31. Helsa
HELSA
T he body dropped.
It hit the rock and lay there for one breath, two, and then it began to fade. Dissolving, edges first. The translucent skin lost its definition, the luminous eyes turning dark. Fading back to the pod, the countdown, and the glass.
He would wake up injured.
He would remember all of it.
And he would not be here. Not in the way any longer.
The sea roiled like an underwater volcano erupting. But I paid it no mind. I had bigger problems.
The Controller rose from his knee.
He looked at me.
He was barely breathing hard. He had four new lines of blood down his face and his expression had not changed at any point during any of what had just happened.
He took a step toward me.
I took a step back.
We were back where we started.