“[color=f26522]Oh gosh, I [i]wish[/i]![/color]” Tillie said, and an excited gleam glinted to life in her eyes. “[color=f26522]I’m serious, we’ve [i]never[/i] seen something like that in a Modir before. They’ve all got template states they return to whenever they’re damaged, always. Arm off? Fine. Leg off? No problem. Even head injuries—like with [i]Dragon[/i]’s jaw—boom! Like nothing ever happened.[/color]

“[color=f26522]But [i]Ablaze[/i]…it’s unprecedented. The earliest ideas were that the Modir had some brain damage from when it was captured, but nothing came up on the initial scans, or the secondaries. And besides, it wasn’t a random thing, y’know? It didn’t just fall out outta nowhere. It happened as soon as you connected. For some reason, [i]Ablaze[/i] mirrored you.[/color]” A wide grin split across her face. “[color=f26522]Isn’t that so cool? Centuries of pilots getting the feedback from their Saviors, and you’re the first one to do the reverse! Some countries still don’t believe it, they think we’re just using a patch to cover it up.[/color]

“[color=f26522]It’s huge, though. It could be the secret to cutting off the Modirs regenerative powers, maybe even more. Imagine if we could find some way to harness that sort of process, weaponize it. We could fight the Modir without the Saviors. All the little places across Illun that can’t afford a pilot program could start defending themselves too.[/color]”

She blinked, remembering suddenly that she was not, in fact, alone in her room, monologuing to her posters. “[color=f26522]Oh gosh, uhm! Sorry, rambling. It’s still way too soon for anything. For all we know, you just got the first anomalous Modir, which, even if it doesn’t go anywhere, is still [i]super[/i] cool![/color]”

Time passed, and though Quinn wasn’t filled with many more questions, Tillie volunteered a handful of new topics. She explained a bit about energy-reading, tracking singularities and the like, then jumped to how the speed of movement that Modirs possessed was still an inexplicable mystery to the entire field. At length it devolved into fringe, if enthusiastic theories and failed attempts at turning complex mathematical formulas into analogies. Eventually, however, their time ran out.

There was a bell chime, then from speakers in the hall outside, a gentle, automated woman’s voice said: 

[i]Curfew is now in effect. Non-pilot personnel please exit the floor.[/i]

“[color=f26522]Oop,[/color]” Tillie said, hopping up onto her feet and checking her phone. “[color=f26522]Holy moly, I had no idea. Look at that! Time flies, huh? This was so much fun, really—I hope you had a good time too. I’d love to do this again some time, when we’re both free, but in the meanwhile, y’know, you’re totally free to hold on to any of these. I sorta brought them along just in case you wanted to—I’ve got them all on digital anyway, so I won’t miss them![/color]”

She began to gather up some of the less-entry-level books. Not that should would mind if Quinn asked for those, too, but she figured they’d work up to them over time. 

[i]Curfew is now in effect. Non-pilot personnel please exit the floor.[/i]

“[color=f26522]Alright alright, I’m going,[/color]” she giggled. “[color=f26522]Wouldn’t wanna get us in trouble. Wanna walk me back? I think I need your clearance to use the lift anyway.[/color]”