Oh, yeah… writing. Miss me much?

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Knives stood, resting his forehead against the glass and contemplating this new little problem until he heard someone climb the stairs. He straightened and turned to meet the eyes of the man who had guided him here.

"How is she?" he asked solicitously. Knives merely looked at him, saying nothing until the guide grew uncomfortable and amended his statement. "We can't get any brain activity on our monitors, but we don't know if it's because they aren't calibrated for more than one being inside the bulb or if there is something wrong with her."

"She's hurt," he responded curtly. Isn't that obvious you moronic human fool was more than just implied in the tone.

His guide opened his mouth to say something, then thought better of it. He closed it and turned to look up at the still form of Anne, floating serenely in the bulb.

"We like her, too," came to him, the words almost too soft for even Knives to hear.

He stared at the man until the weight of his gaze registered. When his guide turned, he tried to meet Knives' eyes but the anger that burned there forced him to avert his focus to the plant's chin.

"If you like her so much," Knives said, each word clipped short, "then why is she hiding from you in there?"

"Well… I…" He fumbled for words, turning to look up at Anne in the vain hope that she would spark some degree of eloquence. "I don't know."

"I can tell you. She's afraid of you. She is sure that you hate her, despise her. She's tired of pretending that it doesn't matter, that she is superior enough that your negativity doesn't affect her. She doesn't think that you like her in any way. And she's damn tired of dealing with you."

The guide did not respond to Knives. He shifted all his attention to the woman in the bulb, no longer looking at her as an excuse to not look at Knives, but because he wanted to see some clue that would tell him Knives was wrong.

Her unresponsive form gave him nothing, not in support of Knives' words, nor to deny them.

"I never knew…" he whispered, words trailing off.

"She didn't want you to know. All of you are so irrational when faced with something superior to you. Humans fear that they are no longer the darlings of evolution, no longer in control of their destiny. As you enslaved nature and called it your right, you fear that those above you will do the same."

"Won't you?"

"I'd rather see you dead. Beyond that, I don't care what you do, so long as you all leave me alone."

"What about the rest of you?"

"What about them?"

"What about Ace? What does she want?"

"From the looks of things, she wants revenge."

"I was afraid of that," he said with a sigh.

"If you were so afraid, I would suggest that you shouldn't have done anything to her that she would want to take revenge for. Consider whatever pain she ends up giving you a form of justice."

"Ends up? Aren't you going to try to stop her?" The guide's voice held a small tinge of panic.

"Why should I? One, I prefer you dead. Two, you are the ones who harmed her in the first place. Why should I keep you from the repercussions of your actions?"

"Innocent people will be hurt!"

"Probably. Assuming that you feel anything human could possibly be innocent. I do not." Tired of the conversation, Knives pushed past his guide and walked down the stairs. He strode over to the closest monitor and waited for its operator to vacate his seat. He scrolled through screens of data, looking for clues that might help him bring Anne back to him. Numbers and factoids rolled past him, nothing leaping out at him as a way to fix her. He filed away every small detail in the hope that it might be valuable but he found nothing obviously worthwhile in the human's operating system.

Not that he had expected to.

His guide had stood behind him as he learned all that there was for him here. As Knives stood he waited, then made to follow as Knives left the room.

"Stay," Knives said curtly as he reached the door. "I know my way out."

"But you might, I mean there might be something I can do for you."

"There is. You can leave me alone."

"Don't you want to stay close to Anne?"

"Not if it means being close to you."

"But what if her condition changes?"

"I will know. I do not need you to keep me informed."

"Where will you go?"

"I don't feel the need to tell you."

"I…I was told to not let you leave."

"You can't stop me."

"I know," he replied, despair in his voice. "But I can ask you to stay, can't I?"

Knives stopped and turned to look at the annoying insect. He wondered why he was supposed to care about what impossibilities this creature was or was not supposed to perform. "I will not stay here one moment longer than I have to. Being near you pathetic humans sickens me more than you can imagine." He watched the man turn very pale and guessed that the rage he felt was mirrored on his face. With a slight effort he blanked his visage.

As he turned to leave a thought skittered off the surface of his mind. Anne was trying to make these humans treat their sisters better, to make them trust the plants and see them as something to be valued as more than a commodity.

He wasn't helping her very much.

It was a supreme effort, but he managed to say something helpful. "I will be at Anne's apartment. For now." His started to walk again, his long legs stretching in an effort to get him farther faster from those disgusting words.

His guide would have to be happy with that much.