home // riley collins // epilogue
Home is not a place.
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It’s the warmth Riley feels as he looks over the survivors of the Sunscape tournament killing game - comforting like a candle in the darkest night. It’s the solace he feels as he exhales, and for the first time in a long time, he does not fear for his life. It’s the exhaustion that sets in as the adrenaline winds down, and it’s the comforting dreams of what lays ahead.
Home is not a person, either.
It’s the familiar feeling of heading down the streets of Tampa, taking in the freedom he had so taken for granted. It’s the little sights and sounds he hadn’t noticed before - the sights of strangers and not familiar faces slowly dwindling one by one. It’s the feeling when Riley opens the door to his apartment and Ivy rushes to him, hugging him and crying. It’s being able to say the words “I’m not going anywhere”, without worrying that someone’s going to leave you on the floor dead tomorrow. It’s Papillon finding his home computer, and reminding him that he would not be rid of them so easily - and the relief he feels upon realizing that. It’s the closeness of family - both blood and found.
Home is not even a feeling.
It’s the apprehension of revisiting the islands with a new goal - to save those that have been lost, just as he had worked so hard to save those that had still remained. It’s keeping his promise - that he would get everyone out of there alive. It’s the familiarity of hard work, and the awkwardness of realizing he doesn’t know a lot about the biology of superpowers. Still, it’s a learning experience, and the heroes and villains that had lost their lives over the course of the killing game get their second chances. (Riley doesn’t dare speak that he feels as if he’s been reborn as well in a different sense - someone who has found his purpose, to protect the ones he loves.)
The feeling of home he's wanted his whole life has been within him this whole time.
It’s the ups and downs, the goods and bads, all the things that make life worth living. It’s finding the people and things you love, and keeping them close to you. It’s the feeling of belonging.
There are many chapters still unwritten in the story of Riley Collin’s life, but it’s safe to say this one has come to a close. He moves on from being Zero Sum the super hero, and becomes just Zero, the cyberhero trying to make a world a better place through hacking. He moves to Canada, being tired of beaches and sunny weather after his time on the islands, and adapts poorly to the cold weather and learning Quebecois. But still, he persists.
After all, the sun shines brightly over Riley’s future - a future he wants to live without any regrets.
He’s not afraid anymore.
















