FALAHA'S JOURNEY Into Pleasure | 18+

17. BARO

I'm lying with my eyes closed, drifting in thoughts about my newly-found state of being. Maybe it isn't all that new. Do people like me ever change?

Calculated risks are the hallmark of the adventurer. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with it. Every climbing attempt is a calculated undertaking, but it is also a gamble.

There's nothing inherently wrong with having the morals of a mountaineer: an ambitious risk-taker, who is also as crime-prone as he is a trustworthy person to rely on. In the mountains, the line between selflessness and selfishness can be a matter of life and death, and this duality is deeply ingrained in my core.

My father's death. He was not the only guide in his final expedition, but he chose to be the selfless one. Our family breakdown. My accounts with abusive people. My methods of keeping my kennar together. My encounter with Falaha's family. My grave mistakes and my greatest victories, big and small. All of that has shaped who I am today.

This is who I am.

But the most important thing is that I am.

I exist.

My complete and final trust in Falaha—and accepting death at her hands—was the ultimate, final gamble and also an act of ultimate trust.

I won this one.

But so did she, trusting me when she needed me and accepting me as I was. Not to mention that she definitely figured out that something was going on in my body—my soma. That injection... my execution was the real deal... I really... really had died there a little.

This drug withdrawal from the biotic liquid, they must have injected me with that one before waking me up. Why? To cover up the fact of my soma existence or to cover up her abilities?

My soma isn't any good, so probably the latter—I couldn't possibly survive the death serum without Falaha's intervention. And it seems like she did not have any other options for me to survive. There's definitely more to this story.

Will she tell me if I ask?

I still come out selfish, but I also have and found people I deeply care for.

I want to care.

Will I be allowed to?

Urgent Care is a nice place. There is no rush of emergencies and the room I am in is spacious, with only four beds. Two of them are unoccupied.

There are only two patients here now. The other guy was brought here sometime after me. He seems familiar, but he is so messed up it is hard to tell who it is. I can't take a better look now since he is behind the curtain that separates our beds. He's clearly a Danna, otherwise he'd be in ER.

It's a quiet morning, and I drift from dream to wake states, while my body recuperates. I close my eyes again, enjoying the peace and being alive.

"Oi, Tagranat's kid—Baro is it?" A low, gravelly voice calls to me from behind the pale-green fabric 'wall'. "That you?" A familiar voice.

"Yes," I reply. The other guy is definitely alive and conscious.

"Ah, good. My grandkids and that brute son of mine were worried."

Oh. The guy I share a room with is Yaren Falgh, Orewen's father. I met him on the last day of war. I also realize why he is here now in such condition.

"So your son's fake ID wasn't of any use," I say, smiling.

"Security never sleeps," he replies with a laugh. "And my kids never miss the opportunity to gang up on this old man here. If Anika wasn't enough, she just had to call both Kieren and Ore! And if Rifa had been available at the time, I'd be dead for sure! Kids these days!" I hear rustling and then the curtain opens. The guy is taking off his patient's clothes and pulls on somehow-acquired medical attire. "Well, it was nice knowing you, young man. Before I leave I must thank you for providing a day's worth of father's fun together with my stubborn youngest son. The older he gets, the more non-compliant he becomes, and I had such a rare opportunity while we both went to steal your body from the Core chamber after your execution. It was definitely worth the risk!"