“Of course not,” Bulco grumbled. “It’s perfectly normal for a spaceship to eat people and giant robots. Nothing to write home about, folks. Just to be on the safe side, I’m going to put on my spacesuit, and I suggest you girls do the same.”

Nori continued working her console. “It’s been about five minutes since that message first showed up, at this rate, it looks like it’ll reach a hundred percent roughly around the time we make it to the station. Lucky for us, the thrusters don’t seem to be affected by what’s happening.” She stood up, letting the chair unfold back into the floor. “Lana, Bulco’s right. Let’s all put on our spacesuits and just wait it out.”

The Expert’s eyes still showed concern. “What about Nathan?”

The large man shook his head. “There’s nothing we can do for him now, girl. We’ll just have to wait and hope he pulls through.”

“I guess you’re right,” Lana sighed, expelling her anxiety. “I’m going to go through the ship’s systems to try and make sure. He’s going to get an earful for the scare he gave me once he gets out. And as you like to say: "I promise you that.”

***

Nathan was alone in the darkness.

He felt the insistent pull of the Tec, trying to force him to accept their rule, but he resisted.

Slowly, the Tec succumbed to his will. They began working together, building, making connections where none existed before.

Gradually, the young man became aware of something in the darkness beyond his own body. Something else was there with him, slowly enveloping him in a warm embrace.

Unity.

But the connection was still incomplete, flawed. The Tec screamed at him again to let go, wanting to complete their task, to override the master. But he stubbornly resisted.

Slowly their pull lessened and the connection to Unity, though tangible, solidified.

They were one.

***

None of them got any sleep.

They spent the hours in flight, anxiously watching Unity’s changes. After an hour, the excavator was fully absorbed by the ship, with no trace of it left. The ship’s bridge continued to extend, and by the end of the third hour, it was five meters longer than it used to be. Then the walls at the area that separated it from the rest of the ship started closing in, narrowing the passage.

After the fourth hour, the bridge’s entrance had transformed into a single, short hallway. Whereas before the supply room, quarters, and the cargo bay all opened directly to it, now they all opened into a short corridor that funneled into the bridge. The ship had gained a ‘neck’, connecting the bridge with the rest of it.

When the fifth hour drew in, a dot appeared on the ship’s sensors.