"She was," he confirms. When I return to dock. He hesitates, then adds: "Mostly, she wanted through to medical."

She'd never made it there. Not, at least, that he observed. But even putting their current predicament aside, it's obvious he's missing some important data. Case in point. The facility's offsite connections were channeled through the global network, and...

"...those relays aren't active."

They haven't been for decades. Did Arid change that? Had this Butler? Or someone else?