Leareth is still asleep. He's also running a fever, as the Healers back off gradually on suppressing his immune system. 

The protomolecule is still trying to replace swathes of tissue with protomolecule-tissue. It's getting a bit less clumsy about it, but it's still not exactly nondisruptive. It's still mostly concentrated in the head and otherwise dispersed throughout the bloodstream. It's doing all its crystal-building over in the room formerly containing sheep.

Shavri spends a while going in very close with her Sight and trying to Heal the disruptions, first on Julie and then on Leareth.

...Apparently the Proto is supposed to be smarter now that it's turned a roomful of sheep into crystals. Maybe it'll be easier to talk to? 

When Shavri notices a particular way that it's being clumsy in its tissue-replacement, she reaches out with a Mindtouch, sharing her Sight of what it's doing, contrasted with Julie's normal tissue, and then flagging where it's causing damage in the process of eating. 

!

:Do you understand?: 

There's a pause and then it - Mindtouches her back, rather than just having thoughts where she can read them.

: :̷̳̯͍͕̞͙̟̗͉̤͂̈́͛ų̵̡͈̰̮̺̐̄̋̔̀̕n̶̛͚̘͇̞̘̭̪̑͋̉̂̓̽͠d̶̡͖̗͕̜̙̱̯̖̥͈̣̂͛̒̄͆̉͜͜ȩ̸̲͉̮̔̊̄̈́́̌́̈̍̉̽̔́͆ͅr̸̢̳͙̞͈̬̥̱͚̠̘̹͈͍̾́͌̌̒͠ͅs̴̛͖̖̫͖͚̳̮̠̠̙̗̒̿̈̈̄̒̉̿̑̏ṯ̶̬̼̩̝͉̞͈̪̰̬̫͕͐̈̆̾ä̶̜͍̥̖̹̝̲̫̼̥̺͕̭͙́̆͌̅͌͜͠n̴̨͕̘̥̯͈̭̪̙̫͎͈̜͖̼͑͋̀͂̽͛͑̅̒̐̈́̂ḏ̶̤̯̭̻̣͉͚̎̆̍͒̈̍̚̚:̸̛͚̖͖̘͔̼͎͆̀̽̍̀͆͗̏̑͝  :

Wow!!!!! 

...On reflection, also terrifying. 

She focuses in on her Sight again, another spot where the interface where it's eating more of Julie's tissue to replace it is leaving a ring of damaged tissue and inflammation, which Julie's immune system is probably interpreting as an injury or infection and is responding to with the fever. :Inefficient: she tries to convey. :It would be more efficient if there were less disruption: 

:̴̫̭̇͒͌̄̓̈́̌̈́̌̃̋̇̕͝ȃ̸̛̯̲̩͕̣͉͈̞̒̌́́̈̔̄̾̀͑͒̉̐ţ̴̙͈͍̪̫̪͚̭̜̟̭̙̀̓͊̽͊̍̀͑̒̂̀̑̈́̔̚t̶̡̰̘̭͚̤̥̰͎͇̳͕̦͙̍̉ẹ̸̢̛̙͓̪̟̠̪̤̦̥̝̣̥͠m̵̲̼̙̄͛͆̊͝p̶̧̩̣̺͕͕͔̤͕̄ͅṫ̵͕͕̰͈̝͓̰̫̕!̵̧̛̤̭̪̹͍̦̥̗̳̳͉̍͌̈̑͋͆͋͐̏̚͝:̸̫͐̒̈́

:- Sure, you can try it. Very small: She mentally delineates a tiny area of tissue, no more than a couple hundred cells. 

The protomolecule diligently chews away, but somewhat differently than it was doing so before; there's less damaged tissue left at the edge.

:That's better. Good: 

She goes back to Healing the previously-damaged bits. 

A while later, Leareth wakes up, and reaches out drowsily with Thoughtsensing, checking who's nearby - including the current quantity of Proto-thoughts. 

Lots of proto-thoughts! The proto is growing. It's so happy and healthy. It is learning from Shavri how to not cause a lot of fuss as it grows. It has made one of his fingers glowy. It considers this a significant improvement.

Leareth rolls over and looks dubiously at the glowing finger. 

Eventually he wakes up enough to gather his concentration and think: 

,it agrees cheerfully.

Awwww. 

:I want to keep working on Gating back: he sends after a moment, showing the Gate-math again. :Mainly I need a way to target the search: 

Does the Proto seem to follow this? 

It follows the Gate-math, echoes it back to him.

He shifts his mental emphasis to the empty spot where the search-destination needs to go. Holds up a :?: 

It sends back -

- what might be an answer? It's not in a familiar format, exactly, it's an instinct for how everything in the universe is connected and the work of connecting these two points could be - scaled down, compressed, translated -

Wow. Leareth's breath catches on a burst of awe. 

He stares at it for a long time, leans in closer, pulls on one bit of the compression - 

- and only then realizes that the Proto is actually holding its own end of the Mindspeech link. It doesn't feel like a human Mindspeaker but it's very definitely emulating the Gift. 

:!!!!: he sends, directed at this fact. 

.̶̢̝̦̟̜̘̖̮̝̹̖̺͂;̸͖̟͠ą̶̇͑͂̀́ḏ̸̢̧̨̞̣̞̝̙͙͚͈̩͚͍͑̀̑̉͑̂̒̏͋̎͘͠e̷̡̮̟͙̞̮̣̳̞̯̫̻͆̅̈́ͅq̴̗̬̠̪̂̀͊͗̔͐̈̅̒̍͝ű̴͉͉̔́̆̒͆̽͊ȃ̸͔͑̈́ṭ̷̫̼͓̱̰̜̻̞̙̬̹̬̊̔̔̍̎̈̈́ͅê̸̡̡̲̻̩̪̖̱̼̗̳͍̝̞̈̀̄̿̃̕̕̚͜?̶̪̼̫̦͒̈̐̂̄̐̏̇͂̄̓̾̃͝ͅ*̷̢̣̠͚͎͍̎̇́̓͆̈̒̇̓̚̕͠͠ͅ

:Yes! Very adequate: Leareth isn't sure if the Proto is asking about its new Mindspeech capacities or the answer for the search-query, but it applies for both. 

He can't quite follow the solution enough to double-check that it makes sense, or translate it to what he needs to hold in mind to use it. 

:I am very tired: he tells the Proto. :Resource limitation, for understanding it. Can you - make that less...?: He's not sure what the Proto would have to do differently but maybe it can figure that out with the Healers. 

There's a long pause and then -

- he feels great. Like he could run a hundred miles, or punch through the wall.

:̷̩̻̀̓̔̈͒̂̂̂̅̾͑̍̕͝.̸̟̊ȅ̸̡͓̼͚̀̄͑͋̿̽́̑̀͋͌͘x̸͔̳̩̳̂̍͗̂͊͑͆͠͝p̷̗͓̖̟̪͇͓̝̣̠͊̓̾̄ĺ̵̨̛̜̭̺͚̪̩̰̗̻̰͓̝̏̑̉̽̏͒̓̐̚ŏ̶̧̩̯͎̻̏͊r̸̛̪͍͓̔̂̓͒̇̿͌̈́̌ą̴̨͓̺͇̦̱̲̱͔͇̟̰̫̞͌ẗ̵̛͍̬̥͚̤̹̙̟̩̝̻̱̠̳̪̓̋̓̕ơ̶̧̡̬̯͕͖̜̥̲͖̦̿̏̆̇̽͒̈͋̒̏͌͘͜ŗ̷̨̫̦̥̥̞̩̓͘͠y̴͈̲̖̰̣̯̺̣̳̦͓͕͕̍ͅr̵̘̟̥͍̳̯͎͙̀̐̓̉ȩ̴̩̱̰̋s̸̨̛͂͑̆̊̉͒͛̾̈́́̏͝o̵̤̜̥̘̾̃̀̊̃͑̀̂ͅǔ̴̠̓̂́ͅṟ̶̡̳̹̞̳͕͍̙̪̣͉̮̻͐͒̓͂c̸̢̻̫̣̖̝͎͍͔̒̓̈̿͗͑̒̅͂͜ȩ̵̨̛͖̳͚̤̮̬͚̱̗͕̂̐́ͅė̶̩͇̳̣͖̠͉͆͊͗̇͊͌̑̈́̈̾̆͠x̷̨̪̥̟̫͖̥̬̳̦͎̤̙̋̚p̶̜̥͔̱͇̤͑̃̾̍͌̓è̸̦̪̙̻̦̄̂̀͋̀̀̓͗́̒̎͂̍̚n̴̞̝̩̽͛̅̈́͒͝d̴̨̢̨̛̤̻̦̰̱̞̪̭͓́̌͊̾̊͋̀̚ĭ̴̛̠̯̥̫̝͚̫̝͚͗͑̄̄͘͝t̵̜͔́̅̋̎̂̀͐̚ų̶̯͇̥̘͕̼̣̪̼̝͈́̉͛́́̇̊͘ṟ̸̢̥̊̅͑̈́̾̀͂͝e̴̘͕͔̟̩̮͈̼͉͖̩͎̙͚̔̐͋u̶̜̜̳̩̻̥̼̓̓̄̀̈̀̋̔̋̒̚͠ṇ̸̦̣̹͈͖̬̬̜̲̗͉̖̰̋́̆͋̋̃̽͑̅͋̓̀̑̾͝s̴̘̯̜̲̖̰̈́̀̐̑͛̈͒͌̕u̷̢͈̪̯̿̏͛̾̀̊͂̚s̵̨̧͉̻̞͈̳̲̙͕̘̣̈́t̸̜͉̩̤̞̱͒̍͊͛̈́̒̃́̔̍̽͝ä̴̡̪̥͔̞͖̳́̄͐͆͗̚͘ï̶̛̱̱͚̙̦͖̱̋̉̌̿̾̏̀̽̍͝͠n̶͔̪͓̘̯̼̱̫͑̀̓̀͋͒͗̕͝a̵̱͙͚̭͉̮̓̋̃̿̚͝͠b̷̭̯̲͐l̴̯̖͔̗̮̲̃͒̀͗͑̍͛̋ȩ̴̙̜̖̰͒͆̽́̓̃̌͌́̀̐̃̕̕

Leareth was not expecting it to work that well and it's kind of alarming, but - well, it is what he asked for. 

:Give me one minute: he tells the Proto, mentally specifying the count of a second and that a minute is sixty of those, and then he dives with all the concentration he can manage into staring at the search-routing in the Proto's weird format.