“I have no idea,” Kodiak says.
“You didn’t do this?”
“No. I figured you did.”
“This is my first time in theAurora. This definitely wasn’t me—will you look at that!” In the middle of the floor is a radio device. Headphones and cables—real cables!—run to and from it.
“Have you tried using this thing?” I ask.
Kodiak shakes his head. “I was worried it might be full of Fédération propaganda.”
I wonder if he’s kidding. He certainly hasn’t cracked a smile. “OS,” I ask. “Can you help us understand what we’re seeing here?”
“I cannot,” my mother’s voice says from outside this room. “I wish I could clean it up for you, but you are looking into a blank space of my awareness. If you repair my code, I can rebuild Rover’s tracks and return this ‘blind room’ to its original state.”
“But why isn’t this room alreadyinits original state?” I ask.
“I can provide no answer that would satisfy you.”
“Do you mind if I give this device a listen?” I ask Kodiak.
He shrugs, fists tight at his sides.
I place the headphones over my ears. Static. I scrunch my eyes and worry the dial on the device. Still just static.
“Well,” I finally say. “We’ve woken into a mystery, haven’t we?”
_-* Tasks Remaining: 499 *-_
Kodiak surprises me by showing up at dinnertime that night. He pores over my food options, then selects a lentil curry. He hands it over mournfully, as if choosing that curry means never getting to choose anything else ever again.
“You know you can come over for a meal anytime,” I say, giving the back of his hand a short stroke.
He withdraws his hand from the tabletop, stares at the countdown on the food heater like it’s the floor indicator on a particularly awkward elevator ride.
“Have you figured out anything more about your strange room?” I sputter.
He rubs his chin.
My cheeks grow warm. Kodiak’s willingness to meet me makes me decide to take a risk. “There’s something else strange happening here. OS told me that I passed out at launch. I’m trying, but I can’t remember anything from then on.”
Kodiak sniffs his food and leans back in his chair, tilting it on two legs like he’s a kid killing time in detention. “That sounds like a serious problem,” he says.
I nod. I don’t love his tone, but there’s no denying that he’s precisely right. If I got knocked around hard enough to make me forget the entire launch, that’s trouble indeed.
He rubs the back of his neck, swallows some words.
“I’m sorry?” I ask.
He coughs. “I wouldn’t even tell you this, but with that strange room in theAurora, I think we need to pool our information.” He coughs again. “I... I seem to have the same problem.”
My back goes straight. “You don’t remember your launch, either?”
He shakes his head. There’s a sheen at his temples.
I hear the hum of our ship, a dust mote floating in a grand hall. “Kodiak, what happened to us?” I whisper.
_-* Tasks Remaining: 494 *-_
