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suspect, about it, I mean.” It was a worry. If it knew it had been outed to the MITSC, who knew what it might do? She rubbed a particularly sore spot between her brows.
    â€œI am…worried,” Lurch admitted.
    â€œIf it’s in Afoniki and it gets in their brains, either permanently or just a quick visit, then it would know what they know, and it would know what it all means, even if the men in drab don’t or didn’t know what we were talking about.” This was not a happy thought, and Vi was not happy to have had it. And figuring out her own sentence—after producing it—made her head want to go fetal, along with the rest of her. Lurch’s nonanswer was an answer that sent an icy chill down her back. She hesitated, but she had to ask it. They needed all hands on deck. “What about Wynken? I mean, I know it was bad, what happened, but if it doesn’t step up, then Blynken and Nod died for nothing, right? And it’s been there. Wouldn’t it kind of know what to expect? And you know, be of help.” From where she sat, they needed help. And so did she.
    Was it her imagination that she felt Lurch thinking? Or talking to Wynken? Where was it? Did they have like a headquarters or something? And if they did, where was it?
    â€œShe has a point,” Joe said, finally, though with a big heaping of reluctance.
    Had he been following the same thought line as her?
    â€œWynken is not…unwilling to help,” Lurch finally said.
    â€œSo bring him—it online,” Vi said.
    â€œIt is not that simple.” Lurch paused as Joe shifted uneasily.
    â€œWhat?” Vi looked at Joe, then at, well, in the direction of Lurch’s voice, which was silly, because it was in Joe.
    â€œWynken believes part of the reason he and Blynken failed was because they were…concentrated in a single human.” Lurch finally said.
    â€œI thought you said splitting it up was what caused the problem?”
    â€œWhen it was attacked from the inside, yes, but this is about external, multiple…targets.”
    â€œOh.” Vi thought about this for several seconds, but decided to go with, “Simply bringing it online would add its wisdom, but—”
    â€œNot its…fire power.” Joe agreed. “Though we are not certain about this. It is all theory.”
    She thought she knew what it was trying not to say, but wanted to be sure. Needed to be sure. Because the idea of inviting an emotionally damaged nanite into her body was both intriguing and horrifying. But mostly, she admitted, feeling a bit creeped out with herself, intriguing. She didn’t like going into the presence of the bad ‘it’ so woefully outgunned. Maybe she had been meant to become a cop after all, and not just because of her family’s DNA. She did like having the big guns. “So Wynken needs a…separate host?”
    Joe twitched again. She shifted to face him.
    â€œAm I wrong?”
    â€œNo. You are not wrong.”
    â€œWell, you have Lurch. Tell me the downside because mostly I’m seeing upside, at least from this side of your face.”
    Silence greeted this comment. Vi couldn’t tell if it was surprised or self-consciousness—on Joe’s part, anyway. Hard to talk freely in front of the nanite, she supposed.
    â€œIt is all…upside for me,” Lurch said, real amusement in his voice. “I can turn off my hearing, if you would feel more comfortable sharing your experience, er, Joe.”
    What did the “er, Joe” mean? she wondered. She was pretty sure the nanite knew how to pronounce Joe’s real name—what if the hairball name wasn’t his real name? And if it wasn’t, why? Okay, going incognito around the bad ‘it’ wasn’t a bad plan, but did that mean Joe was a new face for the old nanite? Otherwise, wouldn’t the bad ‘it’ recognize Joe? She could see where this might be