Evrim nodded. “Yes. I know I am a prisoner here. I know Altantsetseg’s orders. Dr. Mínervudóttir-Chan can’t afford to have me in front of the public anymore. I’ve understood that from the start. I was exiled here. Marooned, I think they used to call it. But as I told you earlier, Dr. Mínervudóttir-Chan never thinks in only one direction. She always thinks in several directions at once. So I am here for the reasons I gave you when we met, and for other reasons as well. And perhaps one of the reasons I am here is because I can understand what it is to be … outside. What it is not to understand you. You humans, I mean. You called me human, before, and I am grateful for that. But there is more to me as well—as you said. I know what it is to be alien like them.”

“You may be alien, but you are also all I have.”

“You have Kamran…”

“No. I destroyed my point-five earlier today. It was a crutch. An addiction.”

“I kept thinking that today you were going to tell me you were leaving.”

Evrim doesn’t know.

“I can’t leave.”

“No. You have finally found what you were predicting. What you have been writing about for all these years. This is your chance to prove your theories. How could you walk away from that?”

“No,” Ha said, “that’s not what I mean. You are right, of course—I don’t imagine I could walk away from a chance like this. But even if I wanted to walk away, I cannot. I am a prisoner here as well.”

Evrim stared at her. Incomprehension, then understanding. “How can that…”

“Are you going to protest that I have rights? That there are laws? You don’t think they apply to people like Dr. Mínervudóttir-Chan or companies like DIANIMA, do you? These are people and companies more powerful than many states, and unlimited by borders.”

“You have been kidnapped.”

“Yes,” Ha said. “Sold a line about secrecy and security. But I am the one who is responsible. I did exactly what they asked: I told no one where I was going or what I was supposed to do there. I walked away from my life in Istanbul into a DIANIMA drone hexcopter. I was shuttled to my briefing in the HCMATZ behind tinted windows, and then hustled into another hexcopter for the hop out here. Nobody knows where I am. And since I can’t leave this place any more than you can, we’re in this together.”

“Do you want to escape?”

“No. Or not yet, at least. I want to do this job. I want to prove my theory, as you put it. And I want to protect them. The octopuses. Do what it takes to keep them safe. From everyone. Will you help me?”