"Let's get going. I'm ready to see that gym!"
Her change of attitude was again bemusing to Nick. 'What's going on in that beautiful head of yours? Should I even ask?'
'Yes,' he answered himself, 'We're going to be stuck in this tin can for decades together.'
'And...?'
'And everyone needs to be psychologically stable. Sophie obviously doesn't like secrets. They eat at her, causing emotional and possibly physical distress. Not a good mental state for a Runner.'
'But-'
'She could be that way normally? No way. She wouldn't have been admitted...'
"...not as a Runner," Nick mused quietly. "Maybe I should ask," he mumbled, looking up from the floor around him to see Sophie standing next to him.
He turned to her, pulling a smile over his somber face. "Soph," he said, "Do you mind if we have a private chat later? Between friends I mean." Behind the confident and inviting smile, Nick was at odds with himself still, yet, he knew that something wasn't right. Not at all.