"I'd rather she didn't," Zan said, blushing brilliantly.
At his words, she sucked in a small breath, her eyes roaming across the room, seeing nothing. "What?" Sin asked.
"I can figure out the entire molecule." She shook her head a bit. "Ok. Downloading."
She closed her eyes and clenched her jaw. A few feet away, Zan dropped to his knees, gasping. "Fuck!" he said, grabbing at his head. "Slow down, we have time!"
"I'm sorry," Rissa said. "I'msosorry."
"No, you're ok," he assured her, "but damn. Easy there. That's going through me for verification. I don't have the bandwidth you do, Ingénue." With a sigh, he moved to his rump, leaning back on his hands and making no move to regain his feet.
"Right about now, I'm glad I never got a neural implant," Davis said softly.
Zan smiled. "Sin has one."
"My eye?"
The kid nodded. "Linked to your optical centers."
"I have one," Julie said. "From when I took that shot to the back of my neck on the upper side."
"My enhancements are all physical," Davis said, pointing at his leg. "No neural stuff for me, thanks."
Rob patted his lower chest. "Only a pancreas for me. One that actually works, and I got that before becoming a priest."
"Unlike the rest of you, I'm still all-natural," Trent joked, but Rissa and Zan were ignoring them.
"You can go a little faster," Zan said, his focus completely on Rissa. "If it doesn't burn, I mean."
"It's more like cold going down. Hot going up." Rissa looked over. "You feel it too?"
"A bit. Not like you do though."
"Can I look?" she asked.
"Feel free," Zan assured her, leaning back. "I'm gonna be a fucking priest, so I don't have anything to hide."
"Except porn," Trent teased.
"Yeah, but you all have that too, even Julie."
The woman in question chuckled. "I repent."
Suddenly Zan sat up straighter, shooting a look over to Rissa. He blinked a few times, but said nothing. When Sin turned to look at her, Rissa's eyes looked mischievous.
"Personal?" he asked.
Zan shook his head, but still didn't speak.
"They're up to something," Trent said, as if everyone in the room hadn't already figured that out.
"Getting off, most likely," Rob teased. "Never seen Zan that intense about anything."
Zan shook his head, obviously following the conversation, but unwilling to add to it. He reached up, touching the back of his skull. Rissa giggled softly, but her entire focus was on him.
"Awkward," Julie said.
"I think he's a bit young for you," Sin said, trying to make a joke of his jealousy.
