“Take this off,” Xaronzul said tensely after a while.

They would waste time doing this, the scan wasn’t complete yet and would need to be painstakingly reinitialized if they interrupted it now. But Zenozarax didn’t remind Xaronzul of it, the grave tone in his voice told him enough as much as the crestfallen shock he himself felt, once more torn apart from his Warrior.

So he stopped the process and opened up the small restraint keeping Xaronzul’s hand in place.

The moment he took his hand away the aperture turned dark and the room silent. It turned the act more ominous than it had any right to be — and Zenozarax hated the tension in his guts it evoked.

Xaronzul stood up, leaned against the console. Then his hand touched Zenozarax’.