Jasmine was silent as she walked back through the REFINED’s halls.

Her eyes cast down, doing her best to avoid looking at anyone or for that matter anything.

Xant and Rynard followed behind, the old soldier had spent most of the meeting wandering around the mess hall and having fun sizing up the younger crew. But like Xant, Rynard, had rushed back to his post once he had felt the instantly recognisable pulse that only Jasmine could conjure.

The human did not wish to talk, and as a result, both Xant and Rynard could not bring up their concerns.

They had both become attuned to her emotional cues, intentional or not, and were keenly aware now that they rippled through the halls of the ship. The crew were not in danger, but more than one had dared to stop and stare silently at the group as they returned to Uleesia station.

Once they had crossed the threshold the spell of silence lifted, Jasmine now far more comfortable in her familiar surroundings.

“Jasmine?” Xant spoke up.

“Hmm?”

“I think it would be prudent if we take a moment and head to Medical, there is something of concern I wish to check.”

Jasmine let out a groan.

“How important is it?” she asked, “because you didn't actually bring back any of the food you promised.” A hand raised to her stomach as another rousing rendition of hunger gurgled from her bowels.

“()”

Xant tucked his hands behind his back.

“Perhaps less urgent than ensuring your nutrition,” he admitted, “Sir Tifera and I had not yet reached the ration dispenser, before we were forced to turn back.”

“Because of me, right.” Another discouraging sigh escaped her lips.

“Jasmine,” Xant stepped forward “You’ve become increasingly erratic, it is my concern that perhaps your translator has been damaged from the increased output as of late or that the organ itself may be having an adverse effect on your natural systems.”

That last comment got the human to stop in her tracks.

“Organ?...”

“The translator, yes.” Xant confirmed.

Jasmine’s mouth ran dry and her hand traced over the exposed circuitry on the side of her skull.

“I have an alien organ inside of me? ().”

Xant’s ears flattened, once again he had said the wrong, but necessary thing.

“I’m suddenly not hungry.” Jasmine said, “If you think it needs to be checked out then we’ll check it out.” Her hand continued to poke the gadgetry exposed on the side of her head.

Xant decided that it was prudent that they contact medical first, he also needed to get out of his military grade armour. Having CMO Krydon there ensured Jasmine would get a proper explanation of the translator fitted in her skull and he could receive the proper medical attention if the suit had done damage to his fragile citizen frame.

Rynard snorted.

“Well, I’m gonna have to tail ya; better me than someone fresh out of a vat.”

-*-

Chief Medical Officer Krydon was not happy.

He and his Arvas assistants Pa and Nu had been watching over staff members under their care, but, since half the crew were lying motionless in the observation room there was very little in terms of scheduled work for the three of them to do.

“Medical Office, Captain Dejan Rynard Authorised, Doctor Uru’Nav Xant unauthorised. Please wait for authorisation”

Krydon was quick to jump on coms.

“Captain,” The old lizard growled, “Just what do you think you are doing?”

“Well you see,” Rynard explained nonchalantly through the speakers. “The doc has a theory about the translator mess’n about with Jasi’s internal systems. So I made the executive decision to let him check it out before I took ‘em back to quarantine.”

Krydon scoffed.

“Doesn't that defy the exact definition of quarantine?”

“I simply figured, that if the translator was mess’n with Jasi’s systems you could just cut out the wrong bits and she wouldn't be a danger any more,” Rynard replied, seemingly oblivious.

Krydon groaned.

“I suppose that’s a possibility…” he clicked his tongue. “I installed the translator myself but if you insist.”

CMO Krydon opened the doors and shuffled over to the holo-terminal, using his robotic eye to flick through the files as Rynard, Xant and Jasmine entered the facility.

“Thank you for being so understanding-”

“Don't thank me yet Dr Xant.” Krydon huffed, “It is company protocol to be thorough, not understanding.”

Xant tried to hold back his annoyance.

“Of course Krydon, you have been here long enough to understand that better than anyone else.”

Rynard chuckled as he moved to the side, Nu snickered twitching his mandibles.

“So you want a reading of the translator?” Krydon growled under his breath, already over the request.

“Yes,” Xant confirmed “a visual representation would be best.”

Krydon nodded and with a swish of his tail, began activating nodes on the computer's interface.

Jasmine looked up at the holographic map of her body as Krydon zoomed in on the brain.

The familiar sight of a human brain glowed in the projection, slowly turning so as to be seen from all angles. And then she saw it, an engorged looking vein had been stitched in between her two hemispheres. It was a bright and concerning blue, starting from the top of her head all the way down to the top of the spinal column and threaded through both ear drums, pulsating in real time connected to the circuitry that was seamlessly embedded in the side of her head.

“So, the translator is an organ?” Jasmine asked again, seemingly unable to tear her eyes away.

“Yes,” Xant answered. “In fact, it is derived from the organ native to Zenthi kind. CMO Krydon, would you please bring up a scan from before the Freq-bomb? I would like to compare it to the current data to see if the translator has changed Jasmine’s physiology in any way.”

“Like with your own scans doctor?” Krydon asked.

“My own scans?”

“Oh yes, you should see the activity pulsating in your brain,” Krydon smirked. Xant recalled Laandi saying that his disposition had changed; how far had Jasmine’s Freq changed him.

“We shall attend to Jasmine’s condition first doctor, then we can discuss my own later.”

“Very well.”

Krydon’s tail slipped over to Jasmines space and tapped the Freq-band on her armour’s wrist, tapping into the vital data stored on it.

The transfer was nearly instant, and the second image of Jasmines brain appeared in the hologram.

“Ah,” Xant nodded “You can see it almost immediately.” The red organ had indeed grown in size, “Krydon, what percentage of growth?”

“The translator had grown in upwards of 10%” Krydon answered, “with receptor veins penetrating a further 6% into the nerve mass…”

Xant turned to Jasmine, “This is very unusual, Translator organs do not usually expand in size, another curious anomaly of your physiology.”

“So,” Jasmine folded her arms in thought. “Did the translator grow before I had a meltdown or because I had a meltdown?”

“That is something we can only determine after going through the data.” Xant returned his attention to Krydon. “Could you please add this to your priority list?”

Krydon’s red eye narrowed with his natural one.

“There’s already a priority list longer than my tail, but I’ll squeeze it in somewhere.”

“Thank you Krydon, now, may I see my own scans?”

With another single flick of his tail, Krydon switched over from Jasmine’s live feed to a comparative scan of Xants own long brain. To Jasmine’s eyes, it looked like Xant’s lower intestine located along his spine. A long nerve column laid within the center of the mass, splitting like the veins of a leaf to the ends of the grey matter.

Xant noted how quickly the doctor was able to bring up the file. The old lizard must have been studying it before they arrived.

“Your nerve activity has increased by more than 20%.” Krydon stated, “You’ve got more neurons firing inside your back than when you first arrived on the station.”

Xant looked at the scans side by side, they didn't even look as though they came from the same individual.

His brain scan was alight, the nerve stem strong and healthy; the damage he had done to himself on Jothram had been almost completely reversed and had even improved in some areas.

“So what does that mean?” Jasmine asked.

“It means, we will need to do further research, Jasmine,” the doctor replied reassuringly, “We have only seen the surface of what your Freq-abilities are capable of, but there maybe a chance we can reverse what was done to the members of staff.”

The human was relieved to hear that. “So, what do we do now?”

“For now,” Xant explained, “Captain Rynard will escort you back to quarantine so you may eat and reunite with the dogs. While I shall stay here and discuss with CMO Krydon about transferring the data to my dataslate and ask him to help me remove my suit.”

“Awww but it looks good on you, doc!” Rynard laughed.

“That may be so, but it is unnecessarily cumbersome and completely unsuited to delicate work.”

The captain peeled himself away from the wall.

“Now then, you promise not to overthrow the command of this station while I'm gone?”

“Must I dignify that with an answer?”

The captain tapped his dataslate arm ready for Xants recording.

“Very well,” Xant sighed “I promise not to go rogue and overthrow the station.”

Rynard happily saved the recording and tapped Jasmine's shoulder.

“Come on Jasi,” the Captain smiled “I’ll make sure you get a good feed.”

Jasmine and her stomach didn't protest.

“See you soon Xant,” she waved goodbye following the large captain out. Once they were gone Xant turned to the aging surgeon. “Would it be too much of an inconvenience to you to help me remove the armour?”

Krydon scratched his sloping jowl. “It is an inconvenience to me, after all, you demanded that I make the subject Jasmine’s brain scans a priority,” he replied boredly, “but Pa will be more than willing to help.”

The delicate Arvas nurse bowed her head.

“This way Dr. Xant.”

Pa lead him into the second diagnostics room and began retrieving the chems needed for disengagement and waited for Xant to unfold his armour. The doctor took a deep breath, before tapping the collar of the suit starting the process. One by one the plates came loose and the needles that hooked into his nervous system came undone. Xant let out an uncomfortable groan with each section, back, shoulders, hands, tail, feet.

Pa was quick to administrator the additional chems to heal the holes the needles had bored into his skin, numbing the sensation and injecting the healing gel into the needle’s cavities. If he were military grade he wouldn't have felt a thing, let alone had the wounds.

Soldiers didn't need to feel pain, so why give them the receptors to feel it?

Xant waited for the all-clear before he dared move, secretly scared he had overdone it and unwittingly tore a ligament. He suddenly felt several tonnes lighter and his feet almost floated along the floor.

Nu stood waiting at the door with a dataslate in hand.

“The files you requested Doctor,” he stated and folded his arms behind his back as the now naked Xant reached for the device.

“Uhh, doctor, if I may?” Nu asked.

“Speak your mind assistant.”

“Her Grace was wearing a Freq-band during her… explosion.” Nu lowered his voice so Krydon was not privy to their conversation. “What should I do with the recording?”

Xant stared at Nu, his mind torn with the implications of such a powerful recording. “Isolate and secure it.” Xant ordered, “Put it under the highest administration clearance available.”

“Yes, doctor.” Nu replied hastily before a quick look over his shoulder “Shall I request an escort for you now doctor?” he asked.

“Thank you Nu,” Xant nodded looking down at the dataslate in hand, “I should return to quarantine promptly.”