“The questions were mostly the same as before,” Serix answered her, closing his eyes for a moment as he was struck with another wave of pain. He waited for it to pass, and then looked up at Cassie again. “Among other things, they asked me if I was in league with the Pilot, and I told them I wasn’t. They still don’t believe me, so they… we argued about it.” He let out his breath in a soft exhale. “In the end I told them to check their defenses again and see if there’s a hidden passage somewhere that they might have missed. I didn’t say it to them at the time, but I think Hunter must have found another entrance somewhere and used it to sneak the Pilot in. They’ll never believe that Hunter helped him, but if they find a passage, I can try to convince them that he got in on his own, which is the next best thing. I don’t care if Hunter gets caught anymore. I just want to get out of this place.” He didn’t want to go back to that nightmarish cavern where the humans treated him like an animal.

Serix hesitated for a moment when Cassie stretched her hand towards him. He did want to reach out to her, but moving his arms at all was extremely painful because of the gashes in his shoulders. Still, he couldn’t let Cassie know that something was wrong. He took her hand in his, forcing himself to ignore the burn in his muscles when he moved. If this was the result of just one day of interrogation, he dreaded to think what two or even three would be like. He hoped the humans would discover a hidden passage before tomorrow night. At least then he might have a chance at persuading them that he was innocent.

Serix’s vision blurred once more as he was almost pulled into unconsciousness. He blinked, trying to force the haze away, and looked up to meet Cassie’s blue-eyed gaze, “Sorry if that explanation was vague. I’m exhausted.” Despite his efforts to stay awake, he could still feel himself slipping out of awareness. He closed his eyes again and spoke quietly, “I think I’m going to sleep now. We can talk more in the morning, okay? I love you, Cassie.”