Target Aquisition

Finding x0x0 wasn't so much a matter of going and looking, but making it known I wanted to talk to her. She knew where to find me and would when possible. Business rags, gossip tabloids, and intel assessments aside, I'm genuinely fond of x0x0. I don't pretend to be able to fully understand her, but that's another matter. Still, I knew where Lily and Aurora were concerned, she'd either let me know where she was or she'd come to see me herself.

I know x0x0 is doing her best to explain to me what's going on with Lily and Aurora and Blue and her brother Mindo, and how Krenshar's come to fit into the whole thing. And, to be honest, I have trouble wrapping my brain around it. The biology and biochemistry are beyond me, though I admit neither are my forte. Of course, even Uncle Sobi, who is a biochemist, shakes his head and says "Sorry, Mei Mei, don't got enough data."

Unlike the biochemistry, I could follow the psychology. The Metaphysics though? Sentient's and Souls? That was the kind of discussion Shepherds and Monks had. When it came to souls, I was never sure whether x0 and I were talking about the same thing. Was a person's Ghost the same as their soul? Where they two names for the same thing? Where they separate? Did either even really exist, and did any of us understand it? The Shepherds talked about heaven while Buddhist monks talked about reincarnation. Couldn't both be right, yet billions of people believed in each Way. Billions more believed in nothing at all.

I didn't pretend to know. But to me at least, Lily was real. She had a Ghost, or a Soul, or whatever you wanted to call it. So did Aurora. So did Krenshar and Raids. They were people. I wanted to keep them all alive.

Such as it is.

The situation, as x0 described it, was complex. I'm not sure I understand it well enough to even try and explain it to someone else. The bottom line, though, was that Aurora, as she was now, was incomplete and trying to recover herself. Lily was more complete than she was supposed to be because Aurora, as she was before, as AuroraBlue, had demonstrated The Third Principle of Sentient Life: the capacity for self-sacrifice. For a cause, a loved one, for a friend. For her mother.

But that was before. This was now. AuroraBlue had become Aurora. Not just in the shortened form of her name I used, but a psychologically different individual. Her agenda was much as Krenshar's had been when he was under the influence of the corrupted Frame, and every bit as dangerous to the folk who called Hale's Moon home. It seemed likely she'd try and corrupt or kill anyone who got in the way of her plan. Except possibly me. Dragons don't kill their own kind?

You have much to learn
Dragons do not harm their own
A lesson coming

I knew far more of the details now, and the realization that AuroraBlue had been complete. Something in that realization had been enough to induce x0x0 to faint, and then slip fully into unconsciousness. But the last words she spoke before drifting off were "Save Lily."

That is the plan.

Of course, it was easier said than done. Keeping x0x0 safe aboard Wave Equation until she woke up was a non-issue. Given the proximity between Blue Sun's facilities and Krenshar's installation in the Destiny section, she was safer on my boat than she'd be either in our infirmary or her own offices. But the information that Aurora herself had arranged for Lily to be the 'target' of some kind of hunt actually narrowed my search parameters considerably.

Whoever they were, they wouldn't try to end Lily until they got word from Aurora. With Aurora still occupied on Hale's I had time to track them down and intervene. There were several options, of course. The lowest impact would be getting Aurora to order them to let her go. That was something I might actually be able to fake given a little more information on how the deal was arranged. Another alternative was simply paying them the agreed fee, or more if required, to not try and kill Lily. It was potentially expensive, but I was willing to deal with that. The final option was to simply go in and recover her myself. Part of me actually wanted to execute on that option. I'd never had a fondness for slavers and putting a few out of their misery would be a Kindness.

But that was a last resort. I still had to locate the target, though, hopefully, I'd know where they were by the time x0x0 woke up. When I knew where they were, and who they were, I'd be able to formulate the rest of the plan to bring Lily home. Or at least out of harms way. At home, there was still Aurora and the threats she posed.

Time draining like sand
Sister in peril unknown
It must be enough