Page 408 of Light Leech

A voice spoke through the room’s speakers. It was familiar, but not enough for me to put a name on it. “We can worry about that later. I’ll debrief him now so we can get moving.”

Kim groaned. “Are you sure you want to risk that before the complete wipe?”

“I told you we can’t wait! The anomaly is going to send us into informatic hell!”

“Fine, Don. Do what you want.”

There it was.

“Thank you, sir.”

“Don’t take too long. Dokkaebi’s fusion will begin soon and I want him present for it.”

“So you can rub his dead companion in his face?”

“Not everyone is as vindictive as you. Put some sense into your head before you speak. If he is going to be integrated into the system, he needs to see what he will be serving.”

“What, are you appointing him to the council now?”

“No, but as the only person among us with a true Gui, I plan on using him–”

“But you promised me that you would let me use the Gui for–”

“Yes, yes, the anomaly. You’ve said it countless times.”

“You don’t seem to care for it.”

“Oh trust me, I–”

I turned to Zhu as their argument continued into more senseless disagreements.

Is this the hell I am going to be stuck in?

“I do not know.”

They can’t control you, right?

“I know nothing of what is to come.”

What the zeg? I thought you were supposed to be all knowing? Look, I’m glad we’re pals now, but that doesn’t mean I want you to get rid of your domineering confidence, no matter how cryptic.

“I did not know about Dokkaebi. I do not know what they will do with us, nor do I know what they will do with him.”

Ascend. Right? That’s always your answer, it should be now. Right?“Correct.”

“Hihow!” Kim patted my chick with too much vigor. “Are you listening?”

“What?”

“Follow me.”

I was free from my prisoner’s seat. My mind was unbound, but my body was Kim’s to direct. I followed him down a white hallway with no say over what would happen next.

Chapter thirty

The Southern Research Bureau

“Do you have him from here?” Kim pushed us toward Don as we entered a spacious room with screens for walls. Graphs, blueprints, and various images covered the background footage of a verdant jungle, a rarity I struggled to believe even existed anymore. The hologram of a pyramid floated in the room’s center, but it was not Hadrian Palace. It had a flat top and a wide staircase up its front face. The translucent blue glow of the image left me wondering what it actually looked like. That is, if it was real.