Tali came to the safe house at oh-six-forty with a black tool case and a thermos.
She put both on Iris's kitchen table. She took off her jacket, hung it on the back of the chair Marcus had sat in eight days ago, and rolled up her sleeves to the elbow.
"Shirt off, scrubber."
Caleb took his shirt off.
Tali looked at his ribs.
The override harness was riding too high. The black mesh had stretched. The silver thread that grounded the bypass to the harness had darkened where it crossed the lower-rib spirals. The skin under the thread was a deep ash-purple Caleb had not seen on himself before.
"Yeah," Tali said. "I'm not going to lie to you. This is going to hurt."
"Okay."
"Sit."
He sat.
She opened the case.
Iris cleared the table. She moved the kettle. She moved the fourth folder, which had been sitting there for six days. She moved Caleb's helmet to the floor.
