Dave.The name surfaced from the ether. Those were the eight enhanced soldiers that Eluheed had told Kian about, the ones who had merged their consciousness into one, creating a powerful hive mind.
She was being shown a window into Navuh's island, and the man at the microscope was probably one of the Russian scientists that Navuh had brought to continue the late Dr. Zhao's work.
Given the age of the man, he was probably Dimitri Volkov, Dr. Konstantin Petrov's assistant.
As he turned to face the eight, his expression was neutral, attempting to appear cooperative and professional, and Syssi wondered whether the eight would notice the tension in his jaw and the tightness around his eyes.
Dimitri was either hiding something or just uncomfortable working with the enhanced soldiers who collectively called themselves Dave.
The eight spoke, their mouths moving in perfect synchronization. The effect was deeply unsettling, even in a vision. The words were muffled, indistinct, but the tone was businesslike.
Dimitri nodded along, but his eyes were void of emotion. Whatever passion had once driven him into research had been extinguished, replaced by the dull compliance of a prisoner.
The scene dissolved.
New images formed, warmer this time. Softer lighting. A kitchen, institutional and simple, the kind of space that existed in the margins of grander buildings. Late at night, based on the darkness pressing against the windows.
Dimitri was there again but transformed. The professional mask was gone, and his eyes were alive, focused on someone across a table.
Syssi knew it was a woman even before her vision shifted in her direction. The look in Dimitri's eyes was the kind that men reserved for the one they loved.
The woman was beautiful without trying.
She wore no makeup, her blond hair was gathered in a simple ponytail, and her intelligent blue eyes gazed at Dimitri with the same adoration he held for her.
They were in love or falling in love.
So sweet.
They leaned toward each other across the table, speaking in low voices that the vision saw no need for Syssi to capture. Dimitri reached out and took the woman's hand.
The look that passed between them would have brought tears to Syssi's eyes if they were corporeal. These two had found each other in the darkness of the Brotherhood's island, two prisoners creating a moment of light in a place that was devoid of it.
Syssi's heart ached for them.
Whatever happened next, she hoped it included a way out for these two.
The scene shifted again, away from the young couple to an older one.
The man was in his late forties, overweight, and with a weathered look that came from too much alcohol or too much pain or both. He sat on the edge of a bed in a room that tried too hard to be luxurious. Gilt frames, velvet drapes, and silk sheets in colors that betrayed what kind of place it was.
A woman sat beside him. Dark hair, dark eyes, beautiful but slightly faded in a way that suggested she had lost hope. Her clothing was designed for display rather than comfort. A costume for a role she hadn't chosen.
Her eyes were alight when she looked at the man, and it wasn't fake. She cared about him, perhaps because he cared about her.
Another couple. Another pair of prisoners finding connection in captivity.
Four people. Two pairs. All trapped on Navuh's island.
Why was she being shown this? She'd asked about Khiann, not about human prisoners and their romantic entanglements. What did these people have to do with finding Annani's lost mate?
The answer popped into her mind with vivid clarity. These people were not disposable. The clan couldn't just bomb the island, killing people indiscriminately to pave the way for an extraction team to get Khiann and his companions out.
These people mattered.
The vision lurched again.
The warmth vanished, replaced by cold so intense it seemed to freeze her incorporeal body. Her perspective hurtled through space and then stabilized on a mountain.
