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Disable? Bik it all. Now Noni has my attention. No one has ever been disabled from regaining nanos, ever. Even the worst deletion sentencing allowed for medical nanos. I rub my forehead as a gentle rain begins to fall. Fine, Noni, consider this a response.
Cinq, it’s excellent to hear from you. I trust you’re well?
Her happiness over hearing from me rings through her words. I can’t help but be cheered. I am, thank you for asking.
As much as I’d like to catch up with you, I can’t. You’ve clearly obtained nanotechnology and are accessing the imperial datalinks.
She won’t let my transgression pass, but I have to try. It was a one-time breech made out of desperation. It’ll never happen again.
Several seconds go by, an eternity in innercoms, before she replies, I agree, because you’ve been flagged for tech deletion.
If I lose my tech, I lose the ability to talk with Jessica, never mind the rest of the empire. Noni, please. Can’t you just let me remove my back door to the datalinks and forget this ever happened?
You’ll remove your access port created earlier today, too?
I…. She has me. Plessing Origins all to tunsa, she has me. You’re good, I send her.
Of course, I am. You trained me.
Flattery? I ask, teasing my usually straightforward assistant.
Honesty. Why are you so intent now to keep your imperial access? You’re risking everything and for what?
I take a deep breath, every muscle in my body quaking. I have a bondmate from Earth and couldn’t speak her language until I retrieved it.
No one else could get the file and send it to you?
I share her disbelief because the excuse sounds flimsy to me, too. Plus, she acts as if others here with me is common knowledge in the empire. What do you mean? I lie. I’m alone here except for her.
Right. Your lack of faith in me is vastly disappointing. The empire knows more than you think we do. You’ve been inactive since the sentencing, so I saw no need to interfere with the rough life you, S’Tou, Nilt, and Quin carved out there for yourself. In fact, we’d be hard pressed to create a worse prison for you.
It’s not that bad, I say, defending our little outpost. It’s not Ghar, but we live free from imperial harassment.
No running water or free access to information?
All right, it’s not good, either, I admit, climbing over one of the higher roots we habitually encounter. We have basic comforts but only basic.
Noni’s quiet for a second before asking, You’ve said your bondmate is from Earth? One of those taken in the invasion? You might be interested in what’s going on in her section of the galaxy.
She sends information to me in a databurst. I grip the nearest tree to lean against. I’m not used to this much data pouring into my mind anymore. It’s like my mental muscles have become lax over the past several years. I sort by priority, learning the details about the Kostans, then Vahdmoshi abducting hundreds of thousands of Earthers. I’m taking in secrets I’d suspected from my earlier access but never had confirmed. I might be a criminal, but I was never a spy. Are you sure you should be sharing so much with me?
It’s for the Earther’s sake. So you can see what a delicate humanoid she is, physically and mentally. She pauses for a moment. You haven’t given her nanos, have you?
There’s been no need. She’s not ill and quite frankly, I don’t have many to spare. Hoping for a little levity and thus a little forgiveness, I add, I need all I can get to run the replicator. I don’t trust a Vahdmoshi Quzi hybrid to create tasty meals.
My attempt works and Noni laughs across our connection. You do have a point. I’ve sent S’Tou some of the latest Earther recipes. I’m not without influence and I feel like you’ve been adequately punished already. Let me talk with my leaders and the emperor. He’s softened a bit in the past several years. He might reconsider your case.
I want nothing from him. I need nothing from him.
Several nanoseconds tick by before she responds with, I see. Your attitude disappoints me. Think about what you would want and need for your Earther’s sake, then. Contact me in a Gharian day’s time if or when you change your mind.
