“Okay, good. I have some evidence I need to dispose of.” He pointed to a pile of full trash bags near the entrance of the cave. “Feels kind of weird getting rid of invaluable alien DNA or whatever that is exactly, but I kind of have this feeling that no one should have it, so we should probably burn it.”

“I agree.”

“Give me your keys?” She pulled her keys out of her pocket and dropped them in his open palm. “I’ll make a trip, then we can probably both handle the rest together.”

She watched in silence as he merrily grabbed a couple of armfuls of plastic bags, leaving her alone in the dark with a cheap electric camping lantern and a half-crazed alien cyborg.

Enola’s eyes seemed to have lost focus, his gaze floating around to his surroundings. “MY DEAREST ČEFO DIED BEFORE I WAS ABLE TO FOLD SPACE. BEFORE I COULD SAVE HIM. I WONDER IF I HAD COME SOONER, COULD I HAVE SAVED HIM?”

She knelt in front of him. “I have questions, too. About dynamic fusion bonding.”

Those bleary eyes regained their sharp, glowing focus in a flash, as if he spied an opportunity. “DO YOU WISH TO KNOW THE TRUTH OF THE DIVINE, LITTLE COUSIN?”

“What do you mean?”

“I CAN SHOW YOU,” he said, the bits of refraction in his eyes finding focus. “I CAN SHOW YOU THE TRUTH OF THE DIVINE, THE TRUTH OF WHY WE ARE HERE, THE TRUTH OF THE ORIGINS OF ALL LIFE. WHAT BINDS YOU TOGETHER.”

“Okay,” she said, lowering herself in front of him on shaky legs a comfortable-ish distance away. “Tell me.”

“I CAN TELL YOU, BUT FIRST, YOU MUST FREE ME.”

Of course, she thought. Same old shit now wrapped in a more coherent wrapper. “I couldn’t free you even if I wanted to. Only Ampersand can do that.”

“NOT TRUE, LITTLE COUSIN. YOU COULD FREE ME IF YOU WANTED TO.”

“Why do I need to free you, though?”

His focus became hazy, as though he were scanning the ceiling for something. “I REQUIRE A METAPHOR, LITTLE COUSIN, BUT I DO NOT HAVE THE APPROPRIATE METAPHOR HERE.”

She cocked her head to the side, something like suspicion bubbling up inside her. “Why do you call me ‘little cousin’?”

“OUR BELOVED HAS BOUND HIMSELF TO YOU.”

Her smile vanished. “How do you know that?”

“I CAN SEE, LITTLE COUSIN. BUT I DO NOT UNDERSTAND. THERE IS NO PRECEDENT FOR SUCH A THING, AN AMYGDALINE BONDING TO A NATURAL ALIEN.” His focus found her, sharper than ever. His head was now steady as a rock. “I HOPE HE IS STUDYING IT.”

“He . . . was. He was in the process of it before you . . . arrived.”

“IS THAT WHY HE BOUND HIMSELF TO YOU? TO STUDY THE EFFECTS?”

“No. No, he did it to . . . save me.”

“SAVE YOU FROM WHAT?”