He squeezed the trigger.
“Blade Runner,” Lucian said. His voice was soft, almost musical. “I wondered which one they’d send.”
“Chaos,” Lucian whispered. “A billion random drops, each one independent, each one falling alone. You see a storm. I see… a pattern. I’ve been alive for forty-one months, Kael. I’ve seen a million sunrises on a screen, but I’ve never felt one on my face. I’ve tasted rain, but never a strawberry. I’ve heard music, but I’ve never touched the hand that made it. And I’m terrified. That’s the part they left out of the programming. The fear of the dark at the end.”
His target was down there. Designation: NEX-6. Name: Lucian.
“Thanks,” Lucian whispered, as his legs buckled. “For the… pattern.”
“To retire a faulty appliance,” Lucian said. He gestured to the water falling around him. “But I wasn’t running. I came here.”
The water fell in a chaotic, frantic rhythm. Hitting the stage in a frantic, meaningless clatter. It was just water.
He squeezed the trigger.
“Blade Runner,” Lucian said. His voice was soft, almost musical. “I wondered which one they’d send.”
“Chaos,” Lucian whispered. “A billion random drops, each one independent, each one falling alone. You see a storm. I see… a pattern. I’ve been alive for forty-one months, Kael. I’ve seen a million sunrises on a screen, but I’ve never felt one on my face. I’ve tasted rain, but never a strawberry. I’ve heard music, but I’ve never touched the hand that made it. And I’m terrified. That’s the part they left out of the programming. The fear of the dark at the end.”
His target was down there. Designation: NEX-6. Name: Lucian.
“Thanks,” Lucian whispered, as his legs buckled. “For the… pattern.”
“To retire a faulty appliance,” Lucian said. He gestured to the water falling around him. “But I wasn’t running. I came here.”
The water fell in a chaotic, frantic rhythm. Hitting the stage in a frantic, meaningless clatter. It was just water.
