“We’re okay...”
“Are you listening to me?”
Revik acknowledged the human’s words with a nod, then let his head slump to the tile. He promptly fell unconscious.
Revik! Wake up! Come back...come back to me!
He reached for her with his light. Fire shot into his neck, gritting his teeth.
“Dehgoies.”
A different voice.
“Dehgoies Revik?”
He tried to lift his head. His tongue had dried into his mouth. He couldn’t swallow. His temples pounded. He tried to clear his eyes, watching as a man placed a chair more than a body length from where he lay on the tile. Middle-aged with dark skin. Likely a seer from his physical appearance and the expression in his eyes.
His human-based ethnicity was closer to Indian than Eastern European or Chinese. He wore his wood-brown hair wound into a clip, and clothing reminiscent of Terian in the 1940s.
Revik focused on his own hands, feeling his pulse rise.
“What shall I call you?” the new body said.
Revik glanced at the far wall, saw that the cages that normally housed Cass and Jon were empty. Feeling his breath shorten, Revik tried not to let his panic show on his face. The new body regained its feet, walking closer to where Revik lay. Revik recoiled, but the seer only set something on the floor, within reach of his hands.
It was a glass of water.
The body returned to its chair, sat.
Revik stared at the water...but only for an instant.
Throwing his upper body forward, he reached for the glass, pulling the container closer with his fingers. He sniffed it...and ducked his head before he could come to anything conclusive, tilting the glass to his mouth as he sucked the liquid down greedily. When it was empty, he licked condensation off the sides.
He was still pressing the cold glass to his face when the body regained its feet and strolled closer to Revik once more, plucking the empty glass out of his hands. Revik watched in disbelief as the body carried the glass to the spigot on the wall, using the thin, high-pressure hose to fill it again. When the seer walked back, he placed the new glass on the same section of floor.
He stood there, watching Revik drink.
“You never answered me about the name,” the seer said. “Is it Revik now? Rolf? What does your new wife call you?”
“Dehgoies.” Revik tilted the glass for the last swallow, then pushed it carefully toward the other’s feet. “Where are Jon and Cass?” His voice was thick, but he could speak again.
The seer smiled. “Would you like another?”
“Yes,” Revik said. “Where’s Jon? Cass?”
The body bent for the glass. Walking back to the spigot, he replied,
“Cassandra required medical treatment.” He refilled the glass and walked back, setting it on the floor. “And I wanted to talk to you alone, Dehgoies.”
“You’re Terian?” Revik brought the glass closer, lowering his mouth to the cool liquid. He’d never tasted anything so good.
He drank with eyes closed, slower this time.
The body smiled. “Terian. Well, that’s an interesting question, Dehgoies. Yes, I am Terian.” He paused, watching Revik drink. He said, quieter, “Jon is right. You are pushing the drone too far, old friend. I can only control him so much...”
Revik laughed. He didn’t lose a drop of water.
Watching him, Terian clicked mildly.#p#分页标题#e#
“Must I put you on suicide watch again?” He watched Revik gulp down more water. “Relax, my friend. Slow...I will not take it.”
Revik tilted his head, finishing off the last of the water. He used his lips to take the condensation, cooling his face.
“You don’t look very well yourself,” Terian observed. “And yet, you still haven’t met the worst of my personas, Dehgoies. Trust me when I tell you, the Terian I’ve been using to interrogate you is a petulant child compared to the ones I have for less...delicate exercises. I call him Terian-6. I am Terian-2.” He spread his hands. “It simplifies things.”
Revik made his face expressionless.
“Are you willing to talk to me?” Terian said.
“Sure.” Revik set down the glass. “Can I have more?”
The body made a line in the air with one finger, a seer’s “no.” He added, “You obviously don’t trust me to not kick it over or make you piss in it...so I will pace your consumption for you. You don’t seem to believe me that you’ll get sick if I don’t.”
He folded his hands, tilting his head as he continued to examine Revik. His handsome face appeared greenish in the overhead light.
“You present us with an interesting puzzle, Dehgoies,” he said finally. “You see, I do not wish for anyone to know you continue to exist on this plane. So I am unable to utilize the Barrier the way I would normally. Inducement wires would be tricky, at best...”