it was the beast inside who was crying out that this was impossible. The light lines connected to him pulsed, making the room flicker, though the green kept its dominance.

“Settle, babe.”

The beast went ballistic, crashing into one of the large machines and absorbing the light as it sparked out.

“Hey.” She looked at me. “Guess what I found in the system? This looks like a neurolock for one Petya Nebokov. How about that? Oops! I just released it!”

The beast depleted the machine of its light and shot a predatory glare my way.

I turned away from it to look at the prism. She moved through the prism’s space and placed her hand on its glass wall. “Touch me.”

“No!” Kim–Dokkkaebi charged me.

I burned my agility mod and jumped over the beast as he charged into the table and some of its occupants. Anyone else who sat decided it was no longer such a wise idea.

I had a second to spare before he charged again

I touched the glass, my hand against hers with a thin veil of glass between us.

“I broke Dokkaebi’s mod lock.” Ralia’s green ghost within it smirked. “Give ’em hell, Pet.”

I felt an inner lock open. The full strength of my agility mod was back. After ascending on the lake of wine, I thought I had destroyed the lock completely, but I was wrong. This was the full return. I knew the others were likely feeling the same freedom from Dokkaebi’s constraints that had held us back ever since returning to the Republic.

Ralia’s light dimmed a touch, but she remained pleased. She was breaking Dokkaebi, but it was costing her.

I burned my reserve to fuel my next move.

Most of the room fled, save Don and a few more who raised their light pistols.

They shot at me, though a black veil of light deflected them at each other.

Kim-Dokkaebi slammed into me, tossing me into Don. I felt some of his ribs break as we collided with the wall.

But what did that do to her? Is she still alive?

“Focus, bakuh. We have a beast to slay.”

I stood, though Don remained beside me with blood already pooling next to him. The impact hurt, but I was left with more of a numbing sensation thanks to Zhu’s light barrier.

“Back in here!” Kim–Dokkaebi shouted. His fleeing council members stopped where they were and pivoted with blank stares.

Can you feel them?

“What? No, you bakuh!”

Can you see if they are neurolocked like I was?

“I already told you, I cannot. Your observation seems a sufficient conclusion.”

Do any of them have free will? Did any of them come here on their own accord? Were they lured in like us?

“What do you expect me to say?”

That you do not understand.