Summary: Written and read by ApocD.nbsp; One chapter remains. With the network down, it was difficult to get accurate information, but from what the communications people at Pana-Wave could get, the killing had stopped. More of the delegate's data had been decrypted. The pre-phants, while the delegate had been in charge of the program, had not only developed low-level sentience, but something else had happened as well. The details were still few, but it seemed that some communications, although mostly garbled, had come through the pre-phants, that they'd been used as transmitters. After his experience speaking with the alien baby, Streis had little doubt where those transmissions had come from. He just wondered why they had failed with the pre-phants, why the new aliens were even necessary. The transport shook as it dropped to rest on the street in front of Kitty O'Shea's. There were landing pads scattered throughout the Umeda area, but they were all on the tops of buildings, and with the power out it made more sense to just put down on the street, where it had been days since any cars had passed. Streis, Reed, and Rachel Carter stepped out of the transport. Their pilot, Ito, stayed behind, ready to take them back at the first sign of trouble. When asked, he'd told them only that he'd been busy, with no other explanation of where he had been. There were abandoned cars on the street, but not many, and there were some cars that had been in accidents. The tall buildings blocked most of the remaining sunlight; a cool breeze moved up the street. As they stepped onto the sidewalk, Streis stepped over a puddle of blood. The body was gone, though, and when he looked around, he saw that the street and sidewalks were clear of bodies. He wondered if the bodies had been taken away for his comfort.
