Serix nodded halfheartedly at Cassie’s hopeful mention of their numerous supplies. He wished it would be that simple; that the pilot would just give up after a while. But he knew that wasn’t going to happen. Even if he didn’t suspect Serix of betrayal, the pilot couldn’t just abandon the search. That would lead to incomplete data. The higher powers wouldn’t allow him to quit when there was the possibility of an unknown threat powerful enough to take out a Lunairan. After all, the entire point of the Scouts’ mission was to ensure that the Earth was a safe habitat for their people. A missing body would definitely raise questions about the security of the planet.

[b]“Come on. Let's go work on those robots,”[/b] Cassie changed the subject. She seemed to be trying to distract herself from the knowledge that there were more hostile Lunairans running about. She stood up from the bed and gathered her robotics supplies, and then walked past where Serix stood in the doorway to head down the corridor. He followed her to the heavy metal door where she scanned her palm on the electronic pad again. She stepped into the adjoining room when the door slid open, then turned back to face him.

[b]“How about before we start on the robot I get you into the computer's system so you can open the door when I'm not here?”[/b] she said.

[i]You’re acting like you’re going somewhere,[/i] Serix wanted to say. He simply nodded, however, as he continued to follow her. Cassie had brought him to what looked like a control panel that was set up against one wall in the storage room. There was a strange looking machine on a table with a screen that lit up when Cassie turned it on. It actually reminded him of Lunairan technology, in a way. The only difference was that his people used holographic screens that could be projected and seemed to have more flexibility in their usage.

He watched in fascination as Cassie adeptly manipulated the machine, pulling up a page with a bunch of words and blank spaces. When she began filling out the blanks, he realized it was a registration format. She was inputting his information using human standards of measurement.

[b][i]Sex: Male[/i][/b]

That one was the easiest to understand.

[b][i]Age: 20[/i][/b]

Serix wondered how humans judged one’s age. The number Cassie used was far different from the Lunairan calculations he was familiar with. He would have entered his own age as 13.6.

[b][i]Height: 6’[/i][/b]

Again, the number was curious. Human measurements must be extremely large, because he would have put 91.44.

Serix watched her enter the rest of his approximated information until she was finished. A small electronic pad like the one by the metal door lit up automatically once the registration form had been completely filled out. Cassie took him by the wrist and guided his hand towards the pad. He placed his open palm flat against it. The surface was cool to the touch.

[b]“Hold still,”[/b] Cassie instructed. [b]“It’s going to scan you of recognition.”[/b] They both waited while the electronic pad blinked as it scanned Serix’s hand. After a few moments, Cassie seemed satisfied that it had done its job, so she turned it off. [b]“There. Now you have access to this room if you ever want to work on some stuff and I’m not at hand or I’m not in the hideout or something like that.”[/b] Again, she sounded like she was going to leave. Her verbiage troubled him.

[b]“Wanna watch?”[/b] Cassie asked as she knelt down by one of the smaller robots. [b]“You might actually learn something if you do.”[/b]

“Sure,” Serix replied as he crouched beside her. He looked at her searchingly. “Why do you keep saying things like ‘if I’m not here?’ You said there was no reason to leave the hideout. There’s no reason for you to go outside, right?” He hoped his voice didn’t sound too desperate. He had tried to keep his tone level in a way that suggested the question was merely an offhand remark.