Pheres is still puking, although he's moved past liquid and just into dry, raspy heaving. Your stomach is churning just being near him, so you take one or two more steps back, and then - when it becomes obvious the maroonblood won't notice - you turn tail and flees.

Whatever issue Pheres is having, it hasn't rubbed off. You feel foggy and gross from crying, but elation has won out over that. You're in the sewers, and the numbers on the walls mean they're well over a dozen blocks away, in a different district entirely. The drones are far, far away, and your hive is so close.

It's just a matter of figuring out how you'll haul Pheres there. The quickest way would be cutting down into the catacombs, and up the pipeline that leads directly into your nestblock, but you're not sure Pheres would be able to shimmy up the pipe. There's no ladder, and you always just use your back and feet, but Pheres is probably a little big for that: in the last sweep or so, it's gotten tight even for you.

The other way is going through the catacombs, and following the path through. There's only a little bit of climbing there, but you'd need Castor to tell them where the dead are and when it was safe to go.

Where was Castor?

You give the leash a hard tug, but there's no response.