Be the Light

12. The Avatar

"What's that?" Yunho asked in awe. He drew in and Wooyoung also studied the appearance on the big screen. Seonghwa was part of the primary system now, but they couldn't figure out what he was showing them.

Tense, San sat by Wooyoung's feet. He avoided Mingi's gaze, but their trader was too occupied with Seonghwa and his cure for now.

With big eyes, Hongjoong clung to the console and marveled at the figure. Its edges were angular like squares, but it vaguely resembled a human. White hair hung into dark eyes and the body was dressed in whites and grays, neutral colors well visible against the dark background.

"This is me!" Seonghwa announced and when several group members flinched at the volume bounding around the corners, he lowered his voice. The figure dashed left and right without using its legs as Seonghwa excitedly showed it off.

"You?" Yunho asked. He studied the dormant laptop, worried yet again that Seonghwa had been a person trapped inside.

"This is called an avatar. So to speak, a figure I made to represent myself. I made it during our trip to make it easier to identify me within the system. Now you have a face to remember me by," Seonghwa explained proudly. Jongho clapped for him and Wooyoung liked this idea. Though Seonghwa always illustrated his words with images and sound cues, this was a charming method of signalizing where he was in the much larger system of this computer. The laptop was his playground, but he shared his function with many others now and it was easy to lose sight of him.

"Pretty," Hongjoong cooed. He rested his cheek on his forearms and his eyes were finally at peace as they sparkled up at the avatar on the display. Seonghwa waved it around to share their excitement and Hongjoong's eyes followed the figure, struck.

"Then this is our Seonghwa; nice to meet you!" Yunho cheered. With a hopeful grin, Jongho leaned by Hongjoong's side. Yeosang crouched by his feet and checked on the fungus on Jongho's calf. He listened to every word above, but his brows were narrow with concern. Since he didn't want to ruin their moment, he waited with his diagnosis.

Mingi's joy looked pale, but he received some painkillers and fresh bandages. He would make it.

Now all that was left to do was to cure the world.

"Can you find everything you need?" Jongho asked, giddy it worked. The computer was functional and Seonghwa's little figure floated around as he typed and searched away to adjust his needs. Though Jongho kept a wrench at the ready, the rest of the processes were internal.

"I think so. I can access the locations of the satellites and some don't work anymore after all this time, but that will be fine. Even if the signal won't reach everywhere, the skies will clear at a strong enough pulse. Same with the water. We can always bring the rest down later, though I doubt any will stay once the climate balances. For now, we start with what we have."

Clueless, the rest of them hovered while Seonghwa worked. They couldn't help him in there and Wooyoung felt so useless all of a sudden. There was nothing to shoot. Just San at his feet, who hung his head in defeat. He looked so hopeless he didn't even need to be guarded.

Though Wooyoung wouldn't risk stepping away, just in case Mingi's arm happened to be strong enough to lift his gun.

"The antenna needs some manual adjustments. Can one of you, who isn't hurt, go up and angle it until I tell you it's fine?"

Yunho took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves.

"Count on me. I'm an expert climber." When his eyes crossed Wooyoung and found the resonating fear in his eyes, he winked. No stopping that man. He had to restore his honor.