The four staff in the lounge found themselves standing there, staring at the Synths.
The one in the lead had just said good morning and told them they were ready when they were, and for a moment nobody moved. Not because they hadn't heard it. Because the voice had been so calm and so ordinary that it had taken a second for the words to land against everything else — the shuttle on the tarmac, the morning they'd been awake through, the fact that this was actually happening.
They had been expecting to hear a mechanical and monotone voice, not something so fluid.
The physical therapist from Toronto recovered first.
She picked up her bag, slung it over one shoulder, and nodded. "Ready."
That was enough, as the word broke whatever had been holding the others in place. The three other staff immediately picked up their things, ready to go.
The lead Synth gave a small nod and turned toward the door. The other two gestured to the staff to follow before walking behind them.
