[i][color=skyblue]I’m with you, even in the dark. Especially in the dark.[/color][/i]

It was not dark for long. 

The seat closed shut around Quinn, fastened her still and secure, but there was not much time to fret over it. As she sat there gulping down the frigid air, staring into the black and [i]begging[/i] deliverance from anything that might hear her thoughts, the darkness began to [i]smear[/i]. The chill left her, as if sucked away through a vacuum. A warmth duller than the suit took its place. Warmth and…strength. 

Yes, sitting there terrified, the first thing to come to her was a feeling of immense power. Power and then lightness; she was a feather for a moment, hovering, too dainty for gravity to clutch. Like she had been living her whole life with a hundred pounds strapped to every limb, and they were taken away. The walls of her body, the limits of her being, they collapsed.

There passed a splitting moment only remembered later, where she was nothing, where Quinnlash blinked out of existence. So fast, so sudden, she wouldn’t even notice. 

And then, light. 

So much light, more than she’d seen in years. The world—or, rather, the hangar—opened up before her and it was so…so…[i]much[/i]. There was so much of it, like it had doubled in size. And depth, too. It was strikingly dizzying—though, she’d notice, distinctly [i]not[/i] nauseating. It might have taken several moments before she even began to realize what was happening.

She had two eyes. 

Quinnlash had two eyes again. 

Dahlia wasn’t lying—it hadn’t hurt at all. She was taller, [i]much[/i] taller. She could feel the wall against her back, hard steel but neither was it cold or uncomfortable to her. It was as though the outermost layers of her skin were toughened, numbed. She knew there was feeling below, but it was guarded. 

For many moments the silence continued. Below her, the group of crewmen and doctors and all gathered. Besca was there, too, hand pressed to her ear. 

“[color=gray]Quinn! Quinn, can you hear me? You connected, you did great, hun! You did so great—you’re [i]doing[/i] so great![/color]”

She heard Besca’s voice in her ear, as though they were on the phone together. Without even needing to think about it, the volume adjusted perfectly. 

“[color=lightblue]Quinn,[/color]” Follen’s voice joined them. “[color=lightblue]Well done, darling, the first hurdle is done. You don’t need to stand up or anything, you can just sit there and get comfortable. Though if you could, move your arms for us, flex your fingers, maybe stretch you legs out. Everything ought to feel just fine.[/color]”