Honoghr: Several Years Ago

She spared the good doctor a single glance away from her display, raising her eyebrow as she spoke.

"You look like you've seen a ghost."

A playful smirk tugged at the far edge of her lips, on the side facing away from him. With a nonchalant slide of her fingers, she sent her work scrolling through lines and lines, her expression settling into one of concern as she started to turn toward him.. until something in the display caught her eye. Present company briefly forgotten, she whipped her head back around, focused on her readout.

She automatically shifted to a blank expression, and after a few stunned moments Alena tapped her midair readout and flicked her wrist towards the datapad that lay on the table. Immediately, she reached for it, staring at the data given visual form, schematics of an all-too-familiar set of armour displayed on the screen.

Idly, she noted that her reaction was rather akin to what she had just noted his to be.. but this was suddenly not the time for such reflections.

Is it possible it's a coincidence?

"Nice tech." She did have to allow herself an instant to appreciate the inherent arrogance of her statement. Still, it was a fair attempt at casual observation rather than concern and panic. "Another design of yours?"

At Wilhelm's near-collapse, Alena straightened, starting to move to assist him.. but it seemed that he had things under control shortly thereafter. She settled back in her seat, though she was still ready to jump in if it was needed.

Her eyebrows had already been raised upon that brief incident, but now only one maintained its elevated status in a look of skepticism.

"Believe me, I can gather that."

Of course, she had already realized that there was more to the story than "I came up with this design." The readout matched her own former armour system almost perfectly, and the odds that he had developed a copy this close of his own inspiration were astronomical. Not that any of that would come up in conversation anytime soon.. though in theory it could now. Still, she wanted to wait for the right moment on that.. at least, that was what she kept telling herself.

She gestured to the chair he had used to support himself.

"Sure you wouldn't rather be sitting for the moment?"

Wilhelm's sly comment about which one of them was a doctor elicited half a smile from her. She watched him take his seat before her interest was grabbed by the holoprojections. Her head turned to regard them, and for a split second a look of bittersweet nostalgia lit her face. Then the moment passed, and she once more looked skeptical yet interested. Still, though, her gaze didn't leave the projections as he got up to fetch mood-settling alcohol.

"Always," she said at the offer, glancing down at her fingers lightly wrapping around the glass in a well-practiced maneuver. Together, they raised their glasses and drank. As she lowered hers, she swirled it slightly out of habit. He then spoke of borrowed concepts and copied designs, and she looked back at the projections with him.

You have no idea.

She did give a nod at the mention of her visor then tilted her head slightly as she regarded the armour design.

"Where'd you get them, then?"

Alena had been prepared to keep her expression neutral but interested as he told his story: perhaps intrigued at a vision, or possibly at a sighting of her past self. What she wasn't prepared for, however, was the last sentence he spoke. The façade broke, and her face turned pale, highlighting her freckles, at the mention of the pathogen she had found, modified, and tried to forget. Accompanying the change of demeanor was a slight recoil, her fingers tightening on the glass she held.

Not you too. ..kriff.

She looked back down at the glass, then sighed and tilted it back, taking a much larger swig this time and practically draining it, before replacing it on the table with a loud and what would have been a satisfying thud. Gritting her teeth slightly, she spoke.

"If that isn't enough of an answer.."

She knew roughly what the last few seconds had looked like to an outsider, after all.

"I know a lot more than you'd expect. Much more than I'd lik-.. You saw the Guardian."

It had taken perhaps a little too long for her to reach that conclusion, but that was what happened when emotions clouded rational thinking..

All of this served as a most unexpected turn of events for her day. Alena had always been a careful planner, almost to a fault, but this.. this was beyond anything she had expected. She flipped through the pages of the offered diary, taking in all that it had to offer -- a good portion of which she already knew from her own studies -- until she got to the final page.

"Eliana?," it said. Her hand came to rest on the page, her finger pointing at the single scribbled word.

Now that's a name I've not heard in a long time.

It was shocking, of course, to see her birth name written there in such a casual manner, and to see it presented to her with no knowledge of who she truly was. Her question was a logical follow-up, considering the wealth of information in the rest of the book.

"What's this, then?"

She'd be lying, of course, if she said that asking that wasn't also stroking her own ego. Sure, she could argue that she wanted to know what he knew first, but even given the gravity of the subject matter, here she was again, needing to know what someone else thought of her..

A long time.

The slow smirk that pulled across her face, bit by bit, with each incorrect guess he made.. it was hard to conceal. Truth be told, she wasn't fully trying. A large part of her found this amusing now, despite the gravity of the subject.

"Well.."

No.

She wanted to be able to tell him. By this point, she technically could have. But.. this wasn't the moment she'd wanted for that. This wasn't her plan. Granted, things had been thrown for a small loop this evening, but that's just what it was: a small loop.

However.. she could still give him something.

Alena breathed out a soft laugh and shook her head, then she grabbed her glass again and held it up slightly, a silent request for more.

"If only you knew someone who specialized in finding people and things."

As he poured the whiskey, she nodded to herself, looking back down at the diary.

Here goes.

"As it so happens," she started and raised her glass in thanks. She took a small sip, swirling the contents briefly before continuing, "you do. I've heard the Guardian mention its Source, their Source, and I.. Once I realized what a threat it could be, I decided to do some digging, back before this thing turned up on the galactic radar. Turns out? Their 'Source' is -- was -- a girl by that name."

She pointed again at the name written on the paper at the word "that," once more locking eyes with the doctor.

"What I've recovered implies this thing existed before, and she was unfortunate enough to find it. Past that, things get a bit.. unclear."

Sometimes I impress myself.

"So, I guess you weren't far off with the 'origin' hypothesis. Hm."