Patricia swallowed.
"Isn't that a bit… much, Director Lyra? This feels like a random deduction," she asked hopefully.
"No," Lyra said, shaking her head.
The faint madness in her eyes grew sharper.
"Rune Sage is intelligent, Assistant Jasmine. He would've known that today the machine would be completed. There's no chance he would be late today of all days."
She turned fully toward Patricia.
"Moreover, he's been acting strange for weeks."
Patricia stiffened.
Strange?
Her thoughts raced backward.
Doc going silent mid-conversation.
Doc staring off into space.
Doc walking a few steps, then stopping as if he'd forgotten why he moved in the first place.
Patricia had always brushed it off.
'Isn't that just how he avoids talking when he doesn't feel like it?'
'Isn't that just his personality?'
Her heart began to hammer.
She remembered something else.
Just yesterday.
A note.
A short, oddly worded note that Doc had sent to Lyra.
