6. Babyband #3
My attention shot to her, relieved to see that she was well and standing, despite the rainbow that had revealed itself as blood. Thinking back on that illusion, I wondered if that was how she looked as a child.
Illusion. My mind felt peeled anew, just as it had been after the therapist encounter. Too similar to be coincidental.
“Why not?” Boyband asked. “She just made me experience a childish fever dream.”
“Where you shot confetti out of your mouth while they ticked you?” Naoma asked.
He nodded.
“Me too, which is why we’re taking her back for interrogation. This is the second assassination attempt in too little a time.”
“That fever dream is almost like the hell your therapist put me through,” I said.
Boyband no longer looked bothered by Kuni sparing Sanna. Trepidation filled his face. Repressed fear that was creeping through the seams of determination.
We walked over to Kuni, each of us staring at our assailant with puzzlement over hatred.
“You said she put you in a dream?” Kuni asked.
Boyband was the first to answer. I was surprised with how controlled and calm he was. “Yeah, she made me–us—feel like we were kids getting tickled and played with by some giant spider toy. That’s what you all felt, right?”
Naoma and I nodded.
“So that’s why you were all acting weird. You sounded like kids.” Kuni kicked the woman and grunted something coarse in Arabasian.
“Hey, be careful!” Naoma pulled him back.
He reached for her hand. She took it with a concerned smile.
Seeing him so confident and quick to harm, I felt sorrow for another child robbed of their childhood.
Even Boyband, who had been a teenager for his first feeding, struggled with the moral dilemma of it all.
Was it his fault that Kuni was already used to violence?
Was it mine for pointing Boyband in the wrong direction?
Violence from a child was abhorrent, but I couldn’t call this the wrong direction when it was the one I chose.
Was it wrong if this was the only path we could take? Was it the only one we could take? I didn’t want to burden myself with guilt, so I chose to cower behind justification. It was the same twisted excuse for using fixes.
Regardless of the guilt on our hands or Nichley’s, Kuni was robbed of a childhood. We could do our best to nurture but saving us showed enough of his maturity. His hands were still in their webbed form, sparking with light in case he needed to pacify Sanna again.
“I didn’t know you could use your light on tech like that!” Boyband patted Kuni’s back.
The kid smiled. “It was the same when delivering light to the Lord of the Sea.”
“Gong. The bad guy, not what he told you to call him.”
“Oh yeah, sorry.”
Boyband patted him again. “You’re good, du.” He cocked his head at Naoma. “So, was that white serpent thing real?”
She shrugged. “Somewhat, I guess. It probably looked different in the vision. Maybe Denji will have some answers when we get back?”
“Doubt it. That shac sounded like he had no idea what he was doing. You think Ral will be able to read this lady’s neurospace without her mod functioning?”
“Sanna’s not a shac,” I said. “If we need to use classic forms of interrogation, we can.”
“My mod isn’t working well either, if that’s what you mean.”
“I shook my head. We’ll remain as humane as possible, but this is the second assassin with horrific mental powers. If we have another coming our way with gui-like power, I’ll do what I have to.”
“Kuni’s shocks can be a pain if he doesn’t go far enough to knock you out.”
I shook my head, then looked at Kuni. “You’ve already done enough, bud.”
“I want to interrogate her, too!” he argued.
I shook my head. He might have to fight, but I wouldn’t make a child torture someone.
He had been desensitized enough. I had tainted my soul before and would continue to do so if it meant sparing the smallest spark of a child’s innocence.
“You can help us keep her out on the way back to the monastery.”
“We calling in Denji or a risking a skyride?” Boyband asked.
“Denji–”
Naoma cut me off. “I’ll pay for a premium skyride.”
“I don’t want to risk anything,” I said.
She smiled. “The elites all have their secrets. Pay enough in violet lumens and you can get a fully automated skyride barred from questions or monitoring.”
“I’m not trusting that,” Boyband said. “Privacy died in the virtual era.”
“You forget that I’m still connected to my Reef royalties,” Naoma said. “Security exists if you’re wealthy enough and I’ve got a long while before that account empties.”
Boyband raised an eyebrow at me.
I looked at her. “You sure? No questions asked?”
She nodded. “When people worshipped me, it was the only way I could get around. Reef did all they could to ensure my privacy. One company leaked my location and Reef paid them their dues, if you plug. Threats make fine security. We found one line of skyrides that only the most elite use. Fix programmers, pharma elites with more enemies on their back that lumens in their account, and so forth. Trust me?”
I smiled. “Always.”