ALL MIXED UP | I

13 the corrupt crystal 13

"Pidge, please come down to the detainment room," Coran said over the loudspeaker. Sage paced the room, not nervously but out of boredom. After the events on the Balmera (in which Sage felt utterly like dead weight), everyone was hoping for a quiet day, even if it was a bit boring. The doors hissed open to reveal Pidge.

"Okay, guys, Sendak's almost all hooked up," Coran announced. "But, look, I have to warn you, this technology was used to keep Altean memories alive, not to interrogate prisoners."

"Coran," Shiro began, "we understand this isn't what the technology was meant for, but if we can extract Sendak's memories, we may gain valuable intelligence on Zarkon's troop locations." Lance grinned.

"Yeah, and then we can just be like, 'Knock-knock.' 'Who's there?' 'The avenging fury of Voltron, son!'" Sage gave a breathy laugh.

"Fascinating," Pidge marveled. "So, how exactly does this work?"

"As the memories are extracted, they're written bit by bit on individual molecules of the micro-storage strands," Coran explained.

"When I go, I want all the stuff in my brain stored in a giant ship," Lance said with a smile. Keith glared.

"The amount of information in your brain could be stored in a paper airplane." Lance looked offended.

"Oh, yeah?" he shot back. "Well, the amount of information you have, Keith, could be..."

"Yeah?" Keith asked expectantly.

"Uh... it's less than what I have!"

"Oh, good one, Lance!" Hunk praised while Sage facepalmed.

"So this is how you incorporated King Alfor's memories into the Castle of Lions?" Pidge asked, bringing the conversation back to its original track.

"Precisely," Coran replied, "but it's never been attempted before on an unwilling participant." he activated the memory storage device. Nothing.

"Uh, is this what's supposed to be happening?" Hunk asked.

"Let's give it some time," Shiro said.

And so they waited...

And waited...

Aaaaand waited...

"Well, I can't wait around anymore," Keith said. "I'm gonna hit the training deck."

More waiting.

"Okay, if anyone needs me, I'll be in the lab," Pidge announced, leaving as well. "Maybe I can pull some information from Sendak's Galra Crystal."

More time passed with no results.

"Time to feed the beast," Hunk said. "I'm going to go make some breakfast."

"Well, I'm afraid I can't wait here any longer, either," Coran stated. "I have a million duties to attend to. Between that Galra Crystal infecting our system, and then fighting off those ships and performing the Balmeran rejuvenation ceremony, the old Castle of Lions has taken quite a beating. Every system needs to be recharged and repaired."

"I'll stay," Shiro said. "Somewhere in Sendak's mind is the information about Zarkon that we need."

"I'm staying with Shiro," Sage said. "If something goes wrong, I want to be here." Shiro smiled at her, hugging her lightly.

"Okay, well, while you guys do that, I think I'm gonna get my chill on," Lance revealed. "Maybe kick back with a lemonade or space juice. Something." He went to step out of the door.

"Oh, hold on there, space juice," Coran said, halting him. "You're going to come and help me."

"What? Why? Why me?" Lance whined.