Her name was Maura Vex. She was a hunter with no sense of humor, no sense of wonder, and—crucially—no sense of touch. A childhood accident with a plasma welder had fused the nerve endings in her hands. She felt no warmth, no texture, no gentle humming. She was, in every way that mattered, the glowing buttflap’s kryptonite.
She was leaning against a rusted support strut in the lower docking ring, a place where the gravity plating malfunctioned and the air smelled of ozone and lies. She wore a battered flight jacket, combat boots with mismatched laces, and a pair of tight-fitting synth-leather pants. On the back, right over her tailbone, was a rectangular panel, about the size of a datapad. It was glowing. her glowing buttflap is a trap
Vesper’s eyes went wide. “Wait. You’re supposed to—the light—it’s very calming—” Her name was Maura Vex
Zane tried to move his real body. He couldn’t. He was aware, dimly, of his legs buckling, of his chin hitting the metal floor, of his drool pooling around his open mouth. But he didn’t care. The meadow was so nice. The light was so warm. She felt no warmth, no texture, no gentle humming
In biology, this phenomenon is known as . It occurs when a living organism produces and emits light through a chemical reaction. Typically, this involves a molecule called luciferin and an enzyme called luciferase .