595 knew Thebes was qualified to handle reporting back. But she suspected someone in the real world had a very specific set of questions for her alone. That was the only reason she could think of for them to request her on comms. “Alright, fine! I’ll get myself checked out.” She sighed, setting off back down the path they’d come when Rareth asked if she remembered anything.

“Not really. I remember getting on one’s back and piercing under the plate at the back of its head. The next thing I remember is waking up in that hollow.” She answered as they walked back to the fork together. “Good luck. I’ll see you back at camp soon.” 595 said her farewell to Rareth before following the stream back out of the cave system the same way they’d come. She didn’t sprint as before, but jogged and thought about what had happened.

After a little while, 595 emerged from the pitch-black cavern onto the ridge overlooking the swampy valley. She could see her team’s silhouettes and IFF tags dotted around comms mast and half-constructed transit station. Saddam greeted her with a thumbs up that she returned. “Welcome back.” Thebes held up an interface cable attached to the comms mast as the Agent jogged over. “Private line to the Captain.”

595 took the lead from the soldier. “Thank you.” She looked over at Knossos, the medic. “Can you check my vitals please?” The olive-colored operator wordlessly gave up their position on the perimeter to jog over.

The Agent plugged the interface cable into her left arm just next to her wrist interface. Knossos plugged another cord into her suit’s diagnostics port at the back soon after. 595 accepted the call, standing still to let Knossos do his job. “Go.” She answered. After a short pause, the reply crackled through. “I’m glad you’re still alive, Agent. I won’t keep you long as Dr Lang wants to keep things moving.” Andersen spoke quickly.

“Your...colleagues on Outremer have asked if what you’ve found changes their plans at all?” 595 smirked; she’d guessed correctly. “You can tell them to proceed as planned. I will have more information tomorrow.”