The frozen air sounded thinner than ahead, as if the moment the new examiner lit up, reality itself acclimated to allow space for whatever had begun speaking through it. June stood in absolute stillness, her eyes fixed on the reflection that still smiled from the darkness of the screen, an echo that no longer matched her own expression. Lucien took a step forward, also dithered not out of fear of the apparition, but because he stressed attesting what both now suspected. still, also how could it still be using the tether? How could it still speak? If it was truly trapped. They