(Scars do not appear to be cause of death –shock ... - Bad Request

"Rightfully yours?" it was hard to keep the fire from my voice, "You have no
right to that name and number. You stole it. You don't need a number to
live. He does. Even if it hurts you, you have to give it up. It will be better for
both of you in the long run."
Radine pressed a few fingers to her forehead as she knuckled down and
thought about it. Her voice cracked when she spoke again, "I suppose...
you're right. I've been a bad person, sure I have, and I can't keep this. Here."
She peeled the rippling tattoo from around her neck handed it to me. She
shivered as she did so. "And you can tell him his name now. He was and will
be Ku'u Yin. Now let me go."
I nodded. I pitied her, I really did. When you live in a world like this who
wouldn't steal to make a living? "Here's some jink for your trouble. Buy
something to keep you warm."
"My thanks, cutter." She pocketed the money, looking more drab by the
moment as the magic of the tattoo left her. "'Twould be best for me to be
leaving here, then... and with the aid o' the jink you gave me, mayhap we'll
meet again under happier circumstances for the both of us."
I smiled. "Don't steal any more names, Radine. Farewell."
"She has returned your name and number," I said.
"May I have them?" His voice was hoary, his features drained.
It was then that the fear and the temptation came over me. Is this what
happens when one's name is stolen? Was I destined to die little by little,
drained of life and hope until I was a mere shell of what I once was? I
wondered if the man before me felt that same wound deep inside the space
where the essence of his being should've been. I wondered if he had
terrifying dreamless nights where he'd slip into darkness, and that horrifying
void of oblivion was just past the corner of his eye.
Already I could feel that stolen identity trickle into me. Ku'u Yin, of the
Asekelar Circles. Ku'u Yin, inventor of the Seelic Glimmer and Dreamer Third.
It was a new beginning, draped in the warm skin of another.
I kept my voice steady, but the words were hard to force out. "Yes. Your
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