"I can at least attest to that truth." It attacked her without question. If it was programmed that way, then it did its job well.

Elissa did not necessarily fidget in her chair, though her frown was not so hostile as before. "You have as little reason to trust me as I to trust you," she said, her voice softer this time. "We are alike, at least, in that we have been brought to this world unlawfully. It is not your fault, or mine, that we are in this situation...but I cannot afford to give information idly to strangers."

She exhaled quietly. "...I am not used to speaking of myself."