Freyr thought back to her discussion with the Rothian, Vreta, idly massaging her arm. He’d said the creature with David’s face had talked about ‘finding toys’ just after using that communications array. With this new information, she concluded it was highly likely ‘toys’ was a way for an immature construct to assign value to something it didn’t have Human words for yet. The question was, who’s vocabulary did it pluck this word from? Freyr couldn’t help but think it was her daughter, Amy’s, lexicon. The evidence so far pointed to them being alive in some form in the Cradle. She just had to find them.

“In fact, there’s a meeting this morning with the Rothians. We’re going to look for permission to open an investigation on the coordinates we pulled from the arrays. Blue Eye Guy has requested your attendance, as the Cradle Research Division’s new head.” Freyr sharply looked up from staring into her tea. “That’s Karos’ job.” She snapped. Masgard regarded her sympathetically for a moment. “Dr Lang, Dr Childermass died in the Cradle... I’m told you were very close...I’m sorry.” The medication hadn’t kicked in yet, and Freyr could feel anger and grief bubbling up to  the surface. She felt her grip tighten on her drink. “He’s been gone less than a day, and already they’ve made me head of department?” Masgard nodded. “The guy moves quickly, I must admit. He said it’d be good for you to link up with your team to-” 

Freyr crushed her takeaway cup between her fingers, sloshing hot tea all over the breakfast bar. “THEY’RE ALL FUCKING DEAD! And now you look at me like I know how to fix this!” She exploded, standing up and glaring at Masgard with tears suddenly streaming down her face. The lawyer awkwardly grabbed up his cup and the bag of pastries to prevent them from getting wet. Freyr hissed as the pain from her burned hand kicked in. She rushed to the sink and held it under cold water. The sensation triggered memories of the energy burn she’d sustained to the same arm in the Cradle. “Freyr…” Masgard soothed, coming around to the sink. “I’ve read your file. You are the brightest mind in your field. No one else has your combination of specialised education, knowledge of the Cradle, and first-hand experience of what it’s capable of now. If anyone can figure out how to fix this, it’s you!”

Freyr pushed past him, heading into the bedroom and slamming the door. Masgard stood outside, trying to listen to what was going on inside. “With the amount of infrastructure that relies on the Cradle, i don’t need to tell you what is at stake if it gets any worse.” Eventually, Freyr emerged from her bedroom, jumper on. “Come on. Let’s go to the meeting.” She sighed, motioning with her head to the door, hands in pockets. Masgard grinned. “Now [b]that[/b] is the spirit!”