RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist[Bolt:] Realistic? That chafes in a sensitive spot. There's no chance that the syndicate is going to forget the blackmail they have on me. My goal of winning freedom to live a normal life without looking over my shoulder ain't possible. My goals, as they always have, really, boil down to what flying, friends, and fun I can manage to have.
First, I'll fly faster, farther, and more fearlessly than anyone else, while I still can. I'll continue to train hard. This day angel has feathers on her wings for a reason!
I've worked to stay away from civilians because the mob knows who I know. Not fair. It's dangerous. I'm poison by association. But, having run into a bunch of people recently who seem determined—they insist, imagine that!—I'm not against working to ensure they learn nothing about my work, and that they refrain from telling me their weaknesses, or certainly not remembering them! I realized I don't like loneliness, so I'm making excuses… Anyway! My second goal will be to protect these new friends—I can't (maybe won't) push away—from harm. My friend Blue became a praetorian recently; nobody's messing with him, anymore. He's kinda strait-laced; he ain't gonna accept how I've had to be misbehaving these last dozen years, so, no, he's not my ticket out.
Since high school, I've found men a definite close second to flying, and when I can do both? As with Blue? Bliss. The Bureau of Human Trafficking gives every woman a genetic registry book (and men a card with only a number). My third goal is to collect at least a dozen half-dozen† IDs! I'm over half-way there now at age 30. I even jot down names to remember better.
I guess I need to make a fourth goal, or to combine a fourth with the third. I must never bear a child. Imagine me bearing one, beholden to the syndicate, raising her in the mob? [Shudders.]
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† Their numbering system is in dozens, counting the palm as well as the fingers and toes.
[Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.]
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