The sun sets, the alien world dissolves, and the city returns. When next Niko opens his eyes, they are the same rich brown Salim has come to know and adore. He holds Niko by the shoulders and takes a closer look just to make sure. “Niko? Are you all right? Is he really gone?” “Most of him,” Niko says, then stretches out his left arm, now marked with scripts of Fireblue that pulse with light before fading into his skin. “He left . . . something. I’m still trying to make sense of it.” Finally, his attention returns to Salim, and he beams like they’re seeing each other for the first time.
