He gapes at Sarah in shock. Slowly, determination hardens his expression until he’s grim. “All the m-more reason I need to k-keep you safe, S-Sarah.” Techie stands abruptly from the table and clutches his datapad *hard*.

“I can’t ig- n-nore those weird messages a-any longer. Sorry for c-c-cutting our dinner sh-short, but this is something I h-have to do alone.” He sprints to the doorway and turns to look at Sarah one more time. “Lock your d-door,” he says, voice hoarse. And then he’s gone.