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Riley was looking at her, too As if she knehat Bryn was thinking She gave Bryn a small shake of her head Don’t

"I need--" Bryn said, but Riley spoke at the same time, louder

"We need some food," she said, and that was true; it woke an instant and uncoer inside of Bryn that shocked and horrified her Because what she craved wasn’t just food The nanites powering her now--these nanites needed protein Meat A lot of it And they weren’t picky about its source The scientists had been hideously practical in their design of the littleyou could always find on a battlefield was meat

"We’ll eat once we’re safe," Joe Fideli said, still staring out the"Can’t exactly call out for pizza right now"

The prospect of having to wait to satisfy that craving was, frankly, terrifying Bryn tried to ignore the hunger clawing at her, but she knehat it signified: the nanites needed power And sooner or later, the nanites would take her conscious decisionout of the equation and simply find food--and look, there was a whole rooht here Between her and Riley, it could be a bloodbath

"Bathrooed for the door She slammed and locked it, and dry-heaved into the sink, then raised her head and looked at her chalk-pale face Her mouth felt dry, and she drank a few handfuls of water froht help She sank down on the toilet seat and put her head in her hands, shaking now Trying not to think too hard about what her life had beco That had described her before But as she now? A supercharged,on her sickness

Say it

Okay, then

She was now a fucking zo about it was that she couldn’t even really make a choice to end her own threat; the nanites that had kept her together before had rade She couldn’t even count on killing herself if things got worse

She was pretty sure the nanites wouldn’t let her

And she was pretty sure it would definitely get worse

There was a soft knock on the door, and Patrick’s voice "Bryn? You okay?"

"Sure," she said She wiped her face, although she was sure she hadn’t shed any tears, took a deep breath, and stood up to unlock the door He blocked the exit for a second, studying her, and she"I’m just exhausted"

"Do you need a shot? You look pale"

"I’m okay for now," she said God, the shots If she didn’t own up to her new condition, she’d have to figure out how to explain to him about the shots "It’s just been--a lot to handle"

"I know," he said, and stepped in to give her a hug "I’ood, so warainst hiood, too, as unbelievable as thatHe smelled like

Blood

Meat

He smelled like food

Bryn broke free and stepped back, suddenly cold again, and said, "Sorry, I need a ain, and took another look around the bathroom I can’t do this I can’t handle this I can’t be around people I like, people I love

Because it wasn’t safe

The bathroolass , but there were bars on the outside The ulations, evidently, because there was no quick-release on the bars, either