Page 79 of The Alien's Private Redemption

A wordless wave of panic and revulsion at the suggestion rolled through Angela and she had to fight her desire to stand and flee.

"Maybe, instead of looking for more triggers, we test what Ae-cha is planning on something more benign. A memory? I can use my Bond with Angela to make sure she's safe and Ae-cha can ask her to remember something that couldn't possibly have a trigger attached to it." Zoric's voice cut through the panic and she wondered what, exactly, she'd missed.

What does Ae-cha want to do?she asked him.

She wants to look at your brain as a whole and try and find the signature of the command to stop breathing when someone asks you a question that you're not supposed to answer. Instead of asking you leading questions and making you say them out loud, she wants to trigger a memory that will let her into your brain, so she can get deeper.

I don't want her poking around in my brain with no limits or controls. It's why I worked so hard last time.

I know,Zoric sent, along with a wave of reassurance.I'll be there to keep her from things you don't want her to see. It will be my energy keeping your boundaries up, not yours. It should be less taxing for you to deal with everything that way.

Do you think I should do it?She felt so small, asking him like that. As though she wasn't an adult who could make her own decisions, have her own agency.

I think what Ae-cha is proposing is interesting, and Dr. Torres has some good questions. I don't want you to feel pressured into any of this and I will defend your right to say no to my last breath if you don't want to.

It wasn't an answer but it made her feel better.

"What Zoric said," Angela told Ae-cha. "With the caveat that we stop the minute Colonel Schuh returns."

"As soon as it is safely possible," Ae-cha corrected. "An immediate cessation might be dangerous and I won't risk it. But I'll disengage as quickly as it's safe."

"Alright," Angela said. "Where do I need to be to do this?"

"You can stay where you are but Zoric will need to turn so you're facing me. Dr. Phillips and Dr. Torres can move so they can see us both," Ae-cha instructed. "If there's space," she amended when they struggled to move their chairs.

"Do you need the light turned off?" Dr. Phillips asked. "There's only one."

"No, that will be too dark," Ae-cha said. "Angela can focus on my eyes and my voice with the lights on, can't you Angela?"

The lizardwoman caught her eyes and nodded. Angela found herself nodding along with her and took a deep breath. Zoric steadied her with an arm around her waist and a brush of his presence along the back of her mind.

"Alright, Angela, I want you to relax and we're going to see one of your memories. What do you think we should look at?" The question was directed at Angela but Dr. Torres answered it.

"Her first MRI," he suggested. "That should have been a strong memory for the age she had it."

Ae-cha tried not to show her irritation but Angela could feel it, along with Zoric's amusement. He considered Dr. Torres a brilliant professional with a one track mind. Of course he'd want to know about her first MRI.

"Does that work? Can you remember your first MRI?" Ae-cha asked.

Angela nodded and, suddenly, she was there, though the edges of the memory were hazy. It had been softened with time and distance, but also a certain benevolent hand had eased away much the pain and fear that she knew must have accompanied it.

Angela curled her bare toes against the cold linoleum and ignored the adults around her. She couldn't really hear what they were saying over the noise of the computers around her anyway.

Her gaze was fixed on the scene through the window in front of her.

The machine lurked on the other side of the door. Ominous shadows filled every corner and flickered with one of the dying overhead lights. The hospital smelled wrong - like the cleaning supplies Uncle Saul never let them use at home because they burned his nose. She wished he was here now. He always smelled like pine needles and mountain air, even in winter when everything else smelled like snow.

The thin hospital gown wrapped around her, doing little to cut the chill from the air conditioners. Her jaw ached but she couldn't relax her clenched teeth enough to make it stop.

"We're almost ready to start, Mrs. McBride," the woman staring at the big computer screen said.

"Can't you wait a little longer?" her mother asked, the worry in her voice pushed Angela's heart into her throat.

"Ma'am, there are other people who need this machine," the woman said. "I need you to have your daughter lay down so we can get her started."

"Saul is on his way," her mother explained. "We can't start until he's here."

Everybody knew you didn't do doctor's appointments without Uncle Saul, even if you drove three hours to the emergency room because you fell and cracked your skull. He usually insisted they go to the charity clinic halfway down the mountain from their home but they had to send her to the city for the machines. She knew he'd be there.

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