They stood over the body.

“Is it dead?” asked Commander Laik.

“Oh yes – quite so. The discharge killed it instantly. One should never remove a unit from live contacts without…”

The commander cut in: “Was it…normal?”

The medician frowned. “Normal? Why yes. The usual anatomical presentation for a noncon: atrophied pineal complex, cortical lesions and so forth.”

The commander nodded, but looked dissatisfied. “I wonder…”

“About this one?” He uncovered the body of the female recovered from the shuttle. “Again, definitely noncon.”

“But to show such volition…tell me, Doctor, is it possible for the noncon personality to reassert itself, after processing?"

“It has been know – but not, in my experience, to that degree. From what I understand about the behaviour of this one, it seems almost as though it was acting under some…unseen influence.”

“Spiritus in machina,” muttered Laik.

The medician shrugged and replaced the shroud.

A priority call blinked in the commander’s vision; he swiftly left the medbay.