There was a new message from Raptor on his forum post when he checked the next morning. Örim had gone onto the darkwaves with the purpose of deleting all evidence of his presence and closing out all of his queries. He had no intention of going anywhere near Cassie’s voicelock ever again. The files were still saved on his datapad, taunting him. He couldn’t bring himself to delete them or to look at them.
Örim almost didn’t look at the message either. There was no point now. His inquiry was over. But his curiosity won the day. It was a simple message. One question.
[Raptor]: How is your research going? I’m curious about the progress you’ve made, if you care to share.
Örim clicked his mouth nodes together in joyless amusement. He would leave the thread open, but he had no intention of answering. Örim left the forum, returning to the main intelewave. He’d sent a message to S’samph asking about Cassie’s health, but it had gone unanswered. He had to know she was still alive.
Örim checked the status of his latest shipment of reseeding solution and discovered it had been processed. He would go into town. As much as he despised the idea of talking to people now, they would know. They would know if Cassie was still alive, and not knowing about her health was going to drive him mad.
He mounted his levibike and made the short trip into town. Eyes were on him as soon as he moved. If everyone knew about Cassie, then certainly they also knew he was responsible. Örim ducked into the general store, keeping his movement as unobtrusive as possible.
“Your order is there.” The giradey at the till wasn’t hostile exactly, but definitely not friendly. Örim collected his seeding solution, paid, and left. He was so close to the clinic. He could go in. He could get into an argument with Eleri. So, he did. The walk to the clinic this time was just as heavy without her in his arms. The automatic doors slid open as he stepped inside. Eleri’s eyes snapped up to him. She dropped her datapad on the counter and marched over.
“Are you here for medical treatment?”
“No. I…” Örim rubbed his wrist nodes. Eleri folded her arms across her chest. “I wanted to see Cassie.”
“She’s sleeping.”
He had to see her. He had to see for himself. “Can I just see her?”
“No. Do you know what the amperage was on the device embedded in her voicelock?”
“I do.” He’d found the datapoint in the files while he was trying to trace the signal output. “10 amps.”
“Do you know what a potentially lethal dose for a human is?”
“No. I admit I didn’t explore that.”
“Anything higher than 4.3.”
His electrical core went quiet. 10 amps wasn’t very much for a teösian. It wouldn’t have done more than sting him. Theaverage lightning strike carried at least 30. “The trigger was designed to kill.”
“It seems that way, doesn’t it?” Eleri walked back to the central console and took a seat. “Now you can leave.”
He didn’t see what choice he had, so he left, not wanting to linger with Eleri’s fiery gaze on him.
While he was situating his things in the storage compartment of his levibike, another rider pulled up next to him. Helmetless, K’kaen regarded him with a flick of his frill.
“Did you visit human Cassie?”
“I was under the impression my presence wouldn’t be welcome.” Örim’s voice was barely a whisper.
“Probably not. I visited her yesterday, though. She’s still asking for you.”
“She is?” He stopped himself. It wasn’t the right question. “Is Cassie recovering?”
K’kaen’s frill rippled. “Eleri said she is fighting. It was, in her human words, ‘touch and go’ for a while.”
“I think I understand the sentiment.”
“Then you understand if she still wants you, it’s your responsibility not to be a ravik about it.” K’kaen tucked his helmet under his arm. His frill lifted slightly. “Mind yourself, teösian.”
“Noted.”
She was still alive, but he still hadn’t seen her. His energy core pulsed with uncertainty. The voicelock would have killed her. If he hadn’t immediately run to the clinic. If Eleri and Aglao weren’t skilled. But still he’d waited longer than he should have. He’d done something he shouldn’t have done at all.
After his conversations with S’samph, K’kaen, and Eleri, Örim realized he was ill-prepared to have any biological lifeform in his home, let alone a female like Cassie. But on the off chance, she did agree to let him care for her, he needed to offer hersomewhere worth staying. What did humans need to thrive? Örim had no idea where to start.
