I look around nervously. “Can we do this inside, where it’s private?”

He moves away from the door, inviting me in.

“Thanks,” I mumble, taking a quick look around his room.

It’s a complete mess. Everything that used to be on the table seems to be strewn around the floor, and the table itself is leaning on its side, pushed against the wall.

“Are you renovating, or just having a rough day?” I ask, brow raised.

“Did you come here for my help or to judge the state of my bedroom?”

“Sorry. I’ll get to the point.” I take a breath. “I think I figured out what ‘listen’ means.”

Gil doesn’t move, but his curiosity appears in the shape of a frown.

“The girl from the palace—she was trying to tell me to do an Exchange. She wanted me to listen mentally, so she could say what her voice couldn’t.” I stare at him seriously. “I have to get back to the palace tonight. I have to speak with her.”

He doesn’t look convinced. “Couldn’t she have just done the Exchange with you herself?”

“You mean force it the way you did?” I ask dryly, and he doesn’t react. “Maybe whatever part of her consciousness that keeps her from speaking keeps her from initiating an Exchange, too.”

He hums, dubious. “Exchanges are a way to share information, not to have a conversation. We can share mental images, not literal words. There might not be anything to listen to.”

I think of all the times I’ve spoken to Ophelia. All the times she’s spoken back. “Maybe it doesn’t work like that for everyone. I’m the only one who can look like a Resident; maybe being a caster or a veiler or an engineer isn’t an exact science. Maybe they’re only a baseline of what people can do.” All this time, I’ve been worried my abilities made me different in a bad way, like I was someone with a defect. But maybe some of us are meant to break out of boxes instead of fitting inside them.

And I can’t let her down. The Colony made it clear their main priority is to destroy the Orb; they aren’t going to change their plans for one human. I might be the only person in Infinity who cares what happens to her.

Gil tilts his face. “If you’re telling me this because you want my approval to go off on another renegade mission, you don’t have it.”