Apriltober 2022 24 Salsa pt 5

a/n: Spoilers, spoilers, all the spoilers. Thanks, Dr. Karen.

All the good things belong to Monolith Soft.

Rina fortified herself with a large handful of chips, generous with guacamole. She needed this kind of fuel for the upcoming mission: get Dr. Karen to explain just enough to be understandable but without going off on some kind of wild tangent. Or worse: starting a lecture on soil drainage as a reflection of hydraulic conductivity in central Oblivia.

The latest round of drinks had arrived. Roo dived in but Rina ignored it, toying with her bottle. "So," she began, "you died on Earth."

Dr. Karen was taking the opportunity to access the chips while Rina was talking. "Mm hmm."

"But you were on the Whale."

"To my surprise," Dr. Karen said indistinctly.

Rina took a deep breath. "So they took your dead body on the ship? That sounds a little, uh, gross. And wasteful."

Dr. Karen shook her head, a single negative bounce.

A horrified thought cleared the mist of alcohol from Rina's head. "They didn't pack you away like some kind of brain in a bottle? I mean, you could fit more people like that but ..." She shuddered.

Dr. Karen looked appalled, as well she should. "Oh no, honey, it wasn't like that at all. Oh my, no." She stared at Rina in surprise.

"Just a thought," Rina said with a relieved shrug.

Roo was so intrigued by his beer that Rina wondered if he cared what they were saying. More likely, he wanted nothing to do with the discussion and was Pathfinding his way to someplace very far away. She looked worriedly at him, then back at Dr. Karen.

Before the good doctor could respond, she was interrupted by an unlikely source. "She doesn't know," Roo muttered.

"I thought she would."

"People don't," Roo said shortly.

"She works in the Mim Center," Dr. Karen said defensively.

"Like they tell people crap," Roo said. He narrowed his eyes and explored the depths of his beer bottle again.

"Well, maybe we should talk about something else, then," Dr. Karen said brightly. "Never mind my silly prattle."

Rina leaned across the table until she was almost nose to nose with her. "What are you talking about?"

She should have intimidated the hell out of Dr. Karen. She was taller, broader, and more experienced in heavy weaponry, and while Dr. Karen collected rocks during her missions, Rina had to regularly clear Ganglion away from tasty wreckage. She teamed with Harriers on the daily and got their thanks at the end. For goodness sakes, Rina had perfected the ability to open a path to the best spot at the bar with a single glance, effective even on Friday night. Dr. Karen should have wilted.

Dr. Karen didn't flinch. The standard bemused smile vanished from Dr. Karen's face and her eyes were dissecting Rina with cold efficiency. Rina suddenly was reminded that Dr. Karen was considered a bit of a genius, worthy of a spot on the Whale even when dead, apparently. She regretted forgetting this.

Dr. Karen's voice was light and clear and the furthest thing from soft. "They didn't bring our bodies, not at all. Those scans were very detailed."

"Huh?" Rina hung over the table. She wanted to grab Dr. Karen by the shoulders, not as a threat but for support.

"There aren't any bodies in the Lifehold. The structure contains an extremely large computer, holding our files." She pushed Rina away. Her aim was good. Rina landed neatly back on the booth bench, mouth gaping like a fish. She didn't even rock the table. Dr. Karen continued. "They can pull up an individual, build them a mim, pop them in and presto, you have yourself an expert on gravitational communications between mineral strata."

"That would be you, right?" Rina heard Roo say, as at a distance.

"Exactly."

a/n: I need to finish this before the 7th anniversary on April 29th. Thoughts and prayers.

Next up: Salsa end or bust!