[i]*Continued from above.*[/i] [b]”Whoa… whoa! Hey!”[/b] Lock dropped his half of Vahn, leaving Sky to catch the rest of their friend before he fell to the ground. He reached out and grabbed the orb, his metal fingers wrapping around the small frame and blocking its view before it could finish scanning. [b]”What in the depths of the Hellmouth?”[/b] He stood there for a short while, looking at the thing he was holding and trying to decide what to do. [b]”What do you want me to do with this huh?”[/b] [b]”He’s the message…”[/b] [b]”He’s the… he’s a ghost!”[/b] He stepped up to the container again and peered through the hole. Still nothing. [b]”He’s a ghost which means you’re a guardian. What are you doing in here?!”[/b] [b]”[What is this thing you call a ghost?]”[/b] Lock was about to protest her ignorance when he remembered that she’d only known the reef since her time in the Milky Way. There was a near absolute absence of guardians this far away from their source of light, the Traveller. The darkness was so strong, so thick at the edge that it drove almost all of them away. Those few who did make the journey were only looking for an audience with the Queen, for whatever reason. However it seemed one had remained far longer than any of the others and had found herself incarcerated because of it. Sky wouldn’t know what a guardian or a ghost was. Those warriors of light were as foreign to her as organic tissue was to him. He turned to Sky, catching her eyes with his own. [b]”This…”[/b] He held up his hand and the polygonal figure drifted out of his grasp and into the air. It’s eyes opened once more, it’s blue light dancing around the room. [b]”...Is a ghost.”[/b] Lock finished. [b]”That is… was my ghost…”[/b] The female voice sounded heavier… more solemn. [b]”But no more…”[/b] [b]”If you’re a guardian why don’t you just break out yourself? He can simply transmat you through any barrier… get you into your own ship… you can fly back from there.”[/b] [b]”He doesn’t have the light for such work and before you tell me to send him alone… I already tried. He doesn’t take to simple directions well and besides it would be difficult to make the journey alone. Such a trip would take decades… and by then… who knows where in this war we’ll be.”[/b] Lock was hesitant… torn between his job and what he wanted to do. He had a past and in a way that past made him sympathetic… but it was also a danger. And her ghost? Curious orbs of light that learned everything and shared every bit of it with the speaker… He couldn’t have something like that digging around in his mind, finding things it shouldn’t. He had to decline. [b]”I have to decline… I’m sorry. I ju-”[/b] There was a loud bang against the door which made Lock jump. He turned to look inside and met with dark pupils set in bloodshot eyes. Skin on the bridge of a nose so pale, so thin he could see right through it to the veins underneath. Matted and sickly hair hung around her face making it hard to make out anything else. [b]”I know who you are Lock. Who you work for…”[/b] Her voice had changed drastically. What was at first very soft, almost solemn became that which carried a poisonous sting. Although she was whispering, every word was laced with venom and every sentence ended with a condemning punctuation. [b]”What?”[/b] He nearly froze, his eyes darting to the other three in the room. Vahn was unconscious so he wasn’t a problem and Sky was distracted by the discovery of her life. Randar however was staring directly at them. His posture… as if he was trying to lean in and hear the conversation. When the human caught the Exo staring back, he quickly averted his gaze. [b]”The secrets you hide?”[/b] She caught Lock’s attention again. [b]”You see Exo’s are simply machines. Computers given the gift of speech. The gift to walk, to move, to sing, to dance, to love… love.[/b]” She repeated the word, drawing it out slowly and erotically. [b]”And yet… at the end of the day you’re still just a computer Lock. Just a machine. Easy enough for a ghost to read. He’s already picked through everything and he knows.”[/b] [b]”Knows what? What are you talking about?”[/b] [b]”Hidden.”[/b] One word. Only one word but that single word slithered through the air like a snake and took a bite out of lock. He didn’t see it coming at all. [b]”And you’re not the only one.”[/b] Sophia nodded at the ghost, who was busy entertaining Sky’s fancy. [b]”Take him with you Lock... Perhaps you’ll learn something that just might save you.”[/b] [i]To be continued...[/i]