‘That’s still true.’
‘So why did you put him into stasis?’
‘Because of what he contained. I told you that he sacrificed his higher functions, discarding much of his own personality. He did that for a reason. He had to make room inside himself, to protect the thing he cared for most.’ The glass man nodded at my thoughts, as if they were transparent to him. ‘He became armour, Campion - altered himself so that he could protect Purslane during the fall to earth. Deciding to protect her would have been one of his last conscious acts as a fully formed sentience.’
I had felt strong until then, but now I fell to my knees, next to the golden form.
‘She’s inside him?’
‘There is a female human within the armour. The human is alive, albeit in a state of coma. I am no expert in these matters, but I believe the human to be unharmed. Of course, it may not be Purslane, but given the weight of evidence ...’
I closed my eyes, sobbing with the force of the unseen cataract, all my worst fears draining out of me in a silvery rush. ‘I have to get the armour off,’ I said, when I could speak again. I was racked by remorse for Hesperus, racked by desperate, intoxicating gratitude for the cargo he had kept safe.
‘Then I’ll help you,’ the glass man said as my fingers dug their useless nails into the fused seams of that golden mask. ‘After which, with regret, I shall have to be on my way.’
House of Suns Page 58