In docking bay four, Bialar finds forty seven vehicles that appear identical to Sikozu's transport. He spends a maddening half arn rapping on each one before hearing any response. The words are too muffled to make out, but he wants to believe the voice is Gemmi's.
He places his hand on the touch pad and tries to mimick the motion Sikozu used, but to no effect. He puts his face close to the door and shouts, "How do you open this contraption?"
The reply is unintelligible, and he is ready to try shooting the touch pad with his pulse pistol when he hears footsteps behind him. He pivots to face the noise, weapon raised.
A Scarran stands in front of a hover cart piled with bodies and tools and cables. She raises a hand and the air between them begins to ripple, but he holds the pulse pistol steady. The heat that would have disabled his original body is no more than a slight discomfort to this one. Through the shimmering waves of air, he studies the Scarran's face. She has matured more than he expected in the past few monens, but there is no mistaking Talyn's friend.
"Veena!" He lowers the weapon with a smile.
"Bialar Crais?" She drops her hand, shaking her head in disbelief. "I didn't recognize you until I used my heat ray. You make an odd-looking Kalish."
"So I am told. Do you know how to open one of these vehicles?"
She nods and moves to place her hand on the touch pad.
He grabs her wrist. "Wait. Let me get into position, and be prepared to run. Someone very dangerous has taken possession of bioloid 355, and he is inside this transport."
"Then Talyn..." She frowns and bites her lower lip.
"Talyn will be restored. But first I must confront the creature inside 355. I suggest you stay out of the way."
"I'll do what I can to help." She lays her palm on the touch pad and the door retracts upward.
The tableau revealed consists of Gemmi, tied and lying in the doorway, and 355 sitting motionless in the seat nearest the door. The clone has turned the seat to face the door and has a smirk plastered across his face and a pulse pistol in his hand. Bialar fires first at the bioloid's wrist in order to disarm him, then lunges forward to collect the weapon.
Gemmi sits up and rams Bialar's legs with a shoulder, sending him toppling head first into 355's lap. "Don't damage him any more!" she shouts.
Bialar pulls himself to his feet and regards the statue-like form of 355. The bioloid isn't breathing, and even its eyes are still. Electrolytic fluid leaks unchecked from the damaged wrist and the other hand does nothing to staunch the flow. The static fingers clutch Gemmi's transponder, which Bialar gently dislodges and puts in his own pocket.
"Veena! Come here." He calls to the Scarran girl without taking his eyes off the bioloid. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees her standing beside him, and he hands her the weapon he found in 355's hand. "In case you need to defend yourself. Can you use your heat ray on him?"
"I can try." She shrugs and raises her free hand. After a few microts, she shakes her head. "No living consciousness. Not even the baseline I'd get from an active bioloid. At least I still have Gemmi's datachip. I think we'll need it. There's nothing there."
"Watch him anyway," Bialar orders.
He kneels beside Gemmi and spends a frustrating macrot struggling with the knots of her bonds before he simply breaks the cords. Seeing the deep bruises left by the cords and the ugly wound on her head makes him want to tear apart the one who did this to her. When he starts to rise, she wraps her arms around his neck, pulling herself up to her knees and keeping him down on his.
She tucks her chin over his shoulder and moves her arms down his back. Her whole body trembles as if trying to shake itself apart. "Talyn's in there. Please, please don't damage 355 any more. I don't want to use the backup again. I want him to remember what he did."
He reels as if struck, takes her shoulders, and pushes her back. "That's cruel, Gemmi."
"No!" She shakes her head furiously. "No! Not what the Scorpius clone did. What Talyn did. He was able to shut down 355 because of his own unique coding. He's a Leviathan, so he has--"
"Control over his autonomic functions," Bialar finishes. "Then why didn't he shut himself down to prevent this situation entirely?"
"He didn't think of it. He was too frightened, I'm sure. We both were. But when he saw the gun in his own hand, knowing the clone intended to use it on you... He saved your life. I want him to remember that. He needs that."
He pulls her close, searching fruitlessly for adequate words. He wishes he had Leviathan-like control of his autonomic functions so he could raise his temperature enough to stop her violent shivering. At least he has something to offer her. Keeping one arm around her, he wedges the other hand between them and pulls the transponder from his shirt pocket.
He brings the device up to the back of her neck and whispers. "Yours if you want it for however long you like."
She tightens her grip on him. "I only wanted to be able to take it out. I never actually wanted to do it. You're... more than my project. And I didn't think that was possible. Being even more to me than my project, I mean."
He slides the transponder into place and feels her tremors subside as her data streams merge with his.
"What about Talyn?" Veena demands, still diligently pointing the pulse pistol at 355.
"I have Ceredin's datachip." Bialar retrieves it from his pocket and hands it to Gemmi. "Can you install her on the transport's mainframe and link her with Talyn?"
"Of course." Gemmi flashes a smile, relieved at having a task to do. "Veena, you hook Talyn up to the transport's computer, and I'll wake up Ceredin."
The Scarran girl nods, and in less than a tenth arn, Ceredin's hologram appears, hovering near Talyn's paralyzed body.
"Gemmi!" Ceredin flashes a broad grin that fades as she takes in the cuts and bruises. "Oh, frell, Gemmi, what happened?"
"Focus on Talyn!" Bialar snaps.
"I am. What part of 'multiple instances' is difficult to comprehend? She's my Programmer. I don't expect a... Sebaccean to understand that. Gemmi--"
"I'll be fine, Cer. Can you bring Talyn online?"
Ceredin tugs on her hair and moves her head from side to side, equivocating. "Hm. I'm not going to try removing the clone. I'll leave that to you. I've quarantined its main function, I think, but I can't be sure."
"Bring him online," Bialar orders. "If the Scorpius clone is in control, I can stop 355's heart the easy way."
A part of him wants to have the satisfaction of physically destroying the clone. Knowing that Gemmi will pick apart its code provides only a weak sense of retribution. Even so, when the bioloid's eyes blink, Bialar automatically responds with a hopeful, "Talyn?"
"Yeah." Talyn locks eyes with Bialar and nods, favors Veena with a surprised grin, and then glances briefly at Gemmi before averting his eyes. After a few microts of grimacing at the floor, he looks up at Ceredin's hologram. His mouth twists into a smile that doesn't touch his eyes. "Ceredin. If you say 'I told you so,' I swear I'll reprogram your hologram so you look like a whining drannit."
"Well, I see you're functioning as well as you ever have," Ceredin replies.
"What's all this?"
Bialar turns to see Sikozu standing in the doorway of the transport, carrying a bulging bag over her shoulder and pointing a gun with the other.