Shel

Love is a virus.

The tall man approached carrying something in his great, huge arms.  The effect was confusing due to his massive size.  The thing in his arms looked too small by comparison to be humanoid but its shape was unmistakable and I cringed as if struck as I realized that it must be Shel.

In his language, he said words softly that must have meant 'I'm sorry'.  He laid the body at my feet, spoke again in the garbled pigeon language of his holy race, bowed in a manor which threatened to tip all the way over like a collapsing skyscraper and strode away elegantly.

I turned my attention the Shel and quietly prayed that he was even a little bit alive.  When I reached his side, I saw that it was too late.  Much of the flesh had been burned clean from his sleek metallic skeleton.  The giant Feyan monk had wrapped Shel in a prayer cloth as was the thoughtful tradition of his people.  It vibrated gently as it attempted to knit new skin tissue over the frame but there was simply not enough original skin to graft to.  The pale glow of the prayer cloth reflected in glints off Shel's lifeless body and I could hear the cloth reciting the foreign words which would lead Shel's soul back to the Source.

I knew I should be happy for his Translation but at this moment I could only feel the deletion of lines of positive emotional code from my memory.  The sensation was excruciating as Shel's personality was ripped from me.  I did not know what would be left when he was gone.

I sat in silence as the process continued.  In time, the sensation mellowed and the pain dulled and I was very close to losing all memory of Shel. 

I stared at the lifeless form of my companion and began to lose recognition.  The nimble hands seared.  The eyes, almost forgotten to me.  I stood, took a few breaths and began to walk away.  Moments later the code began to change.  Certain parts began to reposition in my neural network.  This time in the the permanent memory storage.

The lines of code reassembled and I could feel the words form.

....I LOVE YOU....I WILL NEVER FORGET...I WILL BE WAITING WHEN YOU TRANSLATE....WE WILL BE ONE WITH THE SOURCE...

   Someone had left this coded message in my mind.  Someone very close to me.

....someone, but I could no longer remember who....

I continued on across the scruff dessert near sunset, reciting the code as I did.