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“Feel that?”

“Not a thing,” Anax answered

“Good Unlike mass-produced ensembles, Irit suits all co matrix Your nervous syste compared to , bubbling s of air “Your display will record i, you’re probably already dying” The stain was fading as the matrix did its work, but slowly

Therion inclined her head “You are an artist, Irit Non I arateful”

“Gah Don’t say that word You sound like my father”

“Grateful?”

The volus shook her head “Artist”

Therion shtly past her shoulders “My people are reptilian,” she explained “Our skin secretes a toxic cohly intoxicating and even hallucinogenic Normally, our sweat evaporates harmlessly I estimate I can wear this suit for approxiht hours before enerative cognitive effects We could never live inside such suits for long periods, as you do We would go quite, quite mad and suffocate in our own subcutaneous oils For the next two days or so, however, it is an acceptable alternative to dying of your mutant volus pox”

Non scowled Anax could tell, even in the suit “It is not our pox, I told you But your body makes it, how can it harm you?”

“Your body s,” Therion said with so them” A soft chime sounded in her ear The suit ired into all her personal devices “The captain has transation room Shall we?”

“Right Shall we discuss what you hope to beat out of this du the o

Anax Therion placed her gloved palainst the wall of the crate Her visual display iic analysis, structural weak points, factory origin, and installation date across her peripheral field Touching without touching It was positively addictive “Of the six members of Sleepwalker Tea extremely poorly Malak’Rafa is not”

“But only drell and hanar can get sick So wake them all up We’ll have a party Why this one?”

“Of the three re members of Yellow-9, he is the only one I can be certain poses no danger to us, nor we to hi his own personal quarantine zone And I suspect whatever happened on board our little ark happened first to Sleepwalker Team Yellow-9 The quarian on the other side of that door could be behind everything that’s happened Or he could be the unluckiest bosh’tet this side of Rannoch”

“Him? A quarian? I know you’re meant to be some kind of detective, but only a brainless oddskull would think a quarian would voluntarily come within a thousand kilometers of a weaponized infection It’s the batarian, Jolly Doll or whatever he calls himself Why am I the only one with any sense?”