5
Easy Peasy
When he comes back in, everyone’s as he left them. Beni and Kai both look up as he enters; Gia’s with them now, too, and someone’s pulled out a pack of holocards. The three are playing a surly game of mystix; Beni plucks a card from the table and barks out profanity as it shifts from red to green and spoils the flush he thought he’d drawn.
Toshiyo’s still sitting crosslegged on her cot, attention buried in her hand terminal.
Manu drags his feet as he approaches, scuffs his heel. Coughs. Toshiyo doesn’t seem to track his approach. “Hey,” he says when he’s standing at the foot of her cot.
Toshiyo jumps, startled. She blinks at him a moment as though placing him. “Manu,” she says, and he’s not sure if it’s a greeting or she’s just jogging her own memory.
“Yeah, hey.” He jer
