{Reipon}
A knock at the infirmary door made Pablo stop rubbing his eyes and answer. Xelan stood on the other side with a warm, if slightly sheepish, smile.
“How is she, Doc?”
Pablo stepped back to let the Icarus in as he explained, “She’s pretending to sleep when I can tell she’s listening to Korac’s Verse. I thought you’d be doing the same by now.”
The tall alien shook his head. “Reading it, courtesy of Sagan, but I got to the invasion of Earth and needed a break. Tameka fell asleep, so I thought I’d check on our resident patient.”
Knowing his face fell at the mention of Triss, Pablo tried to hide it by busying himself with his research on Rayne’s fuse. “Feel free to check on her. I worry she doesn’t sleep much. Her blood work is abnormal for a Lyrik. Too thick.”
Xelan’s warm hand fell on Pablo’s shoulder and nearly brought tears to his eyes. Softly, the Icarus assured, “You’re giving her excellent care, Pablo. She couldn’t have a better doctor. I’ll go in and see her now if you don’t mind?”
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Pablo could only nod. He resisted the urge to eavesdrop. Xelan occasionally visited Triss. It posed some unnerving implications, but Tameka never doubted his motivations, so why should Pablo?
Instead, he returned to the work he and Xelan constantly kept at. Reversing nacre programming to remove the Weapon in Rayne.
A few minutes later, Xelan reemerged with a sad smile. “You’re right. She’s definitely listening. I think she might even be comprehending it. Increase her sedatives another twenty CCs. How is the research?”
“I’ll need to check with nacres that Legir kept over the years from previous Enki experiments. Like the men Bin helped before Nox came along in his Verse. I think the determining factor is there.” A thought occurred to Pablo. “Xelan, when I was at R’s Eternity Rites, Legir and X said something unusual. About you.”
Xelan leaned against the counter casually, as if this wasn’t cause for concern. “What’d they say?”
Pablo wet his lips before saying, “They’ll come to help you when you’re ready to hunt down your creation.”
The smile faded from Xelan’s face, and Pablo winced at the change. Xelan said, “No, it’s fine, Pablo. Soon, I’ll explain what they meant. I’d rather tell everyone at once. Is that fair?”
“Absolutely.” Xelan made to leave until Pablo touched his arm. “And about Rayne? I know the Iona-29 footage is scary and that it was intentional, but Lynn and I cleaned up the aftermath. We found two men in the basement, killed precise and neat with restraint and discipline like you taught her. The rest was only her showing off for Nox’s benefit.”
“That’s what concerns me.”