Quinn winced ever so slightly. Okay. That tack didn't work. Bringing it up as a hypothetical was clearly a non-starter. So the only way she would get an answer is if she revealed the secret, which she was LOATH to do. But at the same time, she was so [i]curious...[/i]but it was such a betrayal of trust...and it had taken Roaki so long to trust her at all to begin with. She closed her eye for a moment, trying to imagine the look on Roaki's face when she found out Quinn had told someone, and the thought made her cringe. Okay. Got it. No.

So instead, she frowned slightly and looked up at the ceiling. "[color=ffe63d]Are you sure? I could've [i]sworn[/i] I heard Besca mention a pilot who couldn't phase at all once.[/color]" Technically true, but evasive enough for plausible deniability.

But that's as far as she went on that, because her brain had glommed onto something else Tillie had said: that phasing was a physical trait that Modir had, but somehow couldn't use, and it needed a human to get it running.

She wondered if [i]Dammerung[/i] could phase.

It wasn't human, that was certain. But it was more human than any other Modir thus far, right? It was the only one who had EVER spoken, and it spoke with his voice and used his weapon so there was clearly something of him left inside. Right?

She wanted so desperately to ask Tillie. But the whole incident was classified. If she let it slip—even just to Tillie—then Besca would be [i]furious[/i], she knew. And there were few things in the world that she wanted less than for Besca to be mad at her. "[color=ffe63d]So when I phase and I hear little voices deep down, those are the voices of the circuit talking to me, right?[/color]" She jotted a few lines out on the nature of phasing next to her poorly-sketched brain: [i]drawbridge goes down fast and lets in traffic.[/i] A moment passed before she spoke again: "[color=ffe63d]why [i]does[/i] modium melt?[/color]" 

Then, oddly enough, she smiled.

She could practically feel [color=black]Quinnlash[/color] smiling inside of her too. Spending time with someone she liked was just what she needed after the past day or two she'd had. Warm and fuzzy inside, she let her eye close for a moment before reopening it and falling to the side, leaning up against Tillie's shoulder.

This was nice.