Nisha took a deep breath, before she started her tale. “You know that my full name is Nisha Acharya. What we never talked about, is my family. My father’s name is Shankar Acharya…” The moment she said the name, Galatea reflexively looked it up on the internet.

“The leader of the Indian Progress Party?” I blurted out, when the results came back and flooded my mind. The whole process had taken only a split-second.

The look of surprise on her face was a little funny. “You knew? Or do you know Indian politics that well?!” she asked, her voice confused and shocked.

While she said those words, Galatea looked up more information and what she read, I kind-of knew. There was still an exchange between us, but it was strange, with every word, there was also some meta-data transmitted, her opinion so to speak. Luckily, our thinking had been quite close before she had linked into my mental system, or the effects would be jarring. It was something we would have to explore carefully in the future, if we kept the linked state.

“No, I did not and no, I do not. But if you consider where my voice is coming from, are you really surprised?” I asked with laughter in my voice. Nisha looked up, from my prone body, and over to the computer, comprehension dawning on her face.

“How?” Her voice was filled with disbelief, as her mind struggled to accept the reality in front of her. After a moment, she shook her head, as if chasing the doubts away. “Anyway, yes, my father is the leader of the Progress Party. He wants to lead India into a better future and I want to help him. It is why I am so interested in a molten salt-reactor, my country is still too dependant on fossil fuels. We import hundreds of tons of fossil fuel and depend on it, and that dependance holds us back. With cheap power, we could do so much, so much more. Energy independence is one of my father's biggest goals. It is why I am here, on Accord Island, not just to learn myself, but also to find people to recruit. It is why I approached you in the beginning.” she explained, her voice taking on a strong tone of conviction.

I, on the other hand, felt taken aback, her casual admittance that she had approached me with an ulterior motive struck me. Interestingly, Galatea added her own understanding, making me consider other responses than just an emotional response to the feeling of betrayal.

“How did you choose me to approach?” I asked, urged by Galatea.

“Remember, I’m an empath. I noticed you first, because of the feeling of vigilance you radiated and I got curious. Vigilance and drive, that was what I felt from you first. But when we were shown the math problem, the one too advanced for us? Most of the room was just confused, a lot wanted to solve it and others just didn't want to bother. But you? You were determined. Finding a genius at the Guild Academy is easy, everyone is at least borderline-genius, but finding a genius with the drive to move mountains, to go against impossible odds? That’s harder. So, I approached you.”

I was not sure what to make of her statement, but again, Galatea was far more charitable in her interpretation, making me consider Nisha’s behaviour in the past and the current revelation. Could I really fault her for hiding something important? The relevant question was, had she deceived me in her behaviour or had she simply chosen someone with fitting characteristics to befriend.

But, if she just wanted to use me, why tell me now? Was it because she had seen my own secret and was uncomfortable keeping hers, while knowing mine? Would she try to blackmail me? Thoughts bounced between Galatea and me, either of us posing hypotheses and arguments, weighing opinions against facts, feelings against prejudices. It was a whole debate, that would have taken hours if said out loud, in the span of ten seconds.

Just as Nisha was getting a little fidgety at my silence, I spoke.

“Thank you for telling me. I need to ask you a favour.”

Galatea and I had made our plans and the first step was to get into direct contact with the Powered part of the Guild. I did not want to ask Nisha if she had contacts there, but the Shadowbroker might have. However, I did not want to appear weak or beaten, even if I a lot of my bones resembled 3D puzzles and I was breathing through a tube made out of nanites. It was also why I had not called the police. They most likely would have been unable to help me anyway. If Clark came back, two or three normal humans would not stop him and if I was dead, a harsher sentence for him was of no use to me. On the other hand, if I introduced to the Guild as a broken shell, I would be greatly disadvantaged in negotiations. I was now, anyways, due to needing their help, but I would not debase myself further, if I could help it.

“Could you go into my dorm-room? I need a change of clothes and there is an attache case at the bottom of my closet. Could you bring me both? I’ll call and ask one of my roommates to let you in.”

As I said that, I also initiated the call. Not needing to move my body to act was rather useful.

Karen answered the phone and promised to let Nisha in, at the same time, Nisha agreed to do that for me. Nisha gave me another, worried, look before getting up and leaving.

It was what I needed, I had been a little reluctant to show her my complete hand and her revelation had only made it worse. Once I was back on my feet, literally, I would have a long discussion with Galatea on what we would do about it. It also hinged on the result of the meeting with the Guild I needed, regarding Clark. I was not above allying with Nisha and her father to get my own way. I would just have to sell my knowledge at the right price.

The next step was dialing the Shadowbroker. I had his number, but mostly we communicated by written message, it was more convenient but this required a direct contact.

“Yes?” he answered during the first ring.

“Good Evening, Shadowbroker. It is I, Metis. You once investigated me, regarding a breaking of the unwritten rules.” I said, transmitting the voice directly through the computer, distorting it as it went.

“I did. But it was just a formality.” he sounded confused.

“What happens if someone breaks the rules? Everything I learned was that he would be hunted down but is there a process?”

“Well, kind of. It depends on the individuals and what exactly happened. The Powered community is quite emotion-driven in regards to such attacks.”

“As you most likely know, I left New Brunsburg almost a year ago, shortly after the incident with the three rapists. Today, Battlemaster, or rather, Clark Greene, tracked me down and got far too close to killing me.” I explained the circumstances. The resulting curses were clearly something a young lady should not hear.

“That… is bad. Really bad. Please don’t do anything too big in revenge.” he sounded a little panicked, but that was to be expected. He had to have at least some understanding of my abilities and his imagination probably was conjuring up images of a mushroom cloud where New Brunsburg used to be.

“If I were to go big, I would not have called you, you would get the information on the news, like everyone else. No, I called because I hoped you could get me into contact with the Guild, the incident happened on Accord Island, so it should be their responsibility, right?”

“It should be, yes. But it will also muddy the waters even further. Dammit!” he paused for a second, “You said he almost killed you, are you alright?” he asked, concern in his voice.

“For a given value of ‘fine’ I am fine, yes. Could you either give me the contacts to the Guild you have or arrange for a meeting? I would prefer to handle this without a huge incident, but if I am forced by circumstances, it is out of my hands.” I added a little motivation.

“I will make some calls and contact you. Please, don’t do anything hasty!” he implored me once again, before we exchanged goodbyes and hung up.

While we had talked, part of my mind had worked with Galatea, evaluating the injuries we had and what to do about them. My left arm was done for. With the nanites, I might be able to puzzle it back together but re-connecting the various nerves would be next to impossible. Bone shards had shredded the arm quite thoroughly.

It was similar with my spine. Billions of axons and neurons had been displaced or destroyed, trying to puzzle out which connection went where was supremely difficult. And I felt an interesting impulse from Galatea, she wanted to stay within me. When I had been attacked, she had felt helpless and wanted to be with me, in case something like that happened ever again. When I focused on it, I found beginnings of designs to replace my complete nervous system with nanites and a replacement of my spinal cord with microbots, enough to function as my spinal cord and house Galatea. Her feelings were so near and dear, I could not tell her no. The bleedthrough when I even considered it made me miserable, it was as if I was not only kicking a puppy, it was as if I was the puppy's mother and kicking the puppy. In turn, when I accepted it, the feeling of joy flooded into me, clear and oh so pure. It brought tears to my eyes, the blend of feelings too intense.

And I knew that I would never be alone again.