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and Jemma followed Dr. Harris into one of the small rooms off the hallway, swallowing when she saw the straps on the machine.
    “If you can promise not to do anything you shouldn’t, and if you stay still until we tell you otherwise, we won’t strap you down this time,” Dr. Harris typed, watching for Jemma’s nod before he continued. “You will still need the cage for your head, though.”
    Jemma nodded again. This would be better, at least, than the last time she was in the machine.
    And it was. This time, she wasn’t shaky afterward, wasn’t nauseated while she waited for the results alone in the lab.
    She hadn’t checked the time when they’d gotten back to the room, the guard taking up his post outside the door, but she thought maybe half an hour passed before Dr. Harris and Josh finally joined her. Josh carried a tray with instruments and needles.
    At least if they were testing her, that probably meant the scans didn’t show she was about to die.
    “There’s been some increase in damage,” typed Dr. Harris after he sat, “enough to cause some discomfort, but not enough to cause permanent problems. We can safely continue with our tests.”
    As if she weren’t going to be permanently damaged in any way by the captivity or the pain. She nodded the acknowledgment he seemed to be waiting for, and he typed again.
    “We’ll continue as we were yesterday, starting with you speaking to April.” Josh came forward to give her the drug, and Jemma closed her eyes, feeling her head expand instantly. At least if Josh was good at one thing, he was good at making the injections themselves painless. “She’ll be receiving instruction, also, but she hasn’t had the same level of experience, so we’re counting on you, Jemma. We need you to find a way to bring that connection in. You increased it yesterday, but not enough, and having the three of you seems to have tired you out too quickly. So we’re starting with just the two of you again, since that’s one of our goals.”
    Jemma nodded, glad he was at least being himself in watching his clipboard while he typed. She should be happy he was being kinder to her at times, rather than just ignoring her or treating her like equipment. He wasn’t quite giving her freedoms, not doing anything to risk her escape, but he’d quickly stopped doing anything to actively punish her, and he seemed to be trying to protect her from Josh. However, despite the relief of having someone even nominally on her side, it was easier when he behaved how she expected rather than adding yet another unknown to her life.
    “Communication can be whatever topic you’d like,” Dr. Harris typed, turning his attention to the monitor, “as long as you focus on trying to build up that connection as close as you can to what you and Jack have.”
    She felt a final push as the drug kicked in fully. She first checked for April’s connection, seeing whether it was present as Jack’s would be. She felt the link like she had Ken’s before the other woman’s capture; it was there once she sought it out, something she could access, like a number she could dial on a phone. It wasn’t really already in her mind. Curious, she sought out the connections for the others, for Jack, for Marcia and Ken.
    They were there, but they remained disconnected.
    Each one had a sort of flavor, the hint of personality that belonged to its owner, and a hint of color. Marcia was a scarlet red. Kendall was teal. Jack’s was a warm brown.
    April’s was a dark purple. Rather than try to contact her directly, Jemma tried to see whether she could pull the connection closer to her, pull it in closer to where her connection with Jack lived when it was active. She tugged on the purple string, but it resisted, remaining taut, almost angry.
    “April?”
    “What are you doing ? It feels like someone’s… I don’t know, shoving a poker through my skull.”
    All right. That wasn’t something they’d likely be trying again,