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“…Either way, we’ll have to tackle the construct side of things after we know more about what he did. You should probably go talk to the hacks.”

When the silence deepened, I glanced up.

Balidor remained half-bent over the headboard by my cuffed arm. When I caught his gaze, he straightened, moving as if I’d just told him I might explode.

When he still didn’t speak, I sharpened my voice.

“You don’t need to be in here,” I repeated. “This was a network hit. That’s tech. Right? Even if he used the monitor, or some other device in here, Dante and Vik would trace it back to the source remotely. As for any potential Barrier component to the breach, your team can definitely assess that more accurately from outside…”

I bit my lip, once more out of words.

The others didn’t break the silence.

Even Chinja, who’d been speaking quietly into her headset when they first walked in, stopped answering whoever she had on the line. She stood by the organics panel near the door, her face turned towards me with wide, orange-tinted eyes. I saw those eyes click into focus right before she murmured some excuse into the headset and clicked off.

Averting her gaze from mine, she flushed, rearranging her hands on the rifle she held.

Somewhere in that, I looked down at myself.

As soon as I did, I knew it was a mistake.

I felt their eyes follow mine to the thin sheet and the fact I was obviously naked under it, back to my cuffed arm locked to the wall. I felt it all fall into place, for every seer in the room, what it was they were actually seeing.

Somewhere in that pause, Balidor’s face changed.

The Adhipan leader turned a few different shades of red and pink.

“I’m okay,” I repeated, increasingly irritated when it became clear none of them would speak. “Really. You can go. The breach happened through the network, not in here. Go take care of it. Let me know what you figure out.”

When none of them moved, I felt my face flush hotter.

Glancing around at faces, I felt my jaw harden, too.

Jorag was openly gaping at me.

He’d also flushed, but I didn’t get an embarrassment vibe off him, like I did with Balidor. Jorag looked like he’d walked onto a sound stage in the middle of a porn shoot and was hoping he might be called in as an extra. His eyes focused on my bare feet poking out from under the off-white sheet. I pulled them closer to my body reflexively, along with my legs and my free arm.

Chandre averted her gaze a lot faster than Chinja or any of the three men.

Even so, I saw her cheeks flush dark red, which may have been a first.

When none of them spoke, I cleared my throat.

“Revik’s not here,” I said, unnecessarily.

Balidor wasn’t looking at me now. If anything, his skin darkened more. He glanced at Chandre, then at Jorag and Pagoj, backing away from the bed.

“Apologies, Alyson.” He cleared his throat. “…Esteemed Bridge. We were concerned for you. We thought you were under attack.”

“Aren’t there, like, sensors…?” My voice was openly testy that time.

“He shut them off.” Balidor made a vague gesture with one hand in my direction, still not looking at me. “…Before. I imagine.”

“Before what? Who shut them off? Terian?”

“The Sword,” Jorag blurted.

When I looked over, he was still staring at me.