Swamped

You think you've probably hit the limits of the harsh approach. Maybe a little compassion will be more effective now.

"Do you need anything?"

She just stares at you blankly.

"I know greblings can go for a while without water, but it just struck me that I don't know how long you've been out there. And then you stopped talking, so I wondered if you might be feeling dehydrated."

"Did it not occur to you that maybe I just don't want to talk?" she spits back.

"Yeah, that's what I thought at first. But then I realized I didn't know for sure."

She's definitely feeling thrown off.

"It's only been two days. I'll be fine," she says, after giving it some thought.

"Look. We don't know anything about you, because you won't tell us. If you at least let us know what you want, we might be able to get somewhere. I can't promise it, since I don't know what you want, but if you don't tell us anything, well, we're just going to have to assume the worst and treat you accordingly."

She seems to be considering it. But after a good while, she just says nothing.

Well, she did seem confident she could escape. So maybe she still is.

Before you can think of anything else to do, Yvonne comes back, this time with Rudolph and another grebling you don't recognize.

"We're ready for her in the medical tent now," Yvonne says. "Thanks for keeping an eye on her."

"All right. Should I help with the escort?" you ask.

"Plinth and I can handle it," Rudolph says. "Besides, we might need you more to help with the other thing that just came up."

You look at Yvonne.

"Hold on now. What other thing?"