The roots would be sedated, they would not listen, they did not care. They were differently alive, more instinctive, but with the history of higher thought in their evolutionary line.

(Have you figured out what's going to happen/already happened, yet?)

The roots, the plants, the cycle of life that was part of Aumegden lifted her body from its sedation and brought her fist against the glass until it cracked and her knuckles bled. She kept hitting it until the part of the mind that was still Aumegden registered the hurt hand and remembered that there was an internal safety switch.

She found it and stepped out. The muscles became more alive. If the roots wanted to, if the body allowed them, they could have become part of the muscles and skin and been strong enough to punch through the second glass.

Instead they picked up medical device and bashed it against the door lock.

Alarms were blaring, mauve warning lights softly flashing.

No one took much attention to Aumegden. Now that the crown was on the floor, having caused such a noise when it bounced off the glass and clattered to the floor, everyone was staring at it. They were suddenly obsessed with it again. The shitty little perception filters the Doctor fixed on to them had worn out. The crown was within snatching distance.

Lt. Castillo had her hand on her laser gun. Dr. Chen was holding a sharp implement. Hestamoloc, by the main door, and Gesto, by the containment door, had not reached for their guns just yet, but they were ready to. Vazican Zimorax looked around the room at everyone who could more easily fend her off, she reasoned she couldn't hold them back so had to kill them to stop them from taking the crown.

Only the Doctor was not taken in by it. Her mind was still speckled with Joshua's gender and the memories of being surrounded by people who, from the outside, looked like men. She found a memory that was not hers surfacing, the smell of frying oils and some vegetable mixed with the funk of all those uncles and their aftershave.

The Doctor also noticed that the pull was not as great and began to theorise why. She concluded that since the crown found a host in Diana, whatever it wanted from her, it got and now all that remained was the mere habit of will.

The mauve was a nice colour too. Why mauve? What does that mean? She thought and tried to remember the briefing. There was so much they missed. It embarrassed her that she didn't pick up on the language. Mauve meant danger.

Aumegden opened the door. It swung out and hit Gesto, spinning her. Aumegden went for her collar. She pulled back, and tried to claw off the green-veined hand, but Aumegden pulled back. They fought, blow for blow, falling into the doorway. Gesto in the life-and-death panic of the condemned. Not wanting to accept she might be infected and forced to stay behind. She felt nothing enter her skin, felt nothing but the human fist of Aumegden embed itself in her gut, and she returned in kind.

She was too set on escaping from the fight to pull her gun, wherever it had gone. She missed having the easy reach of a knife as part of her military uniform. In the war, she never had to fight like this, it was all drones and armour and lasers. Actually making physical contact with the enemy was for black-ops or commandos.

'Stand down or I will fire,' said Hestamoloc, and then again a few more times, constantly trying to get the shot. He urged on Gesto to fight back and give him an opening. He did not want to step in either and pull them apart.

The Doctor, Dr. Clayton, fell to the floor and covered her head. She pulled Vazican down with her.

Lt. Castillo fired twice. Once at Gesto's back, throwing her off, her back arching in the pain, and leaving room to fire at Aumegden. It was mere luck that the laser bolt went into her shoulder and not her chest. The first shot was a low setting, the second was not. Aumegden grunted and fell back against the door.

Lt. Castillo grabbed a sedation gun from Dr. Chen's workbench and tried to use it, but it was isomoprhically locked for the medical officer. Dr. Chen snapped to attention and took the instrument from the Lieutenant's proffered hand. She gave Aumegden a large dose, enough for make Aumegden make noises as it set in.

'You shot her!'

Lt. Castillo gave Hestamoloc a scathing look.

'Sir,' he added lamely.

'Everybody begin packing, we leave tomorrow,' announced Lt. Castillo. She turned to the Doctor, and her face was like an accusing finger. 'Help Doctor Chen create an isolation chamber for Aumegden, and help her with the assessment of everyone's DNA.

'Corporal Shinshasabadim, keep and eye on the academics while they pack. If you haven't seen or heard from anyone in ten minutes you call in. Anyone attempting to approach the city, stun setting two.

'Corporal Chen, are you able to complete your duties?'

Gesto Chen, on the floor, groaned.

'Get a cooling pack on the effected area. Dr. Chen, administer painkillers. Corporal, join Shinshasabadim.' Lt. Castillo addressed the rest of them. 'I will be remaining here, my gun will be on stun setting three. Dismissed.'

Dr. Zimorax was still standing by the bed with Diana on it. She had pulled herself up from the floor with the Doctor after Aumegden was sedated and put in the other room.

'Doctor Zimorax, that includes you.'

'I'm not leaving.'

'Doctor Chen is an expert and I'm sure Doctor Clayton has tricks up her sleeve. Help the others back,' Lt. Castillo said this gently, but firmly, as she lifted Dr. Zimorax away from Diana's bedside and directed her outside the medical bay.

When only the patients, Lt. Castillo, the Doctor and Dr. Chen remained, Lt. Castillo took Dr. Chen off to the side to whisper: 'Is Lozada compromised?'

'I'm not making that call. If she has to be… We might have to be, and I won't allow that until I know for certain we are compromised. I took a sample while she was on the floor. I didn't want her to run if I came asking.'

They looked at the Doctor, she had her fingers on Joshua's temples again. 'What's she doing?' asked Lt. Castillo.

'Some psychic stuff.'

'Do you have a psionic scanner?'

'No, but I'd put her on a three, maybe a four.'

This rank would be considered non-threatening, but still prominent and sometimes even useful.

'And Joshua's a Janus? He hid that. I didn't even know that. How did he hide that?'

'Perception filter and, now that I think about, avoiding DNA tests.'

Both their egos were slightly winded they didn't catch on.

'He's coming round,' announced the Doctor, concentrating too much on Joshua to have heard what Lt. Castillo and Dr. Chen had said, she knew they were talking, but had other priorities.

Joshua's eyes fluttered opened, he inhaled and arched his back. He sat up and stretched.

'Corporal Smiley, are you fit to carry out your duties?'

Joshua took a moment to respond as he took in his surroundings. He caught sight of Aumegden lying in the broke isolation chamber, then saw the crate against the door to stop it opening. Diana was on a bed bedside him.

'No sir, I can't… couldn't pilot like this. I need rest.'

Dr. Chen went to check the medical read-outs, but in spite of waiting for her verdict, Lt. Castillo asked, 'You think you could help the packing up, despite being so tired?' in that way of hers.

Joshua rolled his back eyes while keeping the front face attentive. 'Yes sir.'

Then he realised he didn't have his perception filter on, the beard was messy, his back-face was visible. He was muttering, 'Um' as he tried to hide it.

'Joshua, it's okay, we know, we understand,' said Dr. Chen. She had moved away from the read outs, clearly her work wasn't important when Lt. Castillo wanted to give out orders. Instead, she began her work on Diana.

I will still have to report it, thought Lt. Castillo, with a little more concern than she would have liked to admit to.

Joshua nodded. 'I'm going to lie down for a while,' he said, making his way out of the medical bay, very conscious that they could see his other face.

'Good idea,' said the Doctor.

'And what about her?' asked Lt. Castillo, pointing with her gun to the Diana, at some point Dr. Chen had attached a brain scanning helmet.

Dr. Chen directed her to the screen displaying the real-time brain scan. 'I've only basic neuro training, but from what I can tell Diana is still there, or some of her still is. The personality hasn't been overwritten, but the memories have.'

'All of them?' asked the Doctor, taking out her yellow spectacles to examine Diana and then the screen.

'I don't know.' Dr. Chen brought up a separate tab and played back the brain scan. It showed greater activity in smaller regions. 'I can only give you a quantitive answer, and even that means nothing. And memories aren't stored like a database. I know her variation of humanoid there is less connection between the emotional receptors and memory storage, maybe a bit more like a database, but she could have forgotten her class schedule and her mother's birthday and her first kiss but retained every fight with Vazican.'

'Motor memory?' asked Lt. Castillo, forgetting briefly that Dr. Zimorax and Diana had made the journey to the base camp in a hover car.

'No, no, they're stored much deeper down. Maybe more personal affections, a signature or how she walks, not her ability to walk, but where she might keep her centre of gravity or hunch her soldiers.'

'She takes small steps with a shoulder shimmy,' said the Doctor, who only noticed because it got distracting that one time.

'Will she wake up?' asked Lt. Castillo.

'I don't know. Let the brain scan continue and maybe. It looks like when Vazican took off the crown the changing of neural pathways stopped. So if the information has been… downloaded, she'll need to sleep for a few hours to process it. Like any neural linking or psychic interaction, the brain needs time to process it.'

'Can we move her?'

'Oh, yeah, easy. We have the hover craft and the seats are recliner. I might set up an IV drip just in case. I'd have to go with her, we couldn't have her two days without medical attention.'

Dr. Chen said this pointedly at Nursebot-W7Alpha, who was still on the floor, waiting for someone to press the glowing activation button. She said it like one would to a pet who you know can't understand you, but you're still mad.

'Doctor Clayton, have you anything to add?'

'Nope.'

'Are you sure?' asked Dr. Chen, almost certain she did have something to add. Something had just crossed her mind to ask, but it was suddenly lost again.

'Nothing at all.'

'No theories as to what the crown is and the black coffin?'

The Doctor shook her head. A good liar this one.

'If that is all, could you then assist the others with the clean up, I think Doctor Chen can handle herself from here.'

'I will call if I need anyone.' She gave a pleading look at the Doctor to stay, hoping she might relay something, let something slip.

'I can help secure Aumegden. If we aren't staying we don't need the hydroponic lab. I'll divert the power. See if I can't rig up some sort of lock, and maybe fix that one.' She meant the one Aumegden had smashed in.

'Very well.' Lt. Castillo nodded and exited, leaving the two doctors alone. She went for something to drink before returning to her guard duty outside the medical bay.

Unfortunately for Dr. Chen, the Doctor did not reveal anything more, did not let anything slip. She kept quiet. She looked after Diana and did what she promised with Aumegden's security. She had a mission, and she was not to get attached. Unless that was the point in sending her, because she would get attached. She had got attached.