Back on the bridge of the "Odyssey," the atmosphere was one of controlled, nail-biting panic. They couldn't see what was happening in the Conclave's weird, gray room, but they could see the effects.
A brilliant, blue-white beam of energy was still connected to their ship, a silent, cosmic umbilical cord stretching across the galaxy. It wasn't doing any physical damage, but every single person on the bridge could feel the wrongness of it in their bones.
Zara was at her science station, her face pale, her hands flying over her console. She had dedicated every single sensor on the ship to analyzing the beam. The data was pouring in, a waterfall of impossible physics and complex, alien code.
"Emma was right," Zara said, her voice tight with a horrified fascination. "The link is a two-way street. The Gardener is downloading Ryan's entire life. His memories, his neural patterns, his emotional responses… everything. It's the most complete and invasive scan I have ever seen."
