Len's final destination was a grand estate in the suburbs. It was home to a prominent royal, and tonight he was throwing a party to celebrate a recent scientific breakthrough. Len used her family's name and connections to get an invite, and she and Rick entered a grand auditorium, each of them dressed equally as grandly as the room itself.

Their goal was to make connections among the scientific elite, and she let Rick take the lead, but after a dozen conversations filled with nothing but small talk, Len led Rick to a secluded section of floor. It was next to a glass wall that revealed trees bathed in dusk. As she stared at them she let out a loud sigh.

"It doesn't appear that you're built for this."

"I just hate all the small talk."

"It's just a means to an end, but I hear what you're saying." Rick said.

Suddenly, Len looked at Rick, as if a switch had been flipped in her mind. "I'm making you a hype video."

"Really now?" Rick said with a laugh. "I'm afraid you don't have much to go on."

"That's where you can help." Len said. "How did you first hear about Core?"

"What do you mean?"

"You rescued her but I'm unsure about the details."

"It was a joke."

"A joke?"

"Our ship had stopped and I heard one of my men quip that the military was acting cowardly because they had to talk to a girl. And I knew in my heart that he said it, so I mounted an expedition to meet this girl."

"How did you get her attention?"

"We used our tablets to make a smiley face."

"Really?" Len said. "That's awesome."

"Will that help?"

"Yeah, I have everything I need."

"If you can stomach it, I'd like to get a few more contacts." Len nodded. "But first, let us rest for a while."

...

"Some people are here to interview you." Cogopher said.

"About what?" Core-ball said.

"Your history, I guess. That's what they did with me. Just so you know, they work for Godsapp, so whatever you say will go out to the whole universe."

"Okay."

As Core looked on, the two men came into the room and came over to her.

"I'm Micah and this is Doug." The first man said, gesturing to his partner. "Shall we get started?"

Core nodded.

"What do you want the wish for?"

"To get a blood sample. Of my own blood."

"That's an odd request. Why do you need a sample?"

"I don't need it; it's for Rick."

"Who's Rick?"

"The one who saved me. He's the greatest scientist in the universe."

"And what does he need it for?" Micah said.

"If he pushes too much, let me know. Keeping him in line is part of my job." Doug cut in.

Core laughed.

"He wants to study it. He thinks it's the reason I I'm a kaiju. Maybe he'll find something wonderful inside it."

"Are you invincible?"

Core nodded, then corrected herself. "I think Rick would say that I'm impervious to weapons."

"That's all the questions we have. Thanks for your time." Micah said. "If you don't mind, there's one more thing. We think our audience would love seeing you in action, so we were hoping you would humor us."

"Okay. I'll ask Cogopher if I can play with the Mobile Cogs."

"I'm right here." Cogopher said. "And I'll okay it."

...

"She was so cute! I almost talked to her." Coreball said.

"I know! She was devastated." Cogopher said. "You're not supposed to disappear on people."

"I'm making so much progress!" Core continued, as if she didn't hear Cogopher at all.

"What kind of music do you like?"

"Synthwave and Indie Folk, mostly. And you?"

"The Greasemonkeys!" Core said. "Irene's dancing was so awesome!" Coreball began to move back and forth quickly.

"What are you doing?"

"Dancing?"

"I didn't program you for that. Please stop."

"No! I like it!" Core said. "Join me!"

Cogopher began imitating Core, but the sight of it made her laugh, and before she knew it, she was laughing uncontrollably, and every time she saw his serious face, new peals of laughter would burst out from her, until she could no longer keep "dancing".

…

As Rick was relaxing after dinner, Len approached him, holding her tablet.

"Do you have Godsapp?" Rick shook his head. "There's a story about Core. It just went up." Len said. "I'll get you set up."

Rick handed over his tablet and excitedly watched Len work.

"There you go. See; it's at the top of the page!" Len said.

Rick was about to see the story for himself, but Len still lingered.

"Was there something else?"

"My hype video went viral. Just search for your name." Len said.

Rick watched the video on Godsapp. Then he watched Len's hype video with rapt attention. Then he turned his eyes to the comment section and his mind began to race as he fell into the depths of despair.

Everyone was calling him a hero, but that couldn't be. Surely it couldn't be! He was nothing but an ambitious scientist. Unless... maybe he was wrong this whole time?

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Rick's thoughts turned to his distant past and his near past, and each thought raced so quickly that they blended together into a cacophony. But there was a trail, and he followed it, deep into the recesses of his own psyche. Time passed quickly, and he soon found himself waking from a night of restful sleep.

Next, he was in the shower wailing to himself and pounding his chest and shouting "I saved her! I saved her!". And as quickly as the thoughts came, the revelations came. Revelations of past abuse that shaped him into a man who could never call himself a hero. Then there was Len. A quiet presence that listened to each revelation with increasing glee. And she did not cry out when Rick would wail and exclaim, but she trusted him when he told her that it was happy crying.

And then days began to accelerate, until he lost track of one, but at this time he was coming off of his high. His despair had been made complete and Rick was returning to Rick.

"You had me take notes." Len said.

"Did I?" Rick said. "Thank you." He looked across the dining room table at the Len who was not Len. During his healing process, his view of her had changed. He'd known she was beautiful, but now her countenance shown with a radiance he had never known. But those feelings could wait. "What did I miss?"

"You have a pile of requests." Len said. "A really big pile."

"I suppose we'll have to sort through them. Oh, what a problem to have!" Rick said. "And for that we'll need coffee."

With that, Len excused herself to make the coffee, which left Rick alone in the dining room. His mind wandered and his eyes wandered nowhere in particular until they noticed something unusual. It was faint, almost unnoticeable, but now that he'd seen it, he couldn't unsee it. Hurriedly he walked to Len.

"We need to turn off the lights." he said, taking care not to startle her as she worked.

She looked at him briefly. "Which ones?"

"All of them."

Rick followed her as she walked to a console on the wall, and with a few button presses, plunged the Bacon of Night into darkness.

"Can you see it?" Rick asked.

"Fire. No, it isn't fire. What is it?"

"Let's follow it." Rick said, referring to a line of light that extended out from him, like a trail of white fire. The line extended downwards, toward the bowels of the ship. As they neared the bowels, they saw a faint glow ahead, coming from a large storage room. "I bet it's her samples."

They entered the storage room and the trail led up to a collection of heavy-duty containers, which were glowing, casting their white light like a flame.

Without fear, Rick approached one of the containers and flipped open its lid, revealing long strands of glowing white hair.

"She gave them to me!" Rick exclaimed. "To me and me alone. This light is mine!" As he finished speaking, the light began to move, engulfing Rick in a cloak of white fire. It was quite a show, and through it all, Len clung to Rick's side. "Sanctumlight! I'll call it Sanctumlight!" He basked in the light, and began moving it around the room, even going as far as to bring some close enough for Len to touch with her delicate fingers.

"Len, my glorious Len, I need some lab equipment."

Len turned on her tablet and began scrolling. "It looks like you got a new request."

"Oh?"

"From the King." Len beamed. "Congratulations!"

...

"Have you heard about the scavenger hunt?" Menakin said.

"That it's canceled?" Coreball said.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay."

"I just came to tell you that we'll be heading back soon. We'll be taking it easy; I'm making sure everyone has a lot of downtime to process and celebrate. That includes you."

"Okay."

"I think they're throwing a party on deck 3 if you want to check it out."

"I will."

"Then, farewell."

"Farewell."

...

Len opened the door. "Greetings, your majesty."

"Greetings to you." King Merek said, before he stepped inside the Beacon of Night.

Rick watched his entrance and approached the king with his hand outstretched. Merek took and shook it.

"Shall we talk in the dining room?" Rick said. Merek nodded. Rick let Merek take a seat at the table, then sat across from him. "What brings you here, O king?"

"Merek please." Merek said. "I guess I just wanted to meet you."

"The feeling's mutual." Rick said. "I'm sure we can find a few more things to discuss."

"I admit I am curious about one thing. My account got credited with a bunch of points thanks to you, but I have no clue what you actually discovered."

"Len, could you get the lights?" A moment later, the dining room was plunged in darkness, which quickly dissipated as Rick began to glow with white fire. "This fire is called sanctumlight."

"Sanctumlight."

"It was a gift from Core, though I don't think she even knew of its existence. Would you like to hear what it can do?"

Merek nodded.

"It gives mankind Core's power. Flight. The ability to walk on space. Increased strength and speed. I believe it will also have applications in technology but that would require more research. Since she only gave this energy to me, I'm the only one who can use it." Merek sat there awestruck and Rick was content to let him sit. "I can move it around." Rick said and began moving the fire around the room. "And change its intensity." The room began to dim, then returned to its original light level. "It really is remarkable."

"It truly is." Merek said breathless. "Would you like to join me in the race?"

"What are the risks?"

"Whoever loses life or limb will regain it once the race ends."

"Then I'm on board. Do I get a plus one?"

"Of course."

"Then how would Len feel about joining the race as my bride-to-be?" Len squealed in happiness. "Now that that's settled, could you turn on the lights?"

Once the lights flicked on, Merek hurried to his feet, but not hurriedly enough to seem rude.

"I really must be going, but I'll be in contact. Thank you for your hospitality. And for humoring me."

With that, he was gone, leaving behind an ecstatic Len and a bemused Rick.

…

"You awake?" Cogopher said.

Core opened her eyes and mumbled a yes. Her vision was filled with a blue sky and her pale skin was touched by blades of grass. "I bought you a concert ticket."

"You did?"

"It's for the biggest concert in the whole universe. You know, this ticket wasn't easy to get."

"Where's your ticket?"

"I'm too busy." Cogopher said. "But don't worry; I'll be there in spirit."

"Hm." Core said. "Thank you."

"Does that mean you'll go?" Core mumbled a yes. "Good. I know you'll love it."

...

The Race took place in front of a giant gate. The gate looked like it was made of white ceramic, but was formed into a shape that looked futuristic and manmade.

Each contestant country could send no more than one ship through, but it could be as big or as small as they liked.

The rules were simple and well-known among everyone in the contestant countries. The first rule was the killing was allowed. The second rule was that whichever ship crossed the finish line first would be guaranteed a wish from Alegway.

The race's route and obstacles were also well-known for Alegway was a God of planning and he loved seeing the plans of his children.

Merek's ship was of a similar size to the other contestants, who had already gathered at the gate. It looked very much like a log cabin, on the inside as well as the outside, and the king himself took his place on the bridge. Len and Rick also took their place beside him, next to an expansive glass window. Other officials also gathered there. Though Merek was a young man, it seemed he was unafraid to delegate and Rick had the distinct impression that he was also nothing more than a spectator.

Then the gate opened and each team was given a countdown. Once it clicked zero, there would be a 5 minute period of cease fire, where each team could set their plan in motion.

The countdown counted down quickly, and in a flash, Merek's ship, the Marauding Dawn, passed through the gate.

…

When Core spawned into the concert venue, she was immediately overwhelmed with excitement. She didn't expect to be, but she was when she saw hundreds of excited people spread out before her. There was a constant background noise of people chatting and the atmosphere felt electric; a feeling Core couldn't remember feeling before.

She wandered for a while, just taking in the experience. There were bathrooms, which she thought was weird, but she wasn't brave enough to explore them, but she did buy a giant violet glow stick from a vendor.

Soon she found herself in the concert hall, being led there by a steady trickle of people. The concert hall was massive, with enough room for thousands of people, and Core's excitement only grew as she found her seat right in the front row. As soon as she settled in, a countdown appeared on the stage, and the empty seats began filling up rapidly.

Some people were whooping and waving their glow sticks around, and Core joined them, tentatively at first, then more boldly, until she was a seamless part of the audience; a single wave amid a vast, swaying ocean.

Then the first band took the stage. And they began playing.

...

The Marauding Dawn passed through the gate.

Immediately, its stealth field was activated and the ship start its programmed flight.

The bridge was quiet, save for the sound of precise status updates from the crew.

The countdown passed quickly. As soon as it did so, the status updates came much more frequently; mostly letting the captain know the relative positions of the other contestants, or sometimes their proximity to an obstacle, like a giant pillar or bank of fog.

Rick only half paid attention to the updates; he was too caught up in his own thoughts, but he still talked to Len from time to time, to see how she was doing, but her mood was very similar to his own. She was drinking in the moment and Rick could only wonder what her private thoughts looked like.

Then an update caught Rick's attention. It sounded urgent. A competitor had already been defeated. Then another update came, just like it. Then another. And another. The number of competitors was dwindling rapidly though the Marauding Dawn had seen no signs of danger. If it was concerning, it didn't show. Everyone had their role to fill and they were content to do so, come glory or death.

As Rick looked out at space, something winked into existence. A brightness. A ship that looked like a star. Then the Marauding Dawn shook. It had suffered some sort of attack though the star hadn't moved in the seconds since it'd shown up.

Then the ship disappeared. Damage was assessed and it was deemed serious but not crippling. And the Marauding Dawn continued, only to suffer a similar attack a few seconds later. And then another. And another.

Then the star appeared for a final time. This time it didn't wink out of existence, but simply stared, unreadable. Then it began to glow, an ominous glow which bloomed like a lens flare until the ship's very form could no longer be seen for all the light.

In that moment, Rick fully expected to die.