CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Ro felt… well, he felt everything. Happiness and sadness, joy and pain, fear, definitely fear at the thought that at any moment, the Hive might realize that he was disconnected, a rebel, no longer of the Purest but impure. Impure Ro.
Mostly, though, he felt guilt. There was guilt at having betrayed the Hive, although that was a reflex thing, not as strong as Ro might have imagined it would be, more fear than guilt. There was guilt at not feeling more guilt at his betrayal, and at every emotion he did feel.
The real washes of guilt, though, were reserved for the things Ro had done and helped to do. He had helped to attack worlds. He had helped to steal from them and transform their species, slaughtering what they did not change. Once, the fact that it had been for the g
