Page 215 of Light Leech

Hilio: No restrictions?

Charles: No restrictions.

Hilio: I am saving this conversation in the case of future complications.

Charles: Have to save your asses when you mess up?

Hilio: If this operation costs more than you would expect, then yes, I would like to have proof that we were instructed to work as we please.

Charles: Very well, get to it.

He exited the chat and shook his head, sighing as he stared out onto the ocean at the rising white light from the red beneath the tear in the sea. He sighed again, savoring the idea of frustration. He sighed a third time, though the gesture was nothing more than an automated expression of a being that longed to be human again.

Perhaps after the tide. After everything fell and was built anew.

He watched the subtle pulsations of the deep red glow and imagined a bright future that only such a god could bring.

The white light surfaced. The Finian breathed out and faced Charles.

“Turn off that zegging light, you’re blinding me.”

“Oh yea, sorry about that.” The Finian obeyed.

“Well?” Charles asked, his voice a step beyond impatient.

“He has awoken.”

Charles smirked, feeling satisfaction after a record streak of disappointments and failures. “And the sounds?”

“Well, he is mature. He still needs a year or so until he becomes sentient, but that could change if we–”

“I don’t care. Can you record the sounds?”

“Yes, I believe so.”

“Delightful. I want you and the rest of the team to begin immediately. As of one hour ago we now own Reef Records and can begin distribution when you’re ready.”

“Great, we’ll get to it.”

“No.” Nichley crouched and stared at the Finian in his right eye. “I want you to tell the crew to remain below the tear until they have sufficient recordings to begin production. Waiting is no longer a luxury we have.”

“I–I will tell them right away.” The Finian dove, kicking his human feet up in the air as he returned to the deep red glow.Chapter one

Couples Therapy

Naoma screamed.

I tried the door once before burning my Bite reserve and busting the lock. It might have been unlocked and the struggle my human error, but I was not willing to take the risk.

If my companionship was a danger to her, I had to repay the reciprocal tenfold.

Any hope of a reprieve following our time in Arabasia was a delusion. The few days we had since arriving back in the Republic were enough of a grace period as we returned to undeserved torture.

Perhaps it was deserved. We were vile beings adjacent to cannibals, but that did not include Naoma. She should have been exempt. Recalling her reveal of the serpent-woman-spirit that followed her, perhaps she wasn’t exempt. Still, she didn’t eat teeth. Whatever was happening to her was undeserved as far as I was concerned.

I burst into the therapeutic chamber. Strapped down to a chair, Naoma faced me. I didn’t have to ask if restraint was part of her consent for treatment. There shouldn’t have been a thorough consent in the first place. She had chosen the lowest form of therapy, despite the modern innovations that allow therapists to look into their patient’s cognitive makeup. She had asked for a simple conversation to preface a potential memory recall treatment if she felt like the therapist was trustworthy. Based on my observations thus far, this was yet another question that need not be asked.

She opened her mouth, but any words were cut off as the thing that had been her therapist injected metallic tentacles into the back of her head. The skin that had been the man’s flesh split and flayed out like a flower for metallic probes that were far too reminiscent of cuttlefish tentacles for comfort.