what's up, doc?

Patroka, being unchanged by Indol, might have had a sort of perverse curiosity about the things that doctors, and those who pretended to be, did. She might have wondered about the blood-'n'-guts of it all, of course. She might have wanted to sharpen the scalpel.

But Linada didn't let her patient do anything, because Linada was a very good Machina doctor, which meant that she was both pragmatically patient herself as well as highly efficient.

"You won't find out anything about me I don't already know," Patroka snarled.

Linada's touch sent a chill. "Then what is it you're afraid of?"