Zin dropped down in front of her, his voice hushed. “No more games, Eva Nine. I need to know the whereabouts of the individual that placed this glyph upon you.”

“Why?” Eva crossed her arms.

“Why? I am not going to entertain your inquiries. Simply—”

“Tell me why,” Eva cut him off. “And tell me where you got the jackvest and Omnipods and the other stuff. . . . Then I’ll tell you.”

“Jack . . . vest? Omnipods? Are these the given names of the artifacts featured in the museum’s collection?” Zin asked.

“Tell me where you got them,” Eva said.

“You tell me first,” Zin’s chirrupy voice was rising.

Eva said nothing.

“If you do not cooperate, Eva Nine,” Zin threatened, wagging a stumpy finger at her, “I will be forced to return you to the taxidermist’s lab.”

Eva swallowed, suppressing a shudder. “Go ahead. Do it.”

Zin floated centimeters away from Eva’s face. She could see that his ivory skin was covered in a fine white down—more like a peach and less like the mushroom texture of Arius.

She held her breath. Held her ground.

“Agh! Very well.” Zin blinked and turned from her, floating toward the door. With a wave of his hand, a mechanism within the door locked. While his back was still turned, Eva flicked off the AnatoScan monitoring system on her tunic and searched for the Omnipod. It was lying with the other possessions on Zin’s cluttered worktable. She inched toward them.

“Do you know the meaning of the symbol that has been inscribed upon you?” Zin bobbed near Eva.

She shrugged her shoulders.

“It has many interpretations,” Zin explained, floating around her. “The circle within a circle. It may mean ‘rebirth’ or ‘reawakening,’ like a yolk incubating within the eggshell.”

Eva uncrossed her arms and looked down at the mark.

“It may also be interpreted as ‘world within a world’ or ‘a hidden world.’” Zin stopped in front of her. “That is, if you believe such superstitions. If you do, then only time will reveal its true meaning to you.”

Eva watched as Zin took her hand. He ran his small fingers over the mark and said in a solemn tone, “It is also the marking of someone I know. You have encountered my sister Arius. A sister I have not spoken to for a very long time.”

Eva listened.

Zin sighed. “You see, I am one of four siblings. I have a brother and two sisters. We arrived on this planet many centuries ago, invited personally by His Majesty, King Ojo, to accompany him on the voyage here to Orbona.”

Eva grabbed her SustiBar from the table and unwrapped it. “Is he Queen Ojo’s husband?” she asked.