Quinn gripped her hand, hard, and Besca stroked her arm worriedly. She was afraid again, or rather [i]more[/i] afraid. Her outburst when she’d woken up had been concerning, of course, but given what she’d survived, it was easy to write off as hysterics. Or it would have been, had she not had a frankly [i]staggering[/i] amount of modium in her system. 

That happened now and then, especially when the singularities were so close. Had anyone else survived, Besca was certain they’d have had a mass-poisoning to manage in the aftermath. 

But Quinn hadn’t been poisoned. At least, the singularity hadn’t put that much modium in her. She had a growth in her eye socket, small, [i]filed[/i]. Those sort of symptoms only popped up in two kinds of people: pilots, and those with severe, or chronic exposure. 

“[color=FFE63D][i]Just don't...don't send me back![/i][/color]”

Something was wrong. Oh god. Something was horribly, horribly wrong. A hundred puzzle pieces scattered themselves on the floor of her brain, and as she scrambled to fit them together into that atrocious picture, she saw Follen’s eyes shift to her, and his smile thinned, ever so slightly and so briefly it would have passed before Quinn’s blink. 

He already knew. 

This was over. It had been over before she’d walked into his office—before the surgery, even. 

“[color=lightblue]Quinn,[/color]” he said, and his jovial tone turned serious, but no less comforting. “[color=lightblue]That is the absolute last thing I want. That’s why I did this—for you.[/color]”

He sat up in his chair, upright, authoritative. “[color=lightblue]I saw how good of friends you were, how important you seemed to each other. I wanted to protect that. And I thought of other ways, internships, secretarial work, but considering how much of a…toll this tragedy has taken on the RISC, that all simply isn’t viable. Legally speaking, we’re obligated to return you to your parents as soon as possible.[/color]” He shook his head. “[color=lightblue]I don’t want that. Besca doesn’t want that. Quinn, I don’t think [i]you[/i] want that, either.[/color]

“[color=lightblue]So I did the only thing I could, the only option left to us. If we’re going to keep you here, we have to tie you to RISC, indelibly. We have to make you so important to us that [i]no one[/i] can take you away.[/color]”

Besca frowned. She could have begged him not to say it. 

“[color=lightblue]You’re going to be a pilot.[/color]”