“Aye aye, sir,” Stephen says, dryly, and turns back to rummaging through the files, trying to understand the bizarre notes, their arcane implications. He bundles up what he finds and obligingly passes it over when other Riftwatch members join him; as they finish pillaging this base and picking it apart and then, ultimately, sinking the installation so it hopefully doesn’t infect any more sea creatures.

He doesn’t try to touch the red lyrium again.