"I gather that they aren't taking the separation well," Niko commented. "They have no idea what could have happened?"

"Not at all," Christine said in answer to both. "Kali was freaking out, and Bahiti, who was out at the time, said she didn't know what had done it."

Niko nodded. He didn't know what could have done it, either, but he liked having the information, just in case they needed it later.

"So what's the plan, then?" Cal asked, munching on his takeout.

"You're assuming there is one." Christine collapsed back onto the couch in a boneless heap. "Sleep first, then figuring things out when I'm firing on all thrusters again."

Niko nodded.

"Of course," he said. "Get some rest."

Christine nodded, pushed her plate aside, and zombied back to her temporary room so she could flop over and sleep for a while.

Niko took care of the plate, although he left Cal's there for his brother to take care of himself. It was likely a futile gesture, but still.

By the time Christine got up the next morning, she'd determined a few things. She had no idea what was going on with the Tryad, she had no idea what had done it, and she could only think of one way to find out. Gabriel. And she did not want to do that.

So she procrastinated by making breakfast.

And there was absolutely nothing wrong with her making breakfast, Cal promptly decided when he managed to shuffle his way to the kitchen that morning. Nothing at all.

"Morning," Christine greeted, glancing back at him. "I see you're doing your best impression of a functional person."

"Fake it till you make it," Cal replied, rummaging in the fridge for a soda.

Christine snorted at him and piled food onto a plate for him, setting it at the table. "Think Nik'll join us? Or is my style of breakfast not fit for his uber-healthy thing?"

Cal snorted.

"Nik eats rabbit food, remember?" he said. "Not real food."

"Rabbit food is good too sometimes." Christine grinned. "But it's hard to go wrong with bacon and pancakes."

"Exactly," Cal replied. "There is nothing wrong with bacon."

Christine laughed quietly and settled down to eat and think over who she could ask for help with the Tryad issue.

Back in Chicago, Bahiti had managed to get her sisters mostly under control again. Kali was snuggled up to Mouse, clinging to the massive dog, and Tamara was curled on the couch with a mug of cocoa. None of them were necessarily comfortable, and they didn't leave each other's sight, but they weren't freaking out anymore.

Harry was very, very glad about that. He didn't deal well with freaking out women. He made sure they were all comfortable before he tried to figure out what had happened.

He wasn't have any more luck than Christine, though.

As the calmest of the three, Bahiti volunteered to help him, answering all the questions she could. She kept an eye on her sisters, though, gathering Kali into a hug when the youngest started to get upset again and settling her next to Tamara so they could cuddle and comfort one another.

Harry went to go talk to Bob once he'd talked to Bahiti, giving the girls time to calm down again and adjust.

But he was a bit frustrated when neither he nor Bob came up with any good ideas.

By the time Harry came back upstairs, Bahiti had managed to get her sisters to calm down enough to nap on the couch.

"I don't know how you one-faces manage," she said softly to him after a moment.

Harry smiled humorlessly. "We're used to it, and we're born like this. Any big change is hard."

"But how do you handle being so... alone?" Bahiti asked. "A person can go mad with only their own thoughts in their head."