Ithi'Ka speaks up then, walking forward with a shake of her head that causes her silvery eyes to wink out into darkness, then reappear.  "No, this killswitch must be last resort.  We must find the research ir'Omik has left behind, the reason he flees.  We go to lava for quick escape if we fail, or if we cannot make our way back out."  Reluctantly, she sidles into the light, drawing from her pouch a frayed piece of parchment.   "We have another option-- to reach his laboratory, to investigate, to interrogate the sentient ones, if we must... but we require some experts."  She lays the paper in the widening beam of light... it is a list of names, written in Ithi'Ka's slashing, awkward script, titled: 'The Blood of Vol'.  "We can deal with these, in small numbers, and if they have something to gain by our survival."