“What’s your plan?” Nyx asked Eris. The temperature kept dropping.

“Wait. Try to save him from killing himself.” After a pause, she jerked her chin at Nyx. “How much were you made to endure in your training?”

Nyx’s head snapped back, and she drove her knee harder into the pilot’s back as he bucked again. “What the fuck kind of question is that?”

“Practical.” Eris’s breath was coming out in puffs of white. “It’s going to get very cold very fast.”

“I can handle it.”

Eris didn’t respond, just gestured to the pilot and said, “Flip him over. I need to see his pupils.”

Nyx removed her knee and shoved him on his back. Cato growled low in his throat as he thrashed against her. Wham. His forehead struck hers. Son of a bitch.

“For Tholos,” he was muttering. “For the Archon. For—”

Nyx slammed her fist into his face and held him down again. Her movements grew uncoordinated. The cold numbed her fingers, her nose. She shook her head to clear it, but she was starting to shiver. Her lungs burned.

Cato’s litanies had progressed to low groans as tremors wracked his body. He could barely speak through chattering teeth.

“That’s it,” Eris murmured. She seemed unaffected by the cold. Who the fuck was this woman? “Only a little longer.”

Nyx could barely breathe. “I c-c-can’t—”

“I know.” Eris nodded once. “He’s stopped with the phrases. Look at his pupils. The Oracle’s programming is returning to background processing.”

Nyx forced a blink. Her vision wavered. When she focused, she could see Cato’s pupils had slowed their contractions. He was still beneath her. She loosened her hold, huddling close to the wall. She brought her knees close to her body for warmth. How was Eris still functional?

“Cato,” Eris said calmly.

He moaned. He was so cold his teeth were no longer chattering.

“Look at me.” Eris crouched in front of Cato, resting her elbows on her knees. She stared at him until he finally met her gaze. “I can make it stop, Cato.”

“Wh-wh—”

“I just need the cypher.” Eris’s voice had taken on a lilting, almost hypnotic quality. Or maybe that was the cold. Nyx thought she saw stars around the other woman. Fuck, Nyx was dizzy.

“No,” Cato wheezed. “No.”

“I can make you warm again. If you give me that cypher, I’ll set you off on some quiet, safe planet with no memory of this. All of it wiped. I can help you forget where your scars came from.”

“You’re not— You can’t—”

“I can. Wouldn’t you like to forget what caused you pain, Cato? You could start over somewhere else. If you decide to leave, I promise I can do that for you.”