Outside the Gabrielson Institute.
Lypha (thinking): Do you ever feel as though a place was trying to swallow you whole?
Lypha enters cautiously.
Lypha: Hello? Anyone here? (thinking) This place hasn’t been used in months…
Akned: Oh, good. You’re here.
Lypha: Dr. Akned?
Akned: Yes, that’s me. About time you got here. I was beginning to worry you’d been unavoidably detained. Let’s cut directly to the facts. We lost electricity here two months ago. It’s impossible to keep patients. I’m the last doctor here. There’s only one patient left. The Rulerists have not returned for him. So you’ve agreed to take him.
Lypha: HIM?!
(thinking) And of course, suddenly it’s all clear. Why I came, why we needed extra food, why we can’t use the Gates. But I’d never call a person a “bioweapon”.
Lypha: My commanding officer was never clear on our cargo. But I can see why, with security as it is. Take me to him. I’ll also want his file.
Akned: I believe it was a wise man who said “Let me sum up.” This patient’s file is the size of an encyclopedia. He is a wreck. We believe he once served with the Rulerist military, as they brought him here. But that’s only speculation. We call him Grey. If he has another name, we were never informed about it. He appears to be mute, so asking him is pointless. We have reason to believe he spent some time in space. As you and I well know, our eyes have weakened from exposure to the unfiltered starlight. Hence our need for glasses. But he is completely blind. He does not seem to realize when he’s injured, so his body is badly scarred.
Lypha: Could he have suffered nerve damage?
Akned: You tell me. What do you children throw at each other out there? Here we are.
Lypha: Goodie.