The blonde girl gave a bright, happy smile. "Oh, it [i]is[/i] you, Cassie!" she bubbled in air headed elation. "Don't you remember me? It's me. Pony! We used to cook food together, remember? And we made jewelry out of whatever bits that Toni and Uncle threw away. Look! I still have the pendant you made me, the one that plays music!" Reaching under her sweater, she pulled forth a leather cord upon which hung a strange but artful combination of clockwork gears, micro-transisters and a tiny red LED light. "It stopped working," she pouted as she dangled it in front of Cassie, "and Uncle and Toni don't want to waste time with it."

Then her eyes lit up again. "But you're back now! You can fix it for me and it'll be just like before!"

Pony then pulled herself up onto the table and curled close up against the Android, her voice sweet and dreamy. A hand touched Cassie's cheek lovingly as she spoke in even softer whispers that held a strange sincerity within them. "I missed you so much, Cassie." Then she giggled with a naughty look on her face. "You never wanted to play my little games. You or Lucien. And now you're all tied up anyway. It's kind of funny."

Suddenly the bright look fell from her face as something she mentioned brought forth another concern. "Lucien," she sighed sadly. "He missed you terribly, Cassie. When Uncle declared that it was pointless to keep searching, Lucien... changed. He and Toni had a big falling out, right in front of everyone! It was a while before Uncle let Lucien out of the Colony again. He blames himself, you see, Cassie? He tried not to give up on you, tried for months and months after everyone else had grieved and moved on, but it was too much for him. You know how sensitive he's always been. And now? You're back. And he's going to feel as though he betrayed you. He wont't admit it, of course. Lucien's always been stubborn."

Pony moved her hand to Cassie's hip to draw her into a loving embrace, side by side. She spoke in sad tones then, her simple words carrying more weight for the bittersweet emotions behind them. "Lucien's been nesting with me for the past couple of months, Cassie. I tried to help him as best as I could, but I'm not too bright so I did the only thing I knew how to. He needed someone, and I was the only one who could get close to him. Only somewhere along the line, I fell in love with him. And I don't want to give him up. I'm sorry, Cassie."

Her mood mercurial as always, the petite girl was suddenly cheerful again and beamed down at Cassie's recumbent form as she sat up a little. "But maybe we can work something out! I know I always teased-"

The sound of boots in the hallway interrupted her. Pony's head snapped towards the entrance in alarm, then turned hurried back towards Cassie. Kissing her brow lightly, she slid from the table and into the shadows, saying, "We'll talk more later. Don't say anything for now, okay?" Then impulsively, Pony darted out of the shadows to give Cassie a fierce hug before diving back into the gloom. "I'm so happy you're back..." came the whisper again.

Uncle stomped back through the entrance, his eyes glancing towards Castille to ensure she was secured before heading over to the second table where Liana lay. "Liana? Liana!" The old man grumbled to himself and bent over the table, and so did not see Pony slip from the shadows and down the corridor before anyone else saw her. "Damn diagnostic routine," he grumbled, "I knew I should never have set it to random intervals. She'll be tied up for hours now."

With a weary but calm face, he turned back towards where Cassie lay upon her slab. Pursing his lips, he ran gnarled fingers through his thick beard as he regarded her. It was a puzzle, he seemed to decide. Uncle liked puzzles. Loved solving them better. And if what he suspected was true... Finally he moved over towards Cassie and leaned against the table with his hip, arms crossed. "So, Pretty. You don't remember me calling you that, I bet. I wonder how much you do remember."

He gave an indolent wave towards her bound hands. "Let's cut the pretenses, Pretty. I know you can snap those ropes like thread; I was part of the design team that came up with your skeleton. It was supposed to be used for the replacement of individual bones, not the whole body. Still, the improved ligaments and tendons connecting everything give you a lot more strength, don't they? Still amazing how they managed to reconstruct your skull so perfectly, though. We never managed to get that part quite right, facial transplant patients always ending up looking like... well, someone else. At any rate, why don't you sit up and I'll see to your injuries. Your brother... that's Toni... will be bringing you some lunch shortly. I don't know how much better for you it'll be than that nutri-paste crap the robots give their Androids, but I'm certain it'll taste better."

Uncle then turned away from her to rummage through a drawer, pulling out a medical kit and preparing to clean and suture her wounds. "Bet you've got a lot of questions, hm?" he asked with his back turned towards her. "Now's as good a time as any to ask. Later oh, it'll be my turn to ask you questions. And run a few tests. Nothing too intrusive, of course, but you may not feel like talking through some of them."