Gavin sat and watched his captain walking around the hanger, seemingly disoriented and disaffected. He wondered how much of their conversation she truly remembered. As she left the growing mass of crew, Gavin asked Katsi, "Can you keep an eye on her for me?"

"For you? I'm doing it for me. She's my sister." The spider droid seemed to do an angry little dance.

"I know, and I appreciate you keeping me posted." He watched her scattered behavior with deep scrutiny. Deep in thought he stated the truth, “She is blinding herself. Looking so deep into the void that she can’t see the way around it… or anything else. Pine dropped down, handing a note to Gavin. Reading it, he nodded, “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

Trinta spoke through the droid, “With what we saw with @Layer I’m not surprised.” Gavin sighed and Trinta stammered in surprise before an audible nudge from Katsi forced another member of the hive mind to speak instead, “We were told of four major events that would happen before his mission was done. Two have happened. Your killing of Permiso and our slaying of The Original. So, given what you guys have said about your goals, the Dragon that’s supposed to rise to sow chaos and cut away doubts is probably the next guy you guys are bringing back.”

Gavin nodded, processing this information, “Anything else you can collect?”

Yet another of the mind spoke up, “Kuntaret left a lot out. Short version, this guys has been manipulating events with his knowledge of the previous timeline for awhile. He seems to want to free the timeline and prevent the worst possible outcomes of things.”

Gavin nodded again, “Okay. That makes Sai our most reliable source of info on this.”

Katsi snapped, “Oh, come on! Dean would be so much more reliable than Sai. That jerk would probably lie to us while he looked into it himself.”

Gavin nodded, “Yeah, but I can read the intent of a lie. Retrofit it with the information I have. Dean is more likely to try and stonewall or placate us. If he knows something he intended to share, he would have tipped his hand already.” He watched Sai from a distance as he spoke with Pandina. After she hugged him and left, he watched Sai’s body language and noticed him walk off towards their host. Something was up.

”I’ll show you! I’ll ask him myself.” Katsi stated firmly before vanishing off the drone’s mic.

The hive spoke with a more remorseful voice, “I see your friend moving towards our host. I think we should follow them before they risk more lives.”

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”Absolutely. I appreciate you. Give me what you can.”

———

Sai approached, hearing the distant clanking of metal limbs against the crafts and floor of the hanger. He needed to be sure. As he approached the scarlet armored figure he said, “Nebula or galaxy, the stars shine bright.” When the reply was silence he glared, “Are you really going to play this game?”

“Do you know we are being spied on?" The red armored warrior spoke without looking or surprise. In fact, he seemed to have a borderline disinterest.

Sai rolled his head and stated, "Of course, but I was hoping to be discreet."

"Statement. One love." He didn't look up or shift in any meaningful way. It was clear he was adjusting some small bit of technology instead of looking at them. He threw in a few flourishes to make clear to them that this was entirely so he had an excuse to not acknowledge them.

Sai expected them to reveal themselves now that their cover had been blown, but instead, he could hear the drown settling down, as if trying to call the man on his bluff. But Sai knew it wouldn't matter either way. "Why are you playing Questions instead of giving me answers?" Sai hated games like this, but he had a lot of experience with it over the years. Clearly, he had chosen this game intentionally to annoy him.

As if confirming this, there was a brief chuckle before the reply, "Is there a game without answers?"

"What is the point of replying with a question?"

"Have you ever heard an answer that didn't raise more questions?" His tone was demeaning and matter-of-fact, as though he knew this was the only path the conversation could take. He growled, trying to collect himself, but Sai found his train of thought derailed by an interruption. "Hesitation. Two love."

Sai growled and lead again, "What did you do to Gina?"

He again sounded weary from this, "Are you mad I saved her from cancer?"

Sai hissed, "How is slavery to a parasite any better?"

"Do you think I haven't prepared a solution for that?"

"Why would you involve her in this?"

"Is it a crime to give someone the power to fight the changing world?"

"For who?"

He stopped a moment, putting down his tools and said, "Hesitation. Score is 2-1." He stared at the wall, clearly starting to take this more seriously. "My turn to start. Why have you come to confront me?"

Sai scoffed, "Why are you calling yourself Leithan?" His tone betrayed his skepticism.

"Did you consider it might be my name?"

"Do you expect me to believe a man who keeps lying?"

The man seemed to become visibly annoyed, "What makes you believe I'm lying?"

Sai, seeming rather confident, continued, "Why are you helping us bring back a man you hate?"

"Who are you referring to?"

"Haven't you heard of the Cosmic Phoenix?"

"What makes you think that I hate the man?"

Sai asked quietly, "Why do you hate me?"

He turned to face Sai, agitation in his very pose, "What is there to like?"

Sai let the moment hang before saying, "Take the pointless victory. You've given me the answers I'm after. Maybe we can try this again tomorrow after you get some rest and stop being such a child." He turned and walked away, the scarlet armored man turning back to his work, clearly frustrated over the events that just happened.