"I believe Brande is actually Durlan stuck in human form, but I haven't had the opportunity to approach the subject. It's likely to be rather sensitive." Sparks fly and a few pieces of technology are moved or discarded, and the device he's working on is starting to resemble something functional again.

"Hypertaxis energy?" At that, he stops what he's doing and Jeka is suddenly the subject of intense scrutiny. "That sounds..."

He realises a moment later from her reaction that this is a very touchy subject for her. "...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up anything that might bother you."