No. No, no, no. Ariadne needed to prove her worth. She needed to make them realize she wasn’t replaceable, not just some girl who had come to them begging for help like a lost pet, but intelligent, valued, important, efficient, not obsolete—

You’re not here to make them happy. You don’t have to please them with your responses or your work. They’re not the Oracle. They won’t punish you for failure.

She couldn’t be sure of that.

Ariadne looked around wildly for Kyla. The co-commander had given her hope of escape. Of a different life. One still full of danger, but also with freedom. Away from the Oracle, from her Named Things that only offered company in the absence of anything better. It was all Ariadne could do not to propel herself into Kyla’s arms and hug her around the waist as hard as she could.

But Kyla wasn’t in the room, and she couldn’t stop her breathing and it pushed too hard through her chest a one to three four five in out in out in out that started to hurt—

She felt a gentle hand between her shoulder blades. “Shhh,” Rhea crooned. “You’re fine. Me and Nyx are right here with you. Breathe.”

Rhea smoothed her hand down Ariadne’s spine, and a warm tingling spread across her skin. Her breathing calmed. Her heart slowed to a normal cadence. Ariadne could think again. Even so, she gave herself to that touch for a moment, to the comfort of it.

She’d never been touched before Rhea and Nyx. Not ever. She liked it. She loved it. The texture of skin—the whisper of it across her clothes in a downward stroke—soothed her more than the soft bed sheets back in the Temple.

“Thanks,” she whispered to Rhea. Ariadne flushed when she looked at the others. Nyx had seen her have a panic attack once before, but not these strangers. “I need to look at the rock’s interior,” she said again. “With or without your permission. I’m doing it.”

Eris considered her, those green eyes all too sharp and assessing. Ariadne felt like she came up wanting. “All right. But if anything goes wrong, we’re sealing up the lab and putting you in quarantine. Don’t complain when you’re stuck there.”

Ariadne let out a little squeal, gathering materials and leading the way to the makeshift lab. It was in the little glass partitioned subsection of the med center with a series of metal work tables and instruments, there in case an onboard outbreak required quarantine.

“Nyx, can you come in with me?” The other woman was so strong, so imposing, that Ariadne felt just that little bit braver standing next to her.

Ariadne wriggled her gloved hands and donned her helmet once more. She waited as Nyx got into another jumpsuit and helmet.