The split was uncomfortable, as it always was when they were separated by more than a few meters. Maintaining full coherence while dividing attention between two groups in different locations and managing a social interaction with a hostile party was cognitively strenuous. It was analogous to trying to write two different sentences with two different hands simultaneously.
They were fifty meters from the hotel entrance when Kolhood noticed them.
His head turned, and his eyes narrowed. The collective read his surface thoughts and found suspicion but not alarm. Kolhood regarded everything with suspicion on principle.
"The Eight are four tonight," Kolhood said as the four approached. His voice carried only a trace of derision. "It's late for a stroll."
"We don't require much sleep," Number One said. "Walking helps us quiet down."
Kolhood's eyes moved across the four of them. "Where are the other four?"
The question only sounded casual. It was a probe, designed to test reactions and gather information without revealing intent.
"At the hotel," Number One said. "We don't do everything together."
It was a plausible answer because it was partially true. The collective sometimes divided for basic mundane activities like bathroom visits, and that had been observed on multiple occasions. Provided that the delivery was convincing, Kolhood had no reason to doubt it.
Kolhood studied Number One's face for a moment longer than was comfortable. His thoughts were guarded, structured in a way that suggested he was accustomed to being read and had developed defenses accordingly. The collective could have pressed deeper, could have pushed past the surface layers to find out what Kolhood was really thinking, but doing so risked detection. Kolhood was old and powerful, and his mind was not as easily navigated as a junior warrior's.
"My men reported that you were at the training grounds today," Kolhood said.
"Part of our regular rounds. Lord Losham requires us to maintain a presence across the island's installations and report items of concern."
"Like what?"
"Disrepair, lack of supplies, soldiers who are not maintaining the Brotherhood's standards of appearance."
"The soldiers are my responsibility, not Losham's, and I maintain high discipline. None of them would dare to neglect the Brotherhood's standards."
Number One nodded, and the other three refrained from doing so. They had to maintain the appearance of being individuals. Aside from Losham and the people at the lab, no one knew that they operated as one mind.
As far as everyone else on the island was concerned, they were just the last eight enhanced soldiers.
"That's precisely what we reported. We didn't find any items of concern."
Kolhood uncrossed his arms. "Losham requires many things. Some of them make sense. Some of them don't."
"We are just following orders," Number One said. "We observe and report, and Lord Losham does what he wants with the information."
One of the junior brothers shifted uncomfortably. He clearly wanted no part of this conversation and was looking for an exit.
Kolhood turned back to the junior brothers and said something dismissive that the collective didn't bother to process. The fourbodies continued past the hotel entrance at their usual walking pace, making an effort to appear unhurried and unsynchronized.
They rounded the corner and the hotel fell out of sight behind them.
The collective exhaled across all eight bodies.
That was uncomfortable.
The other four rejoined them two blocks south, and the cognitive load eased, the connection smoothed, and the collective breathed as one.
They approached the lab from the south, using the gap between buildings that provided the most concealment from the street. The guards watching the lab had been thralled hours ago, their perceptions edited to register nothing unusual.
The collective confirmed the thrall's integrity as they approached. All four guards were at their posts, alert and attentive, seeing exactly what they had been told to see, which was nothing of interest.
35
DIMITRI
