Henry Ledore

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(It doesn't hurt anymore. But that, perhaps, is the scariest thing of all. I think it is ending.)

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(I'm so tired.)

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(Henry...

...Just picture him tucking you into bed, Henry.)

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(You can finally sleep, Henry.)

(Master Randall is here?)

(Y-yes.)

...

(I can finally sleep...)

(Maybe I'm just being sent into the stream. Perhaps that is all this is. Do you think Master Randall will go looking for me, as I did for him?)

...

(Do I want him to believe that there is something in me to find, even when there isn't?)

(Haven't you always wanted that?)

(Haven't you?)

(Do all timelines share the same heaven?)

(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

(Will I get to go there?)

(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

(...I miss *my* Master Randall.)

(The cycle repeats.)

(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

(It's getting worse.)

(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

(Have you given up on me? On Henry?)

(...You could say that.)

(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

(I'm sorry.)

(I keep thinking about what that version of him said... About being created...

...Someone created this device, yes? And it is most of me now.)

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(I guess it doesn't really make any sense. But it worked. That was all that mattered.)

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(I'm sorry to whoever made it. I've broken their toy.)

(Hopefully the rest of them have escaped by now. Perhaps they're off in Stansbury... Yes, haha, that would be nice, wouldn't it?)

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(What would happen if I failed? If I...)

(The world would end.)

(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

(God... Haha... It's always been like that, yes? But now it is true...)

(I wonder where... I wonder where...)

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(...I need to apologize to Al. It turns out I was right all along. Perhaps it was silly to hope that he...)

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(God, I'm scared, haha! I don't know if I can even move... It's just like when... When I...)

(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

(I think it takes up most of my brain now.)

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(I wonder how it got there to begin with.)

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(Keats always called it a gift, didn't he?)

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(I wonder if he knows how much it has hurt me.)

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(I wonder where he is.)

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(I wonder where Master Randall is.)

(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

(What if nobody will be able to speak with me?)

(You speak nonsense, Henry. Hold yourself together.)

(It hurts.)

(It is nothing new.)

(It kills me.)

(It is nothing new!)

(It might get the better of me.)

(DON'T LET IT!)

(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

(Please don't yell...)

(What if it stops working?)

(Its only function is facilitating communication across large distances.)

(But what if I have become too reliant on it?)

(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

(As it is I so often forget who is near me.)

(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

(What if I can't speak to them anymore either?)

(Why do I feel as if this will kill me?)

(You can still see, can't you? The man you sit in front of? The resolution you are trying to come to?)

(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

(I don't know if I can. It is all... Gah, it's all too bright...!)

...

(He was always too bright for me.)

(..."Is".)

(Why? Why now?)

(Why ever...?)

(...Why would you ask me that?)

(!!!!!!!!)

(...It seems I too am malfunctioning, Henry.)

(Maybe it's because I am so afraid. God, if only he were...)

(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

(What if I don't get to say goodbye?)

(There are no goodbyes to say.)

(You don't know that!)

(What choice do I have?)

(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

(The same choice you have always had. And as you say, it isn't even a choice. You have always picked the same option.)

(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

(...I'm sorry. I don't know what's happening.)

(Nothing worth dwelling on...)

(Ha, at times like this I wonder if the damned thing will kill me...!)

(It cannot. Not yet, anyway. You still have business here. You still have promises to keep and debts to repay.)

(I never said...)

(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

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(Haha, it hurts...!)

(It always did. Now is no time to submit to it.)

(!!!!!!!!!)

(What? No, not again...! Gah, the device, it's...

...It's malfunctioning again.)

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(I can't hear anything but ringing.)

(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

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(Can anyone hear me?)

(You are not speaking.)

(Can anyone hear me?)

(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

...

(You have your answer.)

...

...I would have to be at liberty to ask Randall. The money is his, after all. It is not my decision to make.

(Thank god. Oh, thank god! Whatever it is...)

...What do you want?

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(I shouldn't have to make a deal with him. It is passive and cowardly of me to accept. But as long as the city is safe, I really couldn't care less.)

...!

(...Well, young Master Randall turned into a sort of dog-creature, didn't he? Though this is a smidge more alarming.)

In your universe? Randall *is* inheriting it here, albeit indirectly. It is true; it was always supposed to be him.

Do you mean...

...

(Remember what Keats said, Henry?)

No, you are not wrong. It does belong to Randall. And that will continue to be the case.

(Clearly he does not agree with that, Henry. Do not be so forceful. Cooperate and perhaps there shall be an agreeable outcome.)

(Am I wrong, though?)

(...No.)

...

...?

(...Sure.)

(I cannot really engage with him at present, but part of me is always tuned to his signal...)

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(..."Wikigroups"? What do you mean, asking if we were "made by children"? Who is "we"?

Well, meaningless words have meant everything these past few months. I cannot call this nonsense. And yet...)

(I wish I weren't so helpless! I built this city for him, and I can't... God, I can't even guarantee he isn't...)

(Shut up. Shut UP! Don't you DARE even suggest such things.)

(I... I'm sorry.)

(Being frightened is no excuse, Henry.)

(I know. I'm sorry.)

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(Perhaps he will save me...)

(What other option do I have?)

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...Stay safe.

("Liberation"... From him? Or...

...From me?)

(I do not trust a word he says. And yet... Looking into his eyes...)

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(...No, this can't be some version of him, can it?)

What exactly do you mean by "compromise"?

(That villain is right, though... What happened to...?

...It is a sight I am relieved to be barred from, of course. But something is clearly wrong. Who or what spirited him...)

(What's left of him.)

(...Away?)

(Thank God...!)

...

...I'm sorry.

(Pathetic!)

(...I'm sorry. I don't know what to do.)

(I suppose it's only poignant that he shares his real name with Master Randall. His blood will be on your hands as well unless you figure it out, Henry.)

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...

(Pathetic.)