The QRI building wasn’t designed to facilitate snooping. Every surface was glossy, every corner illuminated, and every corridor well-lit. It was profoundly annoying.

By the time Sinya entered a cheerfully painted waiting room, Rito had almost given up on the idea entirely. After all, she wasn’t looking forward to explaining why she’d followed Professor Haval to her husband’s workplace. That was one conversation she could live without having.

Still, she’d come too far to turn back now. She needed those samples, and this might be the only place where she’d find any clue about their location. If nothing else, Sinya’s husband was the head of the Amven project now that Fasih was out of the picture.

She might be able to pilfer some samples of the older prototypes from him, and pass them off as the ones Jehan stole from the La Fantome, if it came to that. But to do any of that, she needed more information than she had at the moment.

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Rito pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to think. She couldn’t very well keep lurking near the door of the waiting room until Sinya left. And entering the room was out of the question. It was spacious and sparsely furnished, and the only person inside was Sinya. There was no way she wouldn’t notice Rito walking in.

The door on the opposite side of the room creaked open, and for the fraction of a second, Sinya turned away, her attention on the newcomer.

Panicking, Rito rushed inside and dove for the attached washroom, shutting the door quietly behind her, even as a little man in an oversized lavender cardigan entered the waiting room.

“Oh my God, I’ve missed you,” Jehan Fasih said, pushing overgrown hair out of his eyes and leaning forward to pull Sinya into a hug.