"She's, there's, something's happening I can hear her—"

"What, like. On the psychic plant network??? How???"

"I don't know!!!"

"Fuck, okay. ... But she's definitely, obviously alive, though?"

"Alive and being tortured is still bad. So it really depends on how badly she's getting tortured."

“That’s better than dead!” Usually. “... Wait why would they be torturing her. The hell would that even get them??"

"I don't know she's not being coherent and my sisters aren't either. Nai... seems busy? He's not hiding but my sisters can't get his attention."

"I'm not saying fucking ask her I'm saying think about it. Knives does torture when people piss him off, but how does that attach her to the psychic plant network??"

"—sorry my mind is all over the place. I... have no idea. It's her, it's absolutely her, not just my sisters relaying, but—Conrad experimenting on her?"

"Right, but why would he experiment on her? When he wants new subjects, those are easy, and younger the better for Doctor Psycho, for growth pattern science reasons or whatever." She frowns. "... Maybe not experimenting. I know the doctor wants to die, and Knives won't let him."

"You're gonna need to follow that chain of logic a couple of steps further here."

"I'm just thinking that the engineer that specializes in saving and healing plants would be hella valuable to them, actually. So. They probably want to keep her. And are making that happen."

"They're. Making her immortal? Like Conrad?"

"I mean I don't know, I'm not there, but that's my best guess."

"That... that..."

"...that would be the best possible news."

"It might also mean she can't leave. But yeah."

"I said that Brad's arcology is the safest place on this planet but if Nai isn't hurting you I think February beats it. —still bad but, but I was afraid she'd be—"

“Yeah, I know. Better than the worst option. Don’t celebrate yet, though. February might be safer from like, siege or outside attack? But it’s filled with an ever changing cast of psychos. Plus, do you think she’d like being trapped somewhere?”

"No, she would hate it, but I'm really having a hard time not being relieved here."

"Man I do not work in complicated feelings shit, feel whatever you want. I'm just trying to keep a realistic perspective of the situation at hand."

Because someone in this car has been bad at that when it comes to anything involving one person in particular.

"No, I know. I don't think any of this changes anything. ...except that I won't try to kill my brother I guess, it wouldn't have worked anyway but this way I won't waste my time with it."

"Okay. Well. ... Can you slow down a bit, you're going to break the car. It's in the manual, it's not supposed to go this fast for long periods of time."

...fine. He can slow down the car.

And he'll send Yvette a pulse of love.

The reply is confused and weak and more than a little delirious with pain, but there is one.

[.... Zash...?]

But recognition is about all she can manage right now.