Wave had put her lenses back in place. That had been the easier of the two steps. The one without danger.

"I’d ask you to turn up the volume on the hearing aid, once you’ve put it in, but I don’t want to break even more things in your head," Ember said.

"I can’t get much crazier than that. After all, I’m following your crazy advice."

"Oh Wave, you don’t have to be afraid, I’m right here with you."

"No, you’re sitting far away and in safety."

"I wouldn’t say that. After all, the door could open at any time, my History teacher could show up. Then she would force me to listen to stories of the past. How the Council decided to open the gates and allow people to live a new life in the freedom of the New World. I could puke at the thought."

Wave shrugged. "I’ll put the hearing aid back on now. Wish me luck."

"Good luck."

She put the hearing aid back on and Aki’s voice sounded in her ear.

"To all of you just tuning in now, have a wonderful morning. From my studio, I can see the sun bathing the towers of the city in blood-red light. Whether this augurs ill for the future ... no, I can’t say that ... mmh ..."

"Hello?" Wave breathed tentatively into the empty space of her apartment. She took a deep breath. Why was she so nervous?

"Hey, Wave." Now that he was addressing her directly, his deep voice had that raspy edge again. A raspy undertone that sent a shiver down her spine. If he wasn’t the original, he could imitate the hell out of it.

"Do you know me?" Wave asked.

"When do you really know someone? But no, only from a distance."

That sounded suspiciously like a stalker. "What do you mean?"

"I’m a fan of the Arena, but you should know that. I talk about the Arena every night."

"You ... are you really Aki?"

"I am ... I was. I’m not sure. It’s so hard for me to remember things when ... when .... ah, what was I going to say?"

"You lost your memory?"

"Yes, part of it at least. But, how can you tell what you forgot if you don’t even know what you knew before?"

Wave felt her tension ease. It sounded crazy, but not in a threatening way.

"There’s something to that. Tell me, Aki, if you really are Aki, how do you know that I am Wave."

"I saw you when you picked me up. I ... I guess not me directly. I don't know for sure, where I am right now. This very moment, I’m looking past your ear, into your apartment."

"Creepy," Wave whispered.

"What’s going on?" Ember squeaked in her other ear.

"This person, who might be Aki, can see my apartment."

"It’s really me," it grumbled in one ear and "No surprise" in the other.

"Oh, can you both stop talking at the same time? One after another, please. Ember, why isn’t it a surprise?"

"Your hearing aid is from the Kanter Group, isn’t it?"

"Yes. So what?"

"Then I’m sure it won’t just be able to hear. They’re putting cameras everywhere."

"Oh."

"Doesn’t everyone know that?"

"Even people who don’t belong to an end-times conspiracy cult?"

"Pffft. Now keep talking to him. Find out if it’s really him."

Wave sighed. "And how am I supposed to do that? It’s not like I can ask him about some hidden knowledge, only he can answer."

"I can hear you, too, by the way," Aki mumbled in her other ear.

Wave traced circles around her apartment, then decided to sit down on her sofa otherwise she’d run furrows in the floor.

"Okay. Let’s say you really are Aki, what can you tell me about your death?" Wave knew how stupid that must have sounded. Like she was a superstitious hen trying to communicate with the spirit of her long-deceased great-grandfather when she was doing the glass-raising.

"Oh," Aki replied. "So I am dead? Then the fall wasn’t a dream? I ... I don’t know much ... a desk, maybe? Could it be possible … ?"

"What’s he saying?" Ember wanted to know.

"He remembers a desk."

"That’s good. There’s no mention of the desk anywhere on the news. They must have removed it before the media showed up."

Whoever Ember meant by 'they'. No, Wave didn’t even want to know. Instead, she turned her attention back to her radio host. "Aki?"

"Hey, Wave."

That was creepy. It almost sounded like he was greeting her for the first time now, not like they were continuing their conversation.

"The news said that you committed suicide. But why? And why with a desk?"

"I ... I have to think ... I never felt it was so bad that I had to commit suicide. A desk ... I ... I don’t know. I just can’t believe I’m dead yet."

"Neither can I," she agreed with him. What was she to make of it now? Was he really trapped inside her hearing aid? How did that even work?

"Ember, he doesn’t know anything. What are we supposed to do? I wonder if Hammer knows of some advice?"

"To all those just tuning in now," Aki’s voice sounded again from the hearing aid. "I wish you a wonderful morning. From my studio, I can see the sun. It burns mercilessly and all we can do is escape into the cool shade of oblivion. Uh yeah, there’s something gloomy about that. But I wonder if that will resonate with my audience."

"Why are you doing this?" Wave asked.

"What do you mean?"

"That morning announcement, why do you keep repeating it?"

"If I stop making my announcement, I might forget I’m a radio host, too. It feels like I’ve already lost so much. I want to keep hold of that, at least."

Yes, he was right. He had already lost so much, even his life.

"I like that somber tone in your new announcement," Wave admitted. "I never felt like it was all sunshine at the Citadel. This version is more honest."

"I know. It’s also what I’ve always felt but was never allowed to say. Now that I’m dead, it’s not like anyone can tell me what to say anymore."

Wave was searching for the appropriate response when the doorbell rang.