"The Rightly Guided?" I roll the moniker on my tongue, tasting the outlandishness of Breath's request, "Who is this 'Rightly Guided' you're looking for?"

"No one in the Sensorium knows." Breath shrugs helplessly, "That's why its been such a conundrum."

"Seems like a fool's errand to me then." I comment, observing a bus pulling up in front of the Pay 2 Win Casino, ready to take another group of fleeced tourists back home.

"Not entirely." Breath says calmly, taking my dismissal in stride, "We know that the Rightly Guided will eventually be found and that he will lead us to Paradise. That's enough for the Sensorium to identify him."

"Still sounds pretty vague." I grunt, unimpressed, "And just what is Paradise anyway?"

"The land where we will be clothed in flesh immortal," Breath clasps his hands in prayer, "where none of us will have to fear death ever again."

Now that gets my interest immediately.

"Seriously? So there is a way to save ourselves? Where is this Paradise? How do we get there?"

"I don't know." Breath sighs sadly, "Only the Rightly Guided would be able to take us there."

"Great." I huff, "A place that you don't know how to reach and need to be guided to by a person that might not even exist. This is such a stupid scam."

"Its not a scam, Seeker." Breath insists patiently, "Paradise exists. We know this for a fact."

"Is that so?" I question flatly, unconvinced, "I've never seen or experienced this Paradise. And from what I know of our condition, we can only learn how to bear with it. Nothing more."

"That's part of finding Paradise, yes." Breath nods, the night wind ruffling his clothes gently.

"Yeah, right." I scoff, "I could be the Rightly Guided then. Or even you, with that stupid bag over your head."

"I'm not in the running, Seeker." Breath chuckles, "But you most certainly are."

"Wait, what?" I'm rendered almost speechless by this sudden pronouncement.

"The Rightly Guided is quite obviously a guide." the monk explains, "One first and foremost able to guide himself rightly."

"Yes, yes, its in the name. I get that." I snort and roll my eyes.

"And what is the ultimate test of an ascended who is rightly guided?" Breath asks rhetorically, using the Sensorium's term for an Awakened, "What can he do that a regular ascended can't?"

"That's ..." I mutter, putting some thought into the question. Something that sets aside a single Awakened from all others. Of course, the answer is so obvious once Breath puts it this way.

"Someone who can overcome is fated end." I answer Breath, eyeing him dubiously, "That's what the Rightly Guided is supposed to be?"

"Bravo, Seeker." Breath congratulates, "By defeating his fated end, the Rightly Guided opens the doors to Paradise and guides us all through it."

"There are Awakened, uh, I mean ascended, who have survived longer than me." I rebut, "Why haven't you shown the same interest toward them?"

"You're talking of the lovely Mrs Boggs, I assume." Breath muses, leaning against his white van.

"Figures you would know about Boggs." I agree, "And yeah, I'm referring to her. Cynthia's been doing this schtick much longer than I have. But you don't seen interested in her."

"Because Mrs Boggs has stopped her search for Paradise." Breath voice becomes disapproving, "She cowers in her bar, thinking it will keep her safe. It will not."

"Boggs has stayed alive for years." I point out, "That's a pretty ringing endorsement of her candidacy as your Rightly Guided."

"You misunderstand, Seeker. Or rather Mrs Boggs has given you the wrong idea." Breath shakes his head, "I assume you went to her for advise on how to survive your condition?"

"Duh. Cynthia's far more approachable than you." I admit, "No offence intended."

"None taken. But Seeker, accepting Mrs Boggs's advice would only cost you in the future." Breath responds sternly, "She thinks that by hiding, her demise can be indefinitely forestalled. She is wrong."

"Since the fated end is a reconciliation, not just a mere vision?" I make a guess at the reason.

"Precisely so. The circumstances leading to her demise is a certainty." Breath says, his voice firm and unwavering, "Mrs Boggs is merely whiling time away, wasting what remains of her life."

"And what do you suggest?" I respond uncomfortably, Breath's assessment hitting close to my own thoughts about Boggs's approach to the problem.

"Engage with the world. Grow stronger." Breath tilts his head, "And face your destiny on the best possible terms."

"You're asking me to go out in a blaze of glory? Cynthia already told me power alone wasn't enough to deal with this." I purse my lips, "I dunno man, what you're saying might be the 'right' thing to do, but not the smart thing."

"The past and future to us are mutable." Breath pats my arm reassuringly, "As long as you endure, I'm sure a solution can be found."

"Why don't you endure then?" I shake Breath's hand free in irritation, "Stop preaching from a distance and actually lead by example. Take off that shopping bag and face your destined end head on."

"My death urge hasn't quite overcome me yet, Seeker." Breath laughs lightly at my consternation.

"You're such a hypocrite." I throw my hands up in frustration.

"I don't want to die, Seeker. Neither do you." Breath's tone becomes conciliatory, "But circumstances have been thrust onto you. You have been called to action, whether you like it or not."

"Then why did you ascend in the first place?" I demand, "You aren't an accidental case like me. You obviously know about the risks."

"What makes you think I had a choice, Seeker?" Breath's voice becomes somewhat bitter, "When a man is thirsty, he would even drink poison."

"The Sensorium forced you to become a ghoul?" I exclaim, "That's sick."

"No one forced me into anything." Breath waves his hand tiredly in denial, "I became what I am today willingly. I had my own circumstances which demanded certain sacrifices from me."

"Called to action as well, huh?" I smirk.

"Not really." resignation drips from Breath's voice, "I made choices that led to my current situation. Though looking back, I'm convinced that the alternative was worse."

"Fine. I won't probe into your private affairs. Its not my business anyway." I narrow my eyes, getting back on track, "Though it is suspicious you were here waiting for me to show up."

"I'm not stalking you, if that's your question." Breath shifts to a more comfortable position, "I'm actually here to shop for necessities. And meet with someone else. Chatting with you is, well, a break from the monotony I suppose."

"You need to come all the way out here to do shopping?" I ask disbelievingly, "What in the world are you shopping for?"

"Food." Breath says evenly, "Though like I said, I'm mainly here for a meeting. Doing two things at once is simply more convenient."

Before I can reply, a thumping sound comes from Breath's van. As if a heavy object was rolling about inside.

"Do you realize how suspicious you sound right now?" I grace Breath with a frown.

"What makes you say that?" Breath denies smoothly.

"A white van parked by the side of the highway." I answer slowly, "With strange sounds coming from inside. Seriously, you can do better than this."

"And you're not exactly inhabiting your own body right now." Breath shoots back, "Isn't that far more unusual than a parked van?"

"Touché." I sigh, the weight of my situation hitting me again, "Look, I've got a problem and -"

"You're dueling with another ascended. I can tell." Breath interrupts, sounding close to tears, "Truly beautiful. The way both of you look, dancing through the cosmos."

"Beautiful?" I ask critically.

"Like a pair of towering bamboo in full bloom." Breath continues in rapture, "No one in the Sensorium could ever blossom this way. Overwhelming, that's the word."

Bamboo only blossoms once. Ever. Right before the plant dies. But what Breath said gives me a sliver of hope. The fight with Carol must be more even than I had thought. There's a chance for me to prevail.

"I want to keep seeing this beauty." Breath pats me on the head, "The Paradise where flowers will never wither. The place that awaits beyond the event horizon."

"Beyond the event horizon." I mutter dumbly, recalling the words of my heart, "Salvation."

"Yes." Breath confirms, "You saw it as well, didn't you? Another world, separate yet linked to this one. Where one can simply return from death and live forever in a suspended moment of time."

"Paradise." I shut my eyes, realizing the significance of the visions I've been experiencing. I've already touched the place Breath has been yammering about. Paradise isn't a myth or a desperate fantasy.

Its real.

"I hope you survive your duel Seeker." Breath responds, stepping aside, "Living with another can be a difficult thing. If you can't change that person, then you'll have to change yourself."

"Change myself." I muse, the gears of my mind grinding away.

"Growth comes from both within and without." Breath returns to his van, getting ready to depart, "The cosmos must be seen as a whole."

"Why are you helping me?" I ask as my consciousness starts to fade again. My time in Buddy's past is almost up.

"Because there's no point in helping someone who has already given up." Breath opens the driver's door.

My vision blurs and the surroundings dissolve into fog. Breath's voice grows indistinct, but I can still hear the words sending me off.

"You've unresolved business. I won't keep you any further."

That's right. I know what I need to do now.

Its time to finish matters with Carol.