Light jerked away from Jess when she mentioned how much they might get paid.

“Really? That's wonderful! I’m sure we can make it work.” He slapped Jess gently on the shoulder. He was filled with a burst of optimism about this potential business arrangement; having Jess taking charge of all that meant he could focus on more of what he was good at. His hide took on ripples of thoughtful purple.

He perked back up at the mention of the Cerberus club. “Why not let a program summarise it for you? Nobody has time to read all those…words.” He shivered at the thought of all those scratchy Human symbols. QV writing was relief-based, making reading more like exploring a vast network of tiny valleys with sonar. Other systems were very tedious indeed by comparison.

“If we are going on a great adventure into the unknown, I would at least like to enjoy one night of being cancer free and alive.”