He saw the gesture just beyond the peripheral of his eye ridge, not in enough direct line of sight for him to make the connection between it and his comment about the collars. "They could be, more so for you than for me." He regretted that he still didn't have the opportunity to see her in her true form or explore any of her capabilities they had discussed. He would have found it endlessly fascinating.

"Odd and not precisely unwelcome," he admitted. She was one of the few on the island he genuinely enjoyed, even if he had been using her. There was almost no one in his life with the possible exception of his parents he had not used in some way.

"If there is no external source, then yes. It would have to be something internal, and it may be difficult to discover. I'm going to check for obvious problems first. It could take some time. As long as life support is functional, we'll be fine. We do have some stores aboard. Without functional replicators, we still won't starve. I'm not sure you'll care for the fare much, mostly military rations."