thirteen
"Now what?"
"I do not know."
Why had he brought her here, to a cavern of rock inside a bigger rock that would not sustain her for long? He could recycle her air indefinitely. He might even be able to extract moisture from some of the gasses and pipe it into her suit. Trace elements might nurture her flesh for a short while. He could do nothing to properly slake her thirst, though, or quiet the rumble of her belly.
Confused by the seeming whim that had driven his actions, he withdrew from her, the barrier expanding to fit the cavern, sealing it as effectively as her helmet fused with her suit. He thought about trying to communicate again, but despite being able to converse with himself, actual words were hard. He had no tongue; he could only sigh and chop at the air to produce a short grunt.
Her ears. If he could manipulate the air over her eardrums correctly, cause the delicate protuberances to vibrate in the correct order, she might 'hear' him. He tried a simple word first, her name.
"Kaaaaattt."
Her head snapped up, grey eyes wide in the reflected light.
"Safe," he said, uttering his most practiced sound.
"Who the fuck are you?" she answered.
"I don't know." His name still escaped memory. A sigh, a sound like the ocean. One that began like sunshine and ended in death.
"Shh," he tried.
"Don't shush me, I'm in hell! I'm in the belly of some fucking rock and the giant octopus of doom could be out there looking for me. I need answers!"
Her head whipped back and forth, the glow of her helmet bouncing off the walls of the cavern. The glint of his skin looked like mica buried in the rock. Did she understand he still held her?
"She doesn't even understand what you are."
The mote of self had returned, and, as always, it heckled.
"I don't understand what I am. I need a name. She will fear me less if I have a name."
"You really have forgotten how to be human, haven't you?
No.
He remembered fear and pain and compassion and love. What else was there?
Kat flinched and swiped at her helmet. "Is that you?" she asked. "What the fuck is going on?" She raised the disrupter again, the short barrel aimed roughly at the bubble of eezo protecting her head. "Was it you who stopped me from scrambling my brain? I still have this weapon! Can you see it? Can you see me? What the fuck are you?"
Her voice rose with panic and he could feel the corresponding leap of her pulse, sense the way her heart slammed against her ribs. If he looked closely, he could see within her flesh, count the beats of that vital organ. He could squeeze her heart if he wanted to, or move the blood through it more quickly or slowly. He could do things without thought, but he could not talk—
Her omni-tool!
A tendril of self dove into the instrument and it immediately glowed with life. Before she could react, he typed: Am here, cannot talk well.
She stared open-mouthed at the holographic display wavering above her wrist. "Holy fucking Christ."
Protect you, he typed.
Her lips moved soundlessly.
He tried another word: Sunshine.
Kat's lower lip tucked beneath her teeth and whitened as she bit down on it. Her gaze never wavered from the display. Then, shoulders hitching upward, she began to shake. He thought she suffered from a fit until her mouth opened and a sob tore free of her throat.