When the light cleared, Jonty and I were standing embraced in each other's arms, in the middle of the living area of my small quarters. I leapt back from him, my whole body tingling with a pins and needles sensation. Shaking out my hands, I tried to alleviate it but it made it worse, pain disrupted my brain and I felt dizzy. Stumbling, I fell backwards onto the floor. Jonty reached out to help me up but I batted his hand away.

“Don't touch me.” I slurred, the dizziness causing me to feel like my brain was disconnected from the rest of my body.

"Okay, it takes a few minutes to subside and after a while you don't even notice it anymore.” Jonty whispered, stepping back to give me space. "You’ll get used to it."

The room began to spin and I lay down on the floor with my arms outstretched, trying to hold onto the world. The plain canvas coloured carpet was itchy against my skin and I fought the urge to scratch, choosing instead to try and lay extremely still until everything stopped spinning.

"After awhile you don't notice it anymore?" I repeated, my eyes closed. “So obviously this isn't the first time you've done this?"

I heard Jonty walk to the kitchen and open the refrigerator. He opened a can of soft drink, and the sound of the ‘psst’ as the bubbles and gas escaped and ‘click’ of him opening the tab made me feel thirsty too.

Hearing him take a few large gulps, I licked my lips thinking about what it would be like to have a drink myself.

He walked back over to me, his boots clumping on the fake wooden floor.

"Let me help you sit up, you can have a drink then I can tell you everything." I heard him whisper as I felt him kneel down beside me.

“How did you know I was thirsty?" I said as l opened my eyes and carefully sat up with Jonty holding my shoulder to help me rise, the dizziness dissipating and my feeling of normality restored.

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“Your shoulder ... it's healed?" I said, shocked.

“Yes, because I haven't been shot yet." Jonty explained, still keeping his voice low, as he

nonchalantly glanced at where the bloody hole in his shoulder had been.

"Here, drink this." He said giving me what was left in the can. I nodded, taking it from him and I immediately put it to my lips, drinking it down in two big gulps.

I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, and looked up at Jonty.

“You have a lot of explaining to do.” I said.

"I can't explain here.” Jonty whispered, looking around the room and motioning to the corners with his eyes. I followed his gaze and gasped. There were tiny well placed specks in each corner of the room and along the centre of the ceiling, so miniscule they would usually be mistaken for screws in the construction fittings perhaps, but they were not.

The tiny specks were called Nano-cameras, cameras that could be placed easily without anyone detecting them. The thing that gave them away to a well trained eye, was the fact that they were slightly spherical and jutted out just a tiny amount from the material that they were embedded in.

My brain raced as I thought about what the owners of the cameras would have seen and heard while I had been alone or when I had friends to visit, like Jonty. Suddenly remembering that Jonty always kept our conversations in my quarters short and to the point, I wondered how long he had known they were there.

Nodding, I shrugged at Jonty, telling him that I understood and raising my hands, I signaled to him asking where we could speak openly and in private.

He nodded back, then looked up at the cameras again. A frown appeared on his face then he looked back at me.

I watched him as he silently walked across the room to where I was standing and put his hands

on my shoulders.

He looked directly into my eyes and then slowly leaned in and gently kissed me.

Surprised, I flinched and stepped backwards away from him. My hand went to my lips to touch where he'd kissed me. Confused, I looked back at him questioningly, unable to stop the nervous feeling rising in my stomach.

He gave me a reassuring smile as he took my other hand and led me to the bedroom.