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ear to ear at the weak, answering smile on the tear-streaked face.
    “Welcome back, Wu.”

Chapter 2.
    Ariane stood unmoving in the doorway, afraid to break the magic of that moment. Her own heart had leapt when Wu Kung’s hand moved to stop DuQuesne, but the incredible light that had seemed to shine from Marc’s face was something she’d never even imagined possible. She had heard tears of sadness being blown away in a wind of relief and happiness that she’d never thought Marc would ever feel. She just watched, holding her hand out to keep Davison back for however long that shining moment of pure joy continued.
    Finally the massive form of DuQuesne turned slightly, and—still with a smile that held a touch of a young man’s innocence—he spoke. “Come on in, Ariane.”
    As she did, Dr. Davison just behind, Wu Kung’s head turned slightly, and his eyes widened. She wasn’t sure what caused that reaction, but whatever it was he got it immediately under control; not surprising in a Hyperion.
    What was surprising was that Wu Kung suddenly leaped from the bed, staggering, then forcing himself upright; she saw with startled eyes that he was holding to the bed with his tail, keeping himself from falling.
    Davison was there immediately. “Sir! You’ve been in virtual sims for fifty years! You can’t just—”
    She could see that the diminuitive Hyperion— he’s maybe a few centimeters taller than Gabrielle, if that —was weak, and he had to be in agony no matter how good the nanosupport had been, after five decades unmoving. Yet his head came up and he smiled , a sunshine ray of joyous pride that denied the very existence of pain or weakness. “HA! I can, because I did, and I do!” His voice was another surprise; it was gentle yet slightly rough, and much higher-pitched than she had imagined, the voice not of a great warrior god but of a laughing child.
    Abruptly, however, the Monkey King realized that he was standing proudly in the buff. With a grimace of mortified embarrassment so comical that neither she nor DuQuesne could quite restrain a laugh, he half leaped, half tumbled over the bed, dragging the sheets with him as he fell to the floor, knocking the monitoring equipment aside. “Aaiiii!” he shouted, followed by several Chinese, mixed with some Japanese, words she was sure were either curses or something close to it.
    DuQuesne was still laughing, with more hints of tears in the corners of his eyes. “Ahhh, still the same old Wu, leaping first and looking later for the landing spot!”
    “It is all their fault!” came the voice from behind the bed and a screen of white sheets. “When I lived on the mountain I had none of this modesty! I do not remember learning it, but there it is!”
    Dr. Davison had made his way over to that side. “Please, sir, at least let me look you over first. I’ve never even HEARD of someone waking from that long a virtual simulation, let alone moving immediately thereafter.”
    “Oh, you’re…a healer. Yes, okay, look, then, do your poking and whatever.” Despite the words, it was clear that the Monkey King was already tired, glad of the excuse to sit still for a few moments.
    “Well, I’m pleased to meet you at last, Sun Wu Kung.” Technically, she knew that the Monkey King would be referred to as “Sun” by his friends, but in the Hyperion version apparently “Wu” had been his nickname. She, not being a friend yet, used his full name. “Marc has told me a lot about you.”
    “Heh. Not a surprise. She is yours, eh, DuQuesne? But where is K?”
    Even under the olive-toned skin she could see DuQuesne’s skin darken with a blush. “ Mine? Don’t you go making mistakes like that, Wu. She’s her own and no one else’s. As for K…”
    “Never mind. It will be a sad story, I can hear that in your voice, and I…I am not ready for sadness. It is not a time to be sad.”
    “So…Sun Wu K—”
    “Wu, please, like all the other barbarian friends I have call