Kira watched as Odin went from female to male in a shorter time span than it would have taken to change outfits. The effort as natural as breathing to him.
"The general," Odin guessed.
Kira dipped her chin in the tiniest of nods.
Odin folded his hands over his arms as he considered. "On the grounds we're able to trust a single word out of his mouth, then yes, it could work."
Kira's heart thumped in excitement.
"At the very least it might get us close enough that I can use the J1N's connection to the spawn to locate Jin and your niece." Odin leveled a serious look on her. "That's a mighty big if, though. The generals aren't your biggest fan. There's a whole lot of enmity built up between his kind and you. He's more likely to sabotage us."
Kira didn't care about that. "He'll help."
And if he didn't, she'd just kill him.
"I hope so. Because this is Tsavitee territory we're talking about. One mistake and we won't have to worry about what they'll do to Jin and your niece. We'll be dead."
Or worse. They'd be prisoners at the mercy of monsters.
Odin touched his jaw absently before reaching up to snag the earring dangling from his ear lobe.
"Does that ever bother you?" Kira dipped her chin at his hand. "Having to use an earring to indicate your gender?"
Odin held up the earring. "What? This?"
Kira nodded.
It had to be exhausting, constantly having to signal to others what would have felt obvious to him.
One side of Odin's mouth hooked up. "Most people are oblivious when I switch genders. The observant might notice that there's something different about me, but they rarely suspect the truth of my existence. It's what has let me survive. Their cluelessness. Otherwise, the Tsavitee would have hunted me down a long time ago." Odin's gaze was deep as he studied Kira. "You and Jin are some of the only ones able to recognize my shifts."
"Not quite." Kira rose from the floor. "Diesel and his people know something is up. They think you're a pair of twins. A male and a female."
Odin stopped, turning back to Kira with an arrested expression. "Do they?"
Kira hummed an agreement.
"Fascinating," Odin breathed, his gaze introspective. "They're wrong, but their ability to spot my differences is intriguing in and of itself."
That was one way to see it.
"You must have spent considerable time around them."
"Only what was necessary."
Kira regarded the hacker. "Sounds lonely."
She'd never considered how isolated Odin was. No wonder the Sye made a habit of popping by every now and then.
"I'm alive. That's its own reward."
"Guess I can't argue with that," Kira said.
Odin changed the subject. "Do I want to know how you managed to remand the general into your custody? The Tuann aren't the type to give up possession of their prisoners."
"Probably not."
Odin chuckled. "That sounds like you."
"It does, doesn't it?" Kira said with a smirk.
Odin made a beckoning gesture. "Go ahead and summon him. I'm interested to see what the loyal hound has to say."
Kira shifted, uncomfortably. "About that—"
Odin sent her a questioning look.
"He's not exactly with me," Kira confessed.
Odin frowned. "I was under the impression you had him in your possession."
"I do." This was annoying to have to explain. "At least he was. There was a slight hiccup during transport."
"I take it he escaped," Odin guessed.
"More like I was kidnapped."
Bafflement showed on Odin’s face.
In the resulting silence, the J1N bumped into a screen and bounced off it, changing directions. It drifted in a straight line until it knocked into something else, shifting course again.
"You were kidnapped," Odin stated in a flat voice, dipping his head to peer at her with one eye. "By the forty three, I'm guessing."
Kira nodded.
"And now you're here."
"Yup."
"They wouldn't have let you go so easy. Which of your siblings did they send?"
"I resent that assumption," Kira defended. "I'm perfectly capable of escaping them on my own."
"Which? Kira!"
There was no point hiding it when Odin could find out for himself.
"Pallas."
Odin rounded the chair. "You brought that lunatic here? Does he know about me?"
"He most certainly does," Pallas announced, pushing through the wire curtain and sauntering into the room. "Calling me a lunatic before we've ever formally met. Tsk. Tsk. I'm wounded."