“I can go alone if you prefer.” Kana said as she dressed, fumbling a bit as she pulled on and secured her robes one handed to conceal the metallic torso plate, empty shoulder attachment, scarred, empty eye socket and various other bits of hanging wires, tubing, and data ports that marked her as an xB or former Borg. “With or without Nan.”
Alice chewed on her fingertip and shook her head. “No, no, I’ll come too. I’ll feel safer with you. Plus, you might need my help anyways. Not everything can be solved with blades.” It had been three months since Kana and Alice had met and found the child Nan, to their knowledge the only surviving salt vampire in the universe, aside from Alice herself, who was only half. “I just don’t see why we need to stop here of all places.”
Kana shrugged. “M’Talas Prime is a major trading hub. It may also be a filthy den of villainy and secrets, but most trading hubs outside the control of the major powers are. We need more salt, we could use more food, and I was hoping to find some baby toys for Nan too.”
“If we got a replicator we wouldn’t need to stop so often,” noted Alice, knowing Kana wouldn’t even reply to the request. She said the food didn’t taste the same to her as regular food ever since she had been assimilated, but Alice suspected there was something deeper in the Romulan xB’s refusal. In theory, as a member of the Qowat Milat, Kana was bound to follow the Way of Absolute Candor, to always be honest and speak her thoughts truthfully and frankly, but in practice she was a person of few words and often left things unsaid, whether that violated the spirit of the Way of Candor or not. Kana rarely spoke of the assimilation that had cost her an eye and an arm, and Alice was pretty sure this was to avoid being honest about how it had affected her.
Nan was currently on their stomach on the floor, eyeing a bottle of baby formula mixed with saline solution that had been placed just out of their reach. “Bah! Bah! Bubububbuh!” they exclaimed as they tried to grab it to no avail. Alice stood up from the passenger seat of the small two person scoutship, The Sigh of the Spring Blossom, that they had flown here on, and walked over to the babe. “Buh!” Nan announced one more, and looked up at Alice. Alice picked them and the bottle up, and gave it to Nan, who grasped it with their suckered hands and began nursing vigorously at the rubber nipple.
“I think I’ll carry them this time. Last time you got into a fight while they were still in the baby carrier, and I nearly died watching you swing that thing around with a baby strapped to your back,” she said, gesturing with her free arm towards Kana’s tan qalang, the single edged sword wielded by the nuns of the Qowat Milat which hung from Kana’s waist, while cradling Nan with her other arm.
Kana shrugged. “Suit yourself.” She continued to gather a few things from around the small, crowded ship, including a small pouch that jingled with latinum and a larger bag traveling supplies for Nan like spare cloth for changes and more formula and saline if she needed to eat.
“You’re so primitive.” Alice commented to herself while she put Nan back down and began pulling the baby harness over her arms. As she did so she focused her thoughts on Kana and began projecting an impression of Zani outwards. As a salt vampire, she could instinctually replicate the appearance of another or someone they loved through a psychic projection, but she usually defaulted to Zani now when she did not have a reason to look otherwise. Nan herself tended to project the image of a Romulan baby, presumably snatched from Kana’s memory as well, although anyone aware of her or Nan’s true identities could see through the illusion to perceive their true form. Securing the final straps and buckles, she lifted Nan back up and tucked them inside the harness, pressed against her chest, who then cooed and grabbed her silver grey hair to suck on.
“Are you ready?” asked Kana. Her one eye twinkled at the sight of Alice and Nan, belying her natural scowl.
“Sure, let’s go meet our adoring public.” Alice chuckled as Kana keyed in the gangplank release and opened the ship to the heavy, fragrant air of M’Talas Prime.
The marketplace of M’Talas was crowded, chaotic, and lively in the way only hubs of cross-cultural exchange can be. Hundreds of stalls jockeyed for salespace and customers, hundreds of voices in just as many languages trying to shout over one another and attract the attention of passersby, throngs of children rushing around ones feet, some groups playing games and others attempting to pick your pockets, while more mature, unsavory individuals with similar intentions circled the crowds like wolves among sheep. Kana had an intimidating presence, though, which allowed them to cut through the sea of humanoids with minimal effort, although between her mien and Nan burbling and charming strangers with waves, they attracted a lot of attention as they gathered their supplies. After arranging for deliveries of salt and some basic staples to the ship, Kana stopped and leaned in close to Alice’s left ear.
“I got a friend here who can get us a good deal on Romulan ale, our stock is getting low.” said Kana, speaking Romulan with her voice low.
Alice had picked up a wide smattering of different languages from her many years surviving alone, but over the past three months had improved her Romulan immensely, as Kana preferred it to the Federation Standard Alice had learned in her youth, and neither of them had a universal translator. Her shapeshifting abilities allowed her to pluck knowledge of languages from the minds of others when beguiling them, but such knowledge only lasted while she was focused on them, so she had put in extra effort to nail the basics of Romulan down. She replied in Romulan while suppressing a giggle, “We have half a dozen bottles, you’re just a lush.”
“I drink copiously but responsibly.” She gestured at an alleyway. “That way.”
The alleyway was narrow and relatively clean. Although there were a few stacked crates and a stray bottle, the ground itself seemed swept and it almost seemed like the crates and bottle were left deliberately to create a specific vibe. Alice could make out two of M’Talas’s famous moons peaking over the edge of the buildings far above their head. Kana walked forward to a nondescript plasteel door and knocked once, once again, then twice, then thrice, and then five times in quick succession. A voice behind the door said something in a language Alice could identify as Vulcan, but could not quite follow - her Vulcan was not nearly as good as her Romulan. Kana replied in the same, but since Alice was focusing her shapeshifting on her she was able to grasp the meaning, “Crime is inevitable, thus logical.”
The door opened, and they were ushered into a dark hallway by a tall Klingon woman, presumably the one who had been speaking Vulcan. They walked swiftly past several doors before passing through a wider doorway screened off by glittering beads. On the other side was a round room with a surprisingly cozy vibe, with low couches with thick cushions and pillows ringing the edges and then a similarly low table in the center with four pillows surrounding it. Lounging on the couches were three Orions, a woman and two men attending her, rubbing some kind of oil on her skin while she appraised Kana, Alice, and Nan, while kneeling on the pillow on the far side of the table was a large male Vulcan with a serious look and a scarred face. It looked like some creature with venomous claws had attempted and failed to remove his right eye years ago, while a larger and deeper slash across the left side of his face split both his cheek and the edge of his mouth. Upon seeing Kana, he raised an eyebrow. Kana held her hand in front of her chest with its edge vertical and fingers pointed towards him, then folded it to the side as if opening a book, her best approximation of the greeting of the Qowat Milat given her single arm. Krinn rose and bowed to her politely.
“I have not seen you for years, Kana. What brings you to my place of business? Are you still on the hunt for those trading in Borg implants?” Alice could sense the Vulcan was trying to provoke Kana, which struck her as an unusual tack for a Vulcan to take with a supposed friend.
Kana smiled grimly. “No, Krinn, I am not hunting murderers at the moment. I have bound myself as a qalankhkai to a cause which has placed this woman and child under my protection.” She nodded towards Alice and Nan, who smiled and burbled respectively.
Krinn raised his other eyebrow this time. Alice idly wondered how he decided which to raise. “I am glad you have found a purpose, even if it means you will presumably have less need of my services in tracking down those who deal in Borg implants.” Alice could sense once again Krinn’s desire to aggravate Kana. “Well what can I do for you then? I do not carry diapers, unfortunately.”
“I was hoping you’d have a case of Romulan ale. It's getting harder to find these days with Romulus destroyed and it still being illegal in the Federation. Blood wine and kanar just don’t cut it, and don’t get me started on the piss water synthale the Federation pumps out. How am I to drown my sorrows if I can’t even get properly drunk?” Alice honestly was impressed, Kana usually didn’t say more than a few phrases at most if she could get away with it. She really must be friends with this Vulcan.
“I would love to help you, but it will cost more than you anticipate. I lost a shipment recently so the price has spiked. It is simply supply and demand, so my hands are, as humans say, tied.” Krinn mimicked the Ferengi apology gesture holding his wrists together under his chin. “A shapeshifter stole our last shipment.”
“A shapeshifter?” said Alice as she and Kana exchanged looks. “What kind of shapeshifter?”
“Who exactly are these companions you have bound yourself to, Kana? I know how you Qowat Milat love your lost causes. I can only imagine the sort of emotional manipulation they must have employed to get one as cold and mechanical as you to accept a baby as your charge.” Krinn’s face remained impassive but Alice herself felt close to decking him.
“They are the last of their kind, and I am protecting them. I do so of my own free will and not because of any manipulation on their part. You, however, did not answer her question. They say Vulcans, like the Qowat Milat, do not lie, but you have been known to dissemble.” Alice admired Kana’s ability to not take the bait.
“Vulcans constantly lie to ourselves. The idea that we do not lie is in of itself a lie, but a logical one that allows us to maintain control of ourselves. I have learned in my time as a criminal that it is logical to do so in many instances.” Krinn sat back down on my pillow, and gestured for them to do the same. Kana did so immediately, and so Alice decided to follow suit. Nan burbled and yanked on her hair. “In this case, however, I see no reason to. We have heard reports from all over District 6 of incidents that imply the existence of a shapechanger stealing supplies. In our instance, someone using my likeness entered our warehouse, passed the biometric checks that would ensure he was me, and walked out with an entire shipment, ten cases. There have been dozens of other such incidents reported by other, smaller business ventures, but targeting me was a mistake. Once we track him down, he will be eliminated. I’ve pulled in some favors and all the businesses in the areas that have been struck are sending me their security footage from the days in question, and once we’ve analyzed that I expect we will be able to narrow down a location. Now, tell me, why do you want to know about this problem of mine?” Krinn said to Alice, raising the original eyebrow yet again.
“Umm, I, rather, we are interested in, that is…” Alice fumbled, not having intended to blurt out the question to begin with and thus being unprepared to justify it.
Kana cut in. “Perhaps if we solve this shapeshifter problem of yours, you could give us a fair price for the ale? My budget is limited but my spare time is copious. Not to mention…” Kana swallowed and grit her teeth. “I could access the security footage with my Borg implants and scan it much faster than you could.”
Krinn raised the second eyebrow a second time. “I indeed never thought I would see the day you offered to use your Borg implants. I was certain you despised them, given your past. But, you are correct, that would be very useful. I will do you one better. You can solve my shapeshifter problem, and you can keep whatever Romulan ale he has left, no charge. If you need more after that, it will be a fair price. Is that acceptable to you?”
Kana nodded. Krinn gestured to one of the male Orions, who pulled a data crystal out of a pouch on his belt and handed it to Kana. Kana removed her hood, and then fumbled with her robe for a bit until she had freed her arm and exposed her torso. Alice had gotten used to Kana’s appearance, as she usually did not wear the enveloping robes of the Qowat Milat order while in the privacy of her own ship, but she nevertheless looked very naked and exposed with her one bare humanoid arm dangling from her black metallic lump of a torso, where her other arm should be now merely an open socket attachment. She used her fingertips to feel along her metallic chest until she found an indentation about six inches down from her empty arm socket, and then tried to insert the data crystal blind. After several jabs, she dropped the crystal onto the carpeted floor, and Alice saw her bronze toned skin flush green.
“Let me.” Alice said. She stood up and walked over, kneeled down, and retrieved the crystal, and then looked closely at the left side of Kana’s chest, finding the small slot she had been blindly jabbing at. Touching the metal, she asked, “Is this it?” Kana nodded, and Alice inserted the crystal into the slot, hearing a small click once it was secure.
“Thank you,” said Kana, grasping her hand and squeezing it. Her face went blank for a bit, her eyes darting back and forth as if examining something only she could see. She silently mouthed things for a while, inhaled sharply a few times, mouthed a few more things, then nodded and began to speak. “In five of the eleven incidents you received footage on, the shapeshifter appeared in security footage disguised not only on the cameras of the businesses in question, but on those of neighboring businesses as well, before disappearing in between security footage gaps, presumably changing forms. If I track his route from each of those times and triangulate where he was headed… yeah, that narrows things down a lot.” Kana nodded. “I think we can find him.” She reached around to her side again and removed the crystal with only minimal difficulty, and then offered it to Krinn. Krinn nodded to one of the Orions, who took the crystal from Kana, stuffing it back in the same pouch. “Is there anything else we should know before we go?”
“There is much which would benefit you to know, but nothing logical for me to share. If you find him and recover the Romulan ale and do not need any more, leave a message for me at any of the businesses here, they will be able to pass it along. If I do not hear from you in three days, I will assume you failed.” Krinn gave them a dismissive nod and stopped paying attention to them. Kana returned it, and she and Alice turned to leave. Nan waved happily at Krinn over Alice’s shoulder as they left the criminal’s den.
Kana woke up on a cold metal slab in the dark, screaming. The air was damp, moldy, and metallic, and what little light there was green and pulsed rhythmically. She could hear some others around her screaming, and the buzzing of some kind of rotating saw as it cut into bone and flesh. She felt a hand on her arm, and a face appeared floating above her. The face was male, with pale, pinkish skin, and the telltale signs of black metal attachment points lodged into the flesh marking him an xB or former Borg. He smiled warmly at her, a kind smile that belied the hellish atmosphere of her surroundings.
“Don’t worry, you’re safe, although it may not seem like it. I’ve just finished your extraction surgery. Unfortunately we couldn’t remove everything - your entire torso has been replaced by a processing unit, and there is simply no way to remove that without killing you,” he said, gently rapping his knuckles on what used to be her chest but was now apparently something that made a metallic klang when struck.
Kana screamed again. The man smiled again, still kind but somewhat pained. “I’m Hugh. I’m also a former Borg, although I’ve been out of the collective for far longer than you. We will probably get to know one another well over the coming months, I’m in charge of the research on the Artifact. That’s what the abandoned Borg cube you are on is called. Unfortunately for you, Romulans do not take well to assimilation. We’ve not had much luck restoring the others to sanity, but our Romulan hosts consider it a high priority, for the intelligence locked in that brain of yours, if nothing else.”
Kana continued screaming. Hugh nodded, and added, “You’ve also lost an eye and an arm, unfortunately. I’d have left you the arm, but orders are to remove any parts not essential to survival, and I don’t have any leeway. But at least you will have the luxury of time to recover. All you need to think about now is who you are, and what you want. Focusing on those should help you reforge a link to reality. You are Kana, of the Tal Shiar, from the Tal Shiar Scoutship Shaenor. Try to hold on to that.”
Kana kept screaming.
“Are you alright? You’ve been muttering to yourself and staring off into the distance for the past five minutes.” Alice said.
“Just remembering something. I’ll be fine.” Kana said shortly.
The security footage had indicated the shapeshifter seemed to always head towards a section of the wall between District 6 and District 5, so they had begun walking in that direction after leaving Krinn’s den. The crowds thinned as they went until by the time they arrived close to the wall it seemed the only people still around were locals who lived here rather than the merchants and their customers that had filled the streets closer to the port. As they approached, Kana slowed and said, “A thought occurs. I had assumed there was a chance this shapechanger could be another like you and Nan, but on further thought, I don’t think it can be.”
“I also thought it might be. Why not?” asked Alice. Nan was patting her on the chest repeatedly and laughing.
“Have you ever checked whether your abilities work on security cameras?”
“Now that you mention it, I haven’t, but they probably don’t. My understanding, from what my father concluded studying me and my mother, is that we affect the perceptions of those around us, but don’t actually physically change. It's why we can look different to different people if we’re not careful, or if we decide it makes sense to. It should have no effect through a security camera.” Alice sighed. “Oh well, hopefully we get the free ale anyways.”
Kana nodded while scanning the streets. “It looks like most of the buildings abutting the wall are warehouses, whereas most of those on the opposite side of the street are residences. A warehouse would provide a good place to hide from the public eye and to store things, unless we think he is living openly in a residence.” Kana shrugged her one remaining shoulder. “It could go either way. We may need to stake out the area.”
Alice chewed on her finger. “I think I might be able to speed things up. Let’s go stand over there.” She gestured to an alleyway between two warehouses. They walked over to it, and she stood in the gap between the two buildings. “Okay, just stand in front of me.” Alice’s eyes glazed over a bit, as she turned her head left and right as if looking at the street with eyes that could not see, and her form began to shift in front of Kana’s eyes, although she could always see her natural form with its deep olive skin and silvery blue hair underneath. Human, Klingon, Orion, Ferengi and more flashed by quickly, then a smooth skinned humanoid with unusually doughy features in a tan uniform. Alice nodded. “I think I found him.” she whispered, returning to the familiar form of Zani. “I just began grabbing forms from people in the neighborhood, whoever they instinctively trust. Whoever is in that apartment,” she pointed at the third story of a building across the street, “Their mind felt very different than the others, and hell if I know what species the person they trust was. Maybe another shapeshifter like them?””
Kana nodded. “If I’m not mistaken, you turned into a changeling just now.”
“A changeling? Like, from the Dominion War?”
Kana nodded again. “We should be careful. We may have stepped into something bigger than we expected.”
They stood outside the door to the apartment where the presumed changeling was presumed to be hiding. Kana gestured for Alice to hang back, and she moved with Nan down the hallway so they could not be seen from the doorway once opened. Kana knocked on the door, made from unadorned plasteel with the number 303 on it in Federation standard.
Kana waited. No response.
She knocked again.
No response.
She knocked a third time, this time harder.
No response.
She shrugged her shoulder and tried the door’s handle, a traditional M’Talan design with a latch that was pulled outwards. It was unlocked and swung open immediately.
The apartment inside was a glorified closet. No bed, no kitchen, no bathroom. Crates of various supplies were stacked along the walls, none of them opened. Kana recognized several with Romulan writing on it that were probably the ale. in the center of the room was a chair, and next to the chair a nondescript bucket with sloping sides. Kana stared at the chair and bucket, perplexed.
“Is it safe?” asked Alice, walking up besides her. Kana shrugged again, and Alice looked around the room, before settling her eyes on the chair. “That’s not a chair. That’s him.”
The chair lunged suddenly. Its back legs stretched forward while its front legs reached up and around Kana’s neck as its back began to reshape into a head. Simultaneously Kana drew her tan qalang from her waist and swung it upwards in one smooth motion. Within half a second, what had been two women and a baby looking at a chair became two women, a baby, and a tall, thin, nondescript humanoid with dusty grey hair who had been about to throttle Kana, but stopped just short to avoid impaling themselves on Kana’s blade. Nan giggled.
“Well met, friend. My companion and child and I are just here to recover some stolen property. The path you are on has come to an end. Please, choose to live.” Kana kept her sword aimed at the humanoid’s throat, but her voice was perfectly calm.
“What are you talking about? I’m a friggin’ liquid, that sword can’t kill me… wait… you have a baby? You brought a baby here to deal with the dangerous changeling?” the former chair started laughing, a scratchy, unhinged cackling which caused their whole body to shake. After a bit, they stopped laughing, lowered their arms carefully, and backed away from Kana’s blade. “So who sent you? The Federation? The Tal Shiar? No, you’re an xB…”
“Krinn sent us. He’s tired of you stealing supplies from the business he controls. We’re here to make sure it stops.” Kana sheathed her sword, then raised her hand and performed her one handed approximation of the Qowat Milat greeting. “He did not, however, specify how we had to stop it. I’m Kana of the Qowat Milat. Who are you?”
The changeling laughed again. “I suppose I’m Toby, although I haven’t gone by that in years. The Qowat Milat, they’re one of those Romulan secret orders, right? What kind of secrets are you in charge of?”
Kana shook her head. “We’re a Romulan order, but unlike most Romulans, we don’t deal in secrets, only in truth. We follow the Way of Absolute Candor, pledging to do our best to always be honest and forthright.”
Toby cracked up again, hard enough they began to cry a bit. Wiping tears from their eyes, they managed to stop long enough to say, “So what’s the only honest Romulan doing tracking down minor criminals for major criminals?”
Kana looked at Alice. “Well, two reasons. First, I wanted some Romulan ale, and you stole the last shipment, so it was either find it, or cut off my ears to pay for it, and I’m running low on body parts. Second, we heard a shapeshifter was involved, and we have a special interest in shapeshifters.”
Toby’s eyes narrowed. “Are you sure you aren’t Federation?”
Alice shook her head. “Definitely not. So you’re a changeling?” Her form then shifted, and she looked like she had outside in the alley.
Toby gasped, and dropped to their knees. “Odo? I thought you were in the Great Link? How are you here? How did you find out about me?”
Alice shook her head. “I’m not Odo, nor do I even know who that is. I’m also a shapeshifter, like you, but I’m not a changeling. My official designation by the Federation is a ‘M-113 creature’ but we’re usually just called salt vampires. My species can instinctively pluck forms, languages, and important bits of personal information from those near them to camouflage ourselves. I’m not actually in Odo’s form at all, this is what I actually look like, this was just an illusion.” Alice changed back to her natural form, and wondered why she was immediately so forthcoming. Kana must be rubbing off on her.
“We were actually hoping you might be another salt vampire, like Nan here,” added Kana as she tousled Nan’s thin silver-green hair. “Nuns of the Qowat Milat often dedicate ourselves to causes we judge worthy, and I’ve devoted myself to trying to preserve the salt vampires. Alice’s mother was the last known surviving one, before she was killed by the Federation. Alice is only half, but she escaped and went into hiding. After meeting her, I dedicated myself to her cause, and we managed to find Nan here on her home planet in an ancient metaphasic stasis pod, but we suspect there may be other survivors, possibly in Federation custody.”
Toby cackled a bit. “It wouldn’t surprise me at all. Have you heard what they did to my people?”
Alice shook her head, but Kana nodded and said, “Some.”
“We were at war, and I make no excuses for the Founders — the leaders of my people — for any of their actions in that war. I myself am not a Founder, but one of the Hundred Changelings who were sent out from our home planet hundreds of years ago with the intent of living amongst the solids and returning with information. The Federation, however, infected the Great Link — that's what we call it when we are all joined as one on our home planet,” Toby explained after seeing Alice’s blank face. “They hoped the disease would kill us all, they hoped to commit a genocide, but it was averted because Odo, another of the Hundred Changelings returned to the Link. They also captured many of my people who remained in the Alpha Quadrant and tried to weaponize us - have you heard of Vadic?” Kana nodded while Alice shook her head once more.
“They kept them in a lab and tried to modify them to be completely undetectable so they could use them as spies and assassins. After Vadic tried to get her revenge for that, they also instituted changeling detectors on all Federation transporters, and have been arresting any changelings they can find. Hence why I am hiding out here, trying to save enough money to return to the Gamma Quadrant on a non-Federation ship. I don’t particularly want to join the Great Link, but at least they won’t want to capture and experiment on me.”
Kana grunted in understanding. “So presumably that’s why you are stealing Romulan Ale.” She kneeled down and inspected the other crates. “And yamok sauce, and self stealing stem bolts, and oh, here is some Kanar…”
Toby shrugged. “Can you blame me? Well, I suppose you can have the ale back. I could kill you and flee, but I wouldn’t be able to fence all this in time before Krinn found me and killed me in turn, so better just cut my losses and move on, assuming you’ll let me leave?”
Alice turned to Kana. “Is there anything we can do for them? I can sympathize with their situation, being hunted by people just because of what you are.”
Kana put her hand on her metallic chest plate. “I can too. Toby, I have a ship in port here. It’s not very large, but you’re welcome to passage off here, at the very least. Beyond that, well, we can discuss on the ship.”
Tony giggled again. “Well, this has been quite a day. I suppose I can hardly say no.”
“We can probably even fit all your ill gotten supplies on it, although it'll be a tight fit, since it's a scouting ship, not a freighter. Assuming you don’t mind sharing the Romulan ale?” Kana cracked the lid of the crate and grabbed a bottle of the vivid green liquid.
Toby shrugged. “Be my guest.”
It took some careful rearranging of the ship’s storage to fit all the newly purchased supplies and Toby’s crates, and some of them were strapped down in the living quarters to double as seating, but it was time well spent anyways as Alice had been meaning to clean and organize it anyways. Kana was many things, but tidy was not one of them.
The four of them gathered in the cabin of The Sigh of the Spring Blossom, with Kana holding Nan and sitting in the captain’s chair. Nan was tracing the grooves on Kana’s breastplate and cooing. Toby was sitting on the crate of Romulan ale, which had been placed in the cabin for easy access, and Alice sat in the passenger seat of the ship noting down on a datapad their updated inventory of supplies.
“I have a few questions for you, if you do not mind, Toby,” said Kana.
“I suppose I owe you that much for giving me passage, so fire away.” Toby replied, shrugging.
“Do you know where the Federation kept the changelings when they were experimenting on them?” Kana asked.
Toby nodded, their dusty gray hair flopping forward to cover their equally gray eyes from the motion. “Vadic tried to recruit me, actually. I turned her down. Given how it all turned out, I guess I made the right choice, although I cannot say I wasn’t sympathetic. I’m just a coward.” Tony smiled sadly and laughed. “She said she had been held at Daystrom Station. It's apparently a black ops site attached to the Daystrom Institute.”
Kana frowned. “Isn’t the Daystrom Institute a robotics research facility?”
Toby nodded. “That’s my understanding as well.”
Kana blew a raspberry at Nan, making her giggle. “Odd place to keep living subjects, although if it's a black ops site, I suppose that’s reason enough. That does complicate things, though.” She nodded at Nan, who mimicked the motion as if agreeing that it would in fact complicate things.
“What is it going to complicate?” asked Alice, looking up quizzically from her datapad.
“Well, we don’t really have any good leads on where the remaining salt vampires might be. It occurred to me though that there is at least a decent chance that wherever they were keeping the changelings, they were also keeping the salt vampires. The same sorts of security measures could do double duty, and if they have a program to engineer a biological super spy, they may be trying various different approaches. But breaking into Daystrom Station is not something to do lightly. At the very least we’re gonna need more intelligence before we consider it.” Kana finished matter of factly.
Toby and Alice stared at her dumbfounded for a good ten seconds. Nan gurgled, and then Toby said, “You’re fucking crazy! You’re gonna break into Daystrom Station on a guess?”
Kana shook her head. “I’d rather not, of course, if I don’t have to, which is why we need more intelligence. If we could be sure the vampires were there, then that would be one thing.” She fell silent, and started tapping her foot while chewing on her upper lip.
“I know you said you’d help me find the rest, Kana, but this is too much. You can’t… I mean, we can’t… it’s too dangerous!” Alice put down the datapad, walked over to Kana, and took Nan from her. “Nan needs you. It’s too risky!”
Kana kept tapping her foot, and scratched idly at her chestplate where Nan had been tracing patterns. “You’re right, of course. I cannot sacrifice the progress we’ve made on something speculative. We’ll need to be sure it’s worth it, and be sure of the security we need to bypass, before we break into the station.”
Toby looked at Alice. “Is she always like this?”
Alice looked down at Nan. “I’m beginning to think so.”
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