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Simple.

I liked Halver.

Corian was next. He had more old injuries than either of them, which wasn't surprising. The worst sat through his left shoulder and lower back, along with several places where bone had healed correctly but surrounding tissue had compensated badly enough to leave persistent tension.

When I told him what I'd found, his first response was, "None of it affects deployment."

"That wasn't what I asked."

His eyebrow rose.

I waited.

"Fine." He said it like he was granting a favor. "Heal it."

"That's not asking either."

He looked suspiciously close to smiling. "Would you heal it, Jade?"

I repaired the damage, then turned toward Nykos.

He had gone very still.

At first I'd assumed the faint irregularity behind everything else belonged to the normal variation every brain had. Then I focused and realized it didn't.

There were tiny areas of old damage scattered through the pathways his ability used most heavily. Nothing dangerous. Nothing progressing. His brain had adapted around it years ago, building new routes where the original structures had been damaged, but the pattern was unlike an impact injury or illness. It looked like overload.

Nykos watched my face.

"What?"

I stepped closer. "When did your telepathy manifest?"

His expression changed by a fraction. "Thirteen."

"Was it bad?"

He took a moment before he answered. "Yes."

Alex stopped moving behind me.

I kept my attention on Nykos. "I can see where it happened."

His gaze sharpened.

"Not see," I corrected. "Feel. There are small areas of old damage. Nothing dangerous, and your brain compensated for it, but I think your ability overloaded you when it first manifested."

Nykos was quiet long enough that I wondered whether I'd crossed a line simply by mentioning it.

Then he asked, "Can you fix it?"

"Yes."

"What would that change?"

"I don't know."

That answer clearly wasn't what he'd expected.