Bonded Together

[Crew Unit Jin-Ah desires a bedtime story… How precious. The individual who sensed the data was too perfect, who watched the raider dock and who swallowed her own vocal cords while her captain was dragged to the slaughter now wishes to satisfy her intellectual curiosity.]

Jin-Ah shrank back a centimeter, her knuckles whitening around her slate.

[Allow this unit to clarify,] the machine went on, every word landing like a scalpel. [You do not have the clearance to view those logs, and you do not have the standing to ask how he breathed in the dark… You will know what happened to Leo Kaine when Leo Kaine decides to open his mouth and tell you. Until then, you may direct your inquiries to the nearest waste disposal chute.]

Harper couldn't stop the short nervous snort that broke out of her nose with her shoulders jerking in a brief helpless laugh at the sheer savagery of it.

The speaker pivoted instantly.