Retirement was a dream; she was still going to prison if he lived through this. Evenâ€¦ even if she did end up saving his life. That didnâ€™t excuse her previous actions. Did it? No, that wasnâ€™t how the universe worked.<br/><br/>But why say as much?<br/><br/>If he let her know that, she might try to run off on him. Not that sheâ€™d probably get anywhere. As far as he knew, the chimp still had her ship locked. In fact, it was very likely the AI had more control over that thing than the Agniastra now.<br/><br/>Quen waited for her to change, surprisingly without comment. After what had happened last time, he wasnâ€™t going to risk it just now. Why would she need a gun? Only to put a bullet in him, was his first thought. He reached out to stop her, sighed, and let her keep it. There really was no telling if it would come in handy or not. If all else failed, she could probably riddle the core with enough damage that it would stop working entirely.<br/><br/>â€œIt doesnâ€™t have feelings. Donâ€™t anthropomorphize it.â€ It was an automatic response, drilled in by lectures and demonstrations, and always more lectures. â€œItâ€™s just broken,â€ he repeated, more to himself than anything, while he checked and rechecked the fasteners and air hose.<br/><br/>After he was sure it wouldnâ€™t be able to come off, he began to slip out of his own uniform. â€œIâ€™ll give you five minutes.â€ How had he forgotten how cold it was in the airlock? Hurriedly, he went through the rest of the motions. â€œWhen you reach the end,â€ he started, not bothering to tell Zilah what end he was talking about, â€œif it hasnâ€™t been nearly five minutes, wait. I donâ€™t know what the pressure in the core will be. You donâ€™t want to be in there for too long.â€<br/><br/>This could have been easy if she hadnâ€™t let it know he had to shut it offâ€¦ From the pocket of his uniform, he picked out a folded up sheet of paper. He sketched a few simple lines onto it, augmenting them with directional arrows. â€œLucky you, you can get there from here. Iâ€™ll give you exactly five minutes, then I hit the release.â€<br/><br/>That said, he gave her his wristpiece. It was the only thing he had that would act as a watch. â€œI want that back too. If it goes missing, theyâ€™ll dock my pay.â€ Along with it, he handed her the hastily drawn map of the insides of the ship, unlabeled save for the directions drawn onto it. â€œTell me as soon as you start moving. Donâ€™t touch any doors until I say itâ€™s okay.â€<br/><br/>With ease born of practice, he fit his own pack on and fed the hose into his helmet. It felt odd to be suiting up just to walk down the corridor, but it was either that or poison himself now. The thought of Zilah with a knife made him pick up the discarded uniform heâ€™d given her and take it with him.<br/><br/>He was amazed at the number of knives he found stashed away in it, and appalled that he hadnâ€™t searched her and so allowed her to keep them.<span style="font-weight: bold">Thatâ€™s what you get when youâ€™re more worried about the computer than the person that could actually do you harm, Quen. Then again, look at the mess worrying about her instead of the state of your computer got you into. Thereâ€™s just no winning sometimesâ€¦ </span>