Week 44.1 – Finished

Previously: With the destruction of the City of the Moon and the defeat of Ghost Dragon, everything seemed to be resolved. But then Twain began to dig frantically through the rubble. And now…

“What are you doing?” Digger asked.

Twain didn’t answer, but merely sat back once he had uncovered a portion of what he was looking for.

Yi Fan.

The rocks had partially crushed her face, but her head was still intact. Twain flung aside the rest of the rocks covering her body as the Ghost faintly wailed his displeasure from the fragments of crystal which remained.

“I’m sorry, man,” said Digger. “I mean, I know she was like, the evil enforcer for the Czar or whatever, but… I don’t know, she seemed all right.”

“She was,” said Twain. “And she will be again.”

Twain gently cupped Yi Fan’s head between his hands and summoned the River’s power. Yi Fan’s body began to glow from the inside. Digger watched in fascination as her face reshaped itself, the broken pieces of bone realigning and fusing under her skin.

And then her limbs twitched and her eyes opened.

Twain smiled. “She’s alive,” he said.

Yi Fan’s eyes moved randomly, looking at the world without really seeing it. Her fingers scratched and slapped at the ground, her arms and tensed and shook, but she made no effort to get up.

“What’s happening?” Twain asked.

“I don’t know,” Digger said. “It’s like everything’s working, but not together.”

[blockquote type=”blockquote_quotes” align=”right”]Our lives are made of scars.[/blockquote]“Her brain is damaged,” Twain said. “I can fix that.”

“Wait,” said Cole. “Don’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’ve seen it happen before,” said Cole. “And it’s not something you want to see. Especially with someone you love.”

“What are you talking about?” Twain asked. He let the glow fade. Yi Fan’s spasms continued for a few seconds, then subsided.

Digger placed a hand on her chest. “Her heart stopped.”

“I can start it again,” Twain said. He turned to Cole. “But why do you say I can’t fix her?”

“Because the brain isn’t like other organs,” Cole said. “Boon explained it to me, the other time. Other organs, you pretty much want to keep them intact, like new. But the brain is constantly being changed inside, by our experiences. New pathways are formed that harden into memories. Everything that defines you–your personality, your past–they’re like scars in your brain, a series of pathways that is unique to you. Our lives are made of scars.”

“And if I heal her brain, I heal the scars,” Twain said. “She wouldn’t remember me.”

“She wouldn’t remember anything,” Cole said. “If you’re lucky. If you’re not lucky, you’ll do the other thing.”

“What other thing?”

“You’ll cause the neurons to grow out of control,” Cole said. “Everything will connect to everything else. She won’t just remember everything, but it will all, her entire life, seem to be happening to her at the same time. It’s…” He shook his head. “You don’t want to see someone go through that. Seriously. You can’t bring her back.”

Twain laid Yi Fan’s head on the ground and bowed his head in thought. After a moment, he said, “I can still save her. There’s another way.”

What’s Twain’s plan? Can it succeed? Find out in our next episode!

To read from the beginning, click here…