Page 234 of Light Leech

“Gongtide or not, I don’t like it.” Ralia said.

“Any luck?” I asked.

“There’s been obvious tampering,” she replied.

“Do you see seams?”

“Not at all. The opposite, actually. This shac is as beige and vanilla as you go. There’s no reason someone like him would go for you and before you ask, I’m not settling on the ‘possessed’ theory. Gui need a specific device to hold them, as far as I understand.”

“That’s true.”

“So Bhate Denji finally understands something?”

He chuckled. “I’m more on the tech side than the doctrine. If you want to know the deep doctrinal lore, you’ll have to go back to Bhate Tenma.”

“Hold up,” Ralia said. “I’ma try… yes, we’ve got a little opening right about… he–”

A shriek brought our hands to our ears. The sound was a vile callback to the visions of my never-child’s gory explosion. I opened an eye, seeing the others tremble and join in the scream as the neurospace hardware shook and bounced off of the desk.

Ralia had collapsed to the floor. Her eyes flashed with dark blue light.

Zhu, help.

I felt his presence cover my ears. The shriek continued, but it was bearable, like walking on hot sand instead of coals.

A familiar black aura, the tainted opposite of Zhu’s Essence, leaked from the hardware’s cracks like rising smoke. The rising body conglomerated into a wretched form, a fetal image of the therapist’s ghost with tentacles stretching out like thin needles. Before they could reach us, a white flash emanated from Naoma as her serpent extended to devour the ghoul before it could grow.

Silence rang loud. Everyone had winced and cowered, but I saw their eyes wide as Naoma’s serpent fed.

“The zeg was that?” Boyband stood with malaise, scratching his mess of hair and blinking bloodshot eyes.

Naoma glared at him.

“Yeah, I saw what you did. That screech was loud enough for me to feel it in my bones.”

“Why didn’t you shock him harder?” Akna asked.

Kuni stepped towards Boyband.

“Kuni don’t,” I said. The kid looked up at me. “It’s fine. At least for now.” Kuni and I shared a smile.

Boyband clapped. “Come on, did I miss Naoma saying that she had a Gui when I was out?” He looked at Ralia, who was massaging her temples. “Did Kuni shock you too, Ral?”

She showed him her middle finger as she sat up.

I looked at Naoma, seeing the trepidation in her eyes. She opened them wider, as if I had an answer. I might have had freedom without Deleon, but I felt as if each choice before me created consequences for everyone, not just me. All I could do was guess. And guess, I did.

There was no harm in explaining what she had done, but I would not tell them that she was Nuwa incarnate or some divine servant. I had no idea what she truly was. She could not recall her past, but did she know what she was?

Too many questions. Too many answers I was supposed to have.

“No answer?” Boyband sighed, frustration apparent. “Pulse. Naoma’s got a Gui now. How the zeg that makes sense without a Bite, I dunno, but I guess we’re rolling with it, just like we are with this whole fetal god story.”

“Pull the stick out of your ass,” Abbas said, as dry as dust.

We all laughed, even Boyband. “Sorry, Naoma,” he said. “I’m just… overwhelmed. Confused as zeg.”

“So am I,” Naoma said. “I’m sorry, but I really don’t know what it is.“ She looked at the others. “That thing helped Petya and I fight the therapist’s ghost. I guess it’s a Gui?”