The dampener pulse made no sound. Caleb registered it anyway: in his teeth first, then under his sternum, then along every silver line threaded through his ribs.
For eight days, the silver had kept its private rhythm. One pulse every three seconds. Quiet enough that he could pretend he was ignoring it. Constant enough that the pretending had become part of breathing.
The rhythm stopped. The room seemed to stop with it. The marks stayed dark. The seal had not begun to close. The window was open. Something moved in Caleb's lower right rib. He held still.
The piece left the bone with a small, smooth slide that should have hurt and did not. Eighteen weeks ago, the Mimic had set it there. Now it came out by the same route it had entered, traveling through the lower channel Tali had built into the bypass for exactly this minute.
[Tali: Bypass is conduit only. No battery draw. No sync spike. Keep it that way.]
