“They’re all dead here.” Fingers interlaced with his. Her voice was becoming echoes, static, and “What’d you do to her? Why’d you write? Why…?” Two tears, more blood than water: “You’ve killed us all.”
Such ferocity barely contained in the sky: the upload generator shattered; a thousand vessels carved the earth.
He stroked her hair. “Hope, I—”
“There’s no Hope anymore. No hope. Nothing. But she’s with me.” A smile so bright from assemblages of flesh and muscle: impossible. “She’s saved me.”
“I’ll save you. We’ll save you!”
“Paul…” She pulled him closer, whispered. “The Purpose will be completed.”
He hatcheted an inhalation. Her eyes were silver.
He threw the body to the ground, clambered away and to his feet. The body shattered into blood and silver rivulets, dissipated with haze and static. Where Maire had been, where Hope had been: nothing.
The wind picked up.
Sam appeared above again. He folded from his vessel form, all shivers and digits, landed with a few stumbling steps as his human form.
“Allie? What happened? We got a beacon and…”
She didn’t answer. Wasn’t talking, wasn’t moving, just stood there beside Paul looking at the place where Maire had been.
“Paul?” No answer. “Adam?”
Silversens registered negative. West shifted to normal. “We found Maire. And Hope. And—” He shook his head. “I don’t fucking know.”
Alina looked up at the author. Caught his gaze down. A small hand grabbed a large hand. Just for a second, West could have sworn he had seen a merge in those hands.
HEILIGENSCHEIN
[login]: query((?))
[username]: Hocking, Peter: [variant trace: lock] [password]: ******* [verification]: [sample approved.]
[login]: success. [/login]
[search]: query((?)) [search]: [[Paul + Hughes] + [silver]] [search]: [run]
[/run]
[run]: [system: override] [run]: [command: interject]
[/run]
[run]: [read]: author: la biblio[“o]mnithèque universelle agent 66.14.7.050. title: of loss, of ruin: An Introduction. publication: Ein Journal des Instituts für die Erforschung des Heiligenscheineffektes.
[full text]:
Thank you, [Hocking, Peter], for your interest in [Hughes, Paul].
As you know, la biblio[“o]mnithèque universelle is still recovering from the effects of the Forever Dust. As such, results to your initial query may be incomplete or irretrievably lost. We are working to refine our recovery methods, and we assure you that the best teams of quantum-X string theorists are making valiant efforts to contain the loss of our database and re-integrate the mind-essence of our host soul caches.
[Hocking, Peter], your inquiry regarding [Hughes, Paul] presents several unique difficulties in that access to biographical elements of that particular string are severely restricted due to [[security + protocols] + [threat + matrix] + [containment + Forever + Dust]]. We hope, [Hocking, Peter] that you will understand our concerns when [(excerpts are expurgated due to aforementioned security concerns) + (incomplete data retrieval prevents total output of designated inquiry elements)].
We hope that you find [(designated output): [Hughes, Paul]] helpful and informative.
Sincerely,
agent 66.14.7.050 primary avatar re: [Hocking, Peter]: [inquiry #77.75.140] la biblio[“o]mnithèque universelle
[/read] [/run]
[run]: [read]: author: la biblio[“o]mnithèque universelle agent 66.14.7.050. title: of loss, of ruin: An Introduction: technical specifications [re: search results.] publication: Ein Journal des Instituts für die Erforschung des Heiligenscheineffektes.
[full text]:
[Hocking, Peter] [trace:(lock: 68.166.235.153)], your search re: [Hughes, Paul] was generated [Q3:07.14.2064] by temporal servers [B.0-B.6] [Sedna Core Information Archive: tight-beam encrypted transmission] outside of the plague zone quarantine demarcation [refer: Forever Dust]. la biblio[“o]mnitheque, in conjunction with des Instituts für die Erforschung des Heiligenscheineffektes, maintains quantum computing facilities [Omega-point hyperthreading techbase reverse-engineered from target Whens (salvage law compliant)] utilizing the best semantic web search engines available [B-LGoogle @ 147zettabytes/sec.(147x2^70mb/sec.) on MS/Halliburton™ dedicated a-zero servers].
This report represents the best assemblage of non-deepblack declassified intelligence fulfilling your designated search parameters [Paul + Hughes] + [silver]]. Due to ongoing security concerns regarding your line of inquiry, our engines have limited output, in cases removing sensitive passages and expurgating entire documents. This report embodies the most complete analysis of [Hughes, Paul] available to the public at this time. Due to ongoing concerns this Institute has [re: security clearance: Hocking, Peter], your access has been limited. You may re-query the database at any time after [Q3:07.21.2064] given bandwidth availability and continued access rights.
For your convenience, physical report [re: inquiry #77.75.140] has been printed on week-dissolve fiber. Your access to the digital output will expire [Q3:07.21.2064] to conserve resources.
We hope that you find [(designated output): [Hughes, Paul]] helpful and informative.
agent 66.14.7.050 primary avatar re: [Hocking, Peter]: [inquiry #77.75.140] la biblio[“o]mnithèque universelle
[/read] [/run]
[run]: [hack] [hack]
[display]: author: la biblio[“o]mnithèque universelle agent 66.14.7.050. title: untitled. direct/direct: [tracking lock]: [lock] [ghosting: subset]: [ghost] [full text]:
direct: [Hocking, Peter] re: [Hughes, Paul].
Well, you have balls, I’ll give you that much. Listen, I don’t have much time, so I’ll get right to the point. I’ve hacked the backend of lb’otu to send you this message and give you special access to your search results. The sysops would usually time out your connection and draft a threat matrix asap, given last year’s lockdown. I’ll let you in for as long as I can. Consider me your guardian angel.
You’re not unique. Everyone wants to know why he did it and where he went. I ran a search on you, and I think I know why you’re asking. I’m putting my ass on the line for you, not that I expect anything in return, but it’s information that needs to get out. Read it. Spread it.
If you’re looking for answers, you might not find them here. Much of it’s there, the influences, the actions, but as for intent…Who knows? We can fumble around the edge of his intent for as long as we’d like and never get to the core. It’s obvious he was troubled. He thought that he wrote worlds into existence. Given the forty billion dead across seventeen charted systems, given the silver infestation, maybe he did. I’m not a religious man, but he’s the closest we’ve found to Omega.