What the hell is going on, D_Light? What is your status? The blink was a desperate plea from Lyra. Please, please, please end this! Lyra’s thought thread was not crisp. D_Light had received threads like this before. They were indicative of panic.
Holy shit, they’re close, Djoser blared. We’re in a tree! We’re going to die in a fucking tree! Oh shit, I can see them!
Lyra begged, Save us, D_Light! I swear to Soul I’ll love you forever! I’ll repro with you. We’ll live together forever. I love you. Stop it, please make it stop. Lyra’s thoughts poured in like floodwater.
Through tear-blurred eyes, D_Light beseeched his familiar, Smorgeous, help me do it. Give me something so I don’t feel. It’s the OverSoul’s will. I’m failing her.
Master, I am uncertain as to what chemi will facilitate your request. However, I will attempt to suppress your inhibitions with SaniMind™.
Although the drug’s effect was nearly instantaneous, D_Light still did not pull the trigger; he merely stopped trembling.
Before Lyra was ripped to shreds, she had completely opened her audio and video feeds to broadcast what she saw and heard. It ended so quickly there was little to see-a blur of hair and skin leaping up the tree as though drawn up by a powerful magnetic force. Terrible teeth and claws and rending wetness as flesh tore. Gargling screams and hoarse shouts. And then there was nothing.
Through sobs Lily stammered, “D…D_Light, they’re coming, I can hear them. You need the repellant.” With these words she pinged him the location of the bottle; it was hidden under a rock at the edge of a stream. It was not too far from where he was now, but the cullers were close.
Smorgeous, give me the odds of survival.
Master, given distance and time required for metabolism-
Just give me the odds!
Fifty-three percent chance of survival, Smorgeous answered.
“You need to go! Do what you must and go!” Lily begged.
Fifty-three percent is not good enough, D_Light thought. Running for my life is not good enough-not this time. Do what I must?
“Yes, there is something I must do. I still have time to make it right.” D_Light sat down and Smorgeous walked over resolutely, sitting on his haunches across from his master.
Smorgeous, I want full sensory override with maximum power diverted to a Cloud connection, a connection straight to the Authority source tree.
Lily screamed at him to get up, but the sensory override deafened him. She kicked wildly and slapped him, but he barely felt it. His glazed-over eyes closed slowly as his mind connected. The official banner of the Divine Authority appeared momentarily while D_Light’s credentials were processed.
D_Light, player #49937593, status “demon.” How can the Divine Authority be of service?
I wish to correct an error, D_Light responded.
The Divine Authority appreciates your time in remedying this matter; however, due to the possible security ramifications of your request, we must do a deep scan to confirm that this change is in the best interest of the OverSoul. Would you like to learn more about deep scan?
No, D_Light answered.
Very well, if you are not familiar with the terms and conditions of deep scanning, please review them now.
By now, the dull blows from Lily had stopped. He could not afford to wonder why. He had to stay on task.
Like days before when he had attempted to check into the source tree, D_Light saw a graphical progress bar constantly apprising him of how much time he could expect the scan to continue. Like before, he felt tingling all over his body, experienced both audio and visual hallucinations, and felt countless fleeting emotions.
My Soul is yours to know. From somewhere under the folds of his mind, the words “ God is love, God is love, God is love… ” echoed.
And then, finally, the tingling stopped.
The OverSoul is pleased to grant you access at this time. Based on your scan, you will require approximately two minutes to complete your transaction, after which point you will be logged out. Please begin your transaction in three…two…one…
D_Light plunged into the source tree, the code and data repository that made up the Game. There was no time to waste. Quickly, he found Lily’s profile. From what he could tell, the reserve from which she had escaped did not want her reported as missing. He did not take the time to ponder why. Within her detailed profile, he zoomed in on the following data fields:
Organism ID: Homo sapiens #4038430298 (camper)
Aliases: Anastala, Lily, Talashia, Cave_Girl111
Status: Demon
Level: N/A
D_Light changed the data to the following:
Organism ID: Human
Alias: Built_4_Love
Status: Player
Level: 63
He thought it best to give her a relatively low level since she was such a nOOb and would attract attention with a level not commensurate with her experience. He then fine-tuned a few more fields of her profile to make sure she was complete.
Oh, and this newborn will need something to start off with, he realized.
D_Light then transferred all of his own deedable points over to Built_4_Love. With this last task complete, he was forcibly logged off. The gatekeeper software had indeed predicted the time of his task to within a few seconds.
D_Light now ran for the repellant, and as he did so he felt great happiness and relief. It was as though he had just shed lead shoes he had been encumbered with all his life. He felt like he was flying-not flying as a man aided by a machine, but as a man buoyed up by his very soul. She was safe. He had made things right. This was his atonement; his prayer had been fulfilled. It was the first time in his long life that he did not feel alone.
The final moments of D_Light’s life came not as a flood of memories that rushed passed his eyes, but rather as a movie scene played in slow motion. There was Lily, glowing in the light of the midday sun. She was moving toward him ever so slowly, a blue vial clenched firmly in her hand. Her eyes were wide with terror and her mouth formed a scream.
When D_Light heard the culler dashing up behind him, its clawed limbs ripping and battering the soft soil beneath its feet, he was not afraid, nor did he turn to look back. Instead, he kept his eyes fixed on Lily as long as he was able.
CHAPTER 35
My prayer has been answered! The OverSoul, in her mercy, has both brought my lamb back to me and performed a miracle! Now human, she can join my family as a free player. Lily is good. She is loyal to those she loves. She is intelligent and sensitive. I know this because she, along with her line, was designed this way-my greatest and, I dare say, most shameful creation.
Witnessing D_Light’s death would be the last real trauma Lily, known legally as Built_4_Love, would experience for more than one hundred years. She had been running back toward D_Light with the precious blue
