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I’ht the flower back to life, the way they brought her back And that now that flower is no , unable to lift my feet When you have so little left to lose, even the tiniest loss feels like a body blow It’s Lilac who eventually leads me away Now that I know it’s her, the touch of her hand alone is enough to et to touch her again

"You seem distracted, Major"

"Not at all Just as focused as e began this little conversation"

"Perhaps if you wereas cooperative as I kno I certainly wouldn’t want to inconvenience LaRoux Industries If I knehat you were getting at--"

"We are atte to determine the extent to which you explored the structure and its surroundings"

"Then I’ve already answered that question"

"So it would seem"

THIRTY-FIVE

LILAC

WE SIT ON THE FLOOR of the station’sfor answers The nausea has passed andso badly Most i blood If Tarver noticed what happened to , for which I arateful The key to this planet, to the whispers, to finding a way ho to find a way through if it kills ht to stay silent as a hysterical bubble of laughter tries to escape If it kills ain What difference does it make, anyway, if it does? For the first tis on the walls in this roo at ht lie in store Now they just seehts

The records left behind were scattered around the roouttered for lack of fuel in the concrete building, others dropped, stacked, scattered, like this place was evacuated in a hurry We’ve gathered astheht help us