Neblae had showered and changed clothes into a soft teri-cloth robe that Doctor Aran had given her. The small Trow woman had sat on the backless stool in Doctor's Aran's office for hours, transcribing her theories into Aran's computer. The vividness of her 'dream' was fading, and fatigue was pulling her down. Torani walked in, dressed in Trow armor, left over from the old Jade Imperial days. Neblae had never seen him and blinked when he fell to one knee next to her. She turned on the stool, and looked agog at the shining violet crystal ring he offered her. She blinked and asked sarcastically, "Is this some kind of...uhhhhh..marriage proposal or something?" "You've changed. I don't recognize you, my sister." Torani fidgeted and waited for her to do something. He cleared his throat. "I didn't touch it with my bare flesh, like you instructed. Even IF I do not recognize you, Ahrini--the ring our mother gave you WILL." Neblae blinked and was almost overcome by emotion. This must be the dead Trow pilot's brother. The Trow pilot that she and Narchi had buried just that afternoon. It seemed like a thousand years ago to her, now. "Look... about that....I have to tell you. I mean--- I don't know you. I-- HEY! THAT looks like a version of Martya's arm-band!" She reached out toward the ring of glittering crystal and stopped when it pulsed with light, pulsing in time to her heartbeat. "Ahrini! Put it on. I don't know if we'll be interrupted by humans or not! They can't have this!" Torani was insistent as he thrust it toward her. Neblae rolled her expressive eyes and grabbed it up. A voice, or sense of communication presented itself in her mind, [DO YOU WISH TO DOWNLOAD THE CONTAINED FILES?] "What the---ah, alright?" She realized she didn't need to speak it aloud, only after AFTER the 'contained files' downloaded, somehow, into her own brain. Suddenly, she experienced a hand-full of someone else's memories--Ahrini's memories! Ahrini's first experience with sex, her first love, her first flight on a Trow Workbee, and her first overhaul of a Nedjer class shuttle flooded Neblae's mind, and the mysterious gem that had fused into her stomach. Neblae reeled, and dropped the ring onto the floor. She had noticed something in EACH memory. At the end of each, Ahrini had thought, "I don't want to forget this!" The ring had recorded her memories of each incident, like pages in a book. She also realized something else. The ring was not her's. It was Ahrini's and now it's purpose loaded from her own memories. The ring belonged to Toxic now. The stone in her gut had 'made' this decision by itself, andd informed her of it's judgment. She had agreed at some level, and it was SO. She spoke with another's insights to him, "Torani--I have a stone in my stomach from the makers of that ring. The ring MUST pass to another, now! She's in Critical Care, upstairs. Her name is Toxic. She needs it." Neblae turned woodenly back to the screens, as Torani said warmly, "I'm glad you're not dead, Ahrini! I'll do as you ask." She muttered under her breath, "I'm glad I'm not dead,too." She heard the door close after he left. Neblae dropped her head and wept for someone she now knew VERY well, after the quick read-through of the book of her life, and would have loved her like a sister. If Ahrini had lived. --TO BE CONTINUED!-- Media is Poser 6