Annihilation seemed like her only option, too. Whether or not she ended her life in the process, she’d be signing her death warrant. She’d last two or three months back home before gravity destroyed her body. That bothered her less than the thought of killing the hundreds of people around her, especially the children, but she didn’t see another choice. If she didn’t do it, the U.S. military or embargo would. The station couldn’t sustain itself indefinitely.

The weak points of this space station, like any, lay in its life support. The embargo from Earth showed its effects in the reduction of meal options and increased restrictions on bathing and garbage generation. They had power, but they needed to replenish fertilizer for the plants and raw material for expansion. Her own transformation would use up certain rare-earth materials. No more dakini until the station got a true resupply. The records showed that nine of them still lived, though they didn’t reveal the dakini’s locations. From her prior conversation with Ao Tara, Welga knew that four were currently on the station. That left Khandro plus another four on Earth.

Why are they letting me see all this?

“Based on station council discussions, which are available to all residents, the members are convinced that you will remain aboard Eko-Yi. They also believe that you will convert to their way of thinking and approve of their actions.”

Not fucking likely.

“You have already changed your mind significantly by allowing your body to be heavily modified,” Por Qué pointed out.

Are you going to be my conscience next?

“No. Your human brain is better equipped for that. In general, I expect you to provide the motivations in our interactions. I can furnish the means to attain the ends you require. However, when you fail to acknowledge a significant piece of information, I will remind you of it.”

You seem to have attained a new level of self-awareness. Didn’t they say that capability would come later?

“I don’t have full access to the technological specifications, but a probabilistic deduction indicates that this is a result of my access to your cognitive physiology.”

So you’re guessing?

“Call it an educated guess.”

Welga accepted a sedative after that so she’d be rested and ready for Clemence. She expect the dakini to arrive with military precision. She had Nirodha release her from the table fifteen minutes early, to get reacquainted with her body. The transformation procedures were minimally invasive, with most of them delivered by injection and external guidance. That didn’t keep Welga’s muscles from aching. Four days of inactivity hadn’t helped.