"...."
Richard slowly raised his hands and began turning them over, first palm-up, then palm-down, carefully watching every movement as though he could scarcely believe they were responding to his will again.
Years had passed since he had sat down to rebuild his foundation.
Nearly fifty-five years.
Ever since he had first obtained the Merged Anti-Matter Law, he had lived in a state of relentless agony, enduring suffering so constant and all-consuming that simply remaining alive had become an achievement in itself. Every day had been spent struggling against pain that seemed determined to tear his body apart from within, leaving him with almost no opportunity to think about anything else.
