"I'm not sure you do," Harlow said. "Either way, it's best you head to bed. Tomorrow will be eventful."
"So, people keep telling me." Kira readied for the door to appear.
Harlow remained where he was. "One last thing, niece."
She paused, looking at him in the dark.
"Three unidentified objects left orbit around Ta Da'an while the barrier was down."
Kira fought to cover her surprise. "Is that so?"
"You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"
For once, she didn't have to lie. "No."
He nodded, raising his hand and setting it against the wall. A door shimmered into existence.
Kira paused on the threshold. She might eventually leave this place, but these people were hers in a mixed-up fashion. She couldn't leave them defenseless.
"If I were you, I'd increase your security and add redundancies designed to ferret out traitors. If the Tsavitee were on those ships, they won't come at the Tuann directly like they did in Ta Da'an. They'll use manipulation to de-stabilize your military and government. Expect betrayal. They have a nasty habit of exploiting people's weak spots."
Kira didn't wait for his response, walking through the door with a final wave over her shoulder.
"Sleep well, niece." Harlow’s words followed her into the darkness.
*
When Kira finally dragged herself to her room, it was to find a surprise waiting for her as soon as she opened the door. Only reflexes honed in the worst life and death situations saved her from a shot to the chest.
She jerked sideways, letting the energy blast skate by her. Adrenaline abruptly flooded her limbs as she prepared to attack.
A blanket floated up from the bed. "Password."
"Jin?"
"Password," the blanket demanded again.
"You know who it is," Kira snapped as Finn moved silently into position behind her, his en-blade already out. At the sound of Jin's voice, he relaxed slightly, shifting to resume his position against the opposite wall.
"I don't plan on leaving the room until morning. You can get some rest in a real bed," she informed Finn.
Truthfully, she was too tired to go anywhere.
Finn eyed the sheet. "I'll wait until you're inside, and the door is closed.
"Not until she gives me the password," Jin insisted.
Kira glared, her lips flattening into an angry expression. "You know who I am."
"Do I, though? You've been in contact with Odin, who is a sneaky, devious toadstool. Who knows what deceptions she's enacted?"
Finn seemed entirely too interested in their conversation for Kira's comfort. In the rooms around them, she could hear people stirring. It wouldn't be long before someone got up the courage to open their door. If they caught Kira talking to a floating blanket, it wasn't going to be good.
"If you don't let me in right now, I'm going to fry your circuits and reassemble them as a toaster oven," she threatened through gritted teeth.
There was a pause.
"Yup, that's definitely you."
Finally.
There was a slight buzz and the field covering the door disappeared. Kira waved at Finn. "I'll see you tomorrow."
He didn't look exactly reassured, but at least he didn't try to follow her into the room either.
Kira closed the door as she heard two others open.
She leveled a glare at her friend. "What the hell was that?"
Jin didn't answer as sharp jolts of electricity darted through her limbs.
Kira held in her yelp, knowing the sound would draw Finn, no doubt provoking an extreme reaction.
When the electricity died, Kira said through clenched teeth, "Jin, you're seriously making me mad."
"With Odin in the mix, I thought it best we up our security precautions."
"By electrocuting me?" Kira knew her voice was edging toward hysterical but found she didn't care. This was extreme, even for Jin.
"I needed to destroy any bugs she might have left on you. I'm not risking a single piece of her coding reaching my hardware," he told her.
She stared at him in disbelief.
"You're paranoid," she told him.
"No, I'm not. I found two suspicious lines in my coding," he argued. "I don't know what they do yet, but I will."
Unfortunately, Jin had good reason for his paranoia. This wasn't the first time Odin had pulled a stunt like this. The two had been locked into this odd war for as long as they'd known each other.
Odin thought it was a game. Jin didn't help matters, retaliating every time she snuck something by him.
"From now on, we're going to have a four-point authentication system and two sterilization sessions any time you return," Jin informed her as he swept around her to cut off her path to the shower.
"Not happening." She sidestepped him and entered the shower.
He stayed outside, raising his voice so she could still hear him over the sound of running water. "I thought you might say that."
Kira eyed the open door with suspicion. He sounded way calmer than he should have.
She finished up, grabbing a clean towel and wiping off before donning a shirt and panties for bed.
Dry and moderately warm again, she headed for the bed, collapsing into it, almost groaning in bliss at finally being horizontal again. She was so tired.
Her eyes had barely closed when the bed moved under her. She popped upright, staring at the covers in horror as they bulged.
"That's why I took the liberty of coming up with an alternate plan," Jin said proudly.
Kira drew aside the sheet to find a small metallic lizard. He cocked his head at her, his movements incredibly lifelike as his tongue flicked out, tasting the air.
"Ta da," Jin sang. "I've spawned. Meet the new mini Jin."
Kira choked, dismay and disbelief written on her features as her gaze lifted. She shook her head.
"What?" Jin asked. "He's cute."
"No," Kira finally managed to say. She shook her head again as if by doing so Jin might listen. "Absolutely not."
Jin happily talked over her. "I've decided due to certain events, you can no longer be trusted on your own."
"What events?" Kira asked through gritted teeth.
Jin ticked them off one by one. "The primus. The confrontation in the classroom. Meeting Odin unsupervised. Jumping off a cliff to have sexy time with Graydon."
Kira's glare burned hotter.
"I've decided I need eyes on the ground, so to speak. This is the best solution." Jin flew a figure eight over the lizard as it rose onto its hindquarters and tried to bat at the drone. He missed, plopping onto all fours. With a dissatisfied flick of his tail, the lizard waddled toward Kira's pillow.
She slowly shook her head again. "What part of you have to stay hidden and not draw attention did you not understand?"
"All of it."
Kira rubbed her temples. All she wanted was sleep.
"Mini Jin can be with you while I'm stuck in here," Jin promised. "And bonus, he'll make sure Odin can't get her greedy little claws into my hardware by ensuring you, the weak link, is protected."