As much as Khan found it inconvenient for other people to refuse to follow his lead, he couldn't exactly fault her it. That she was fast enough to dodge his grasp in the first place was rather impressive. Even more impressive was how quickly she had assessed the situation on her own and acted in such a decisive and agile way. Khan might have been satisfied to be able to claim her as one of his own after all.

During the five seconds before his door chime went off, Khan moved his chair back into position and flicked a few switches on the console to boot it back up. He ignored the door for the next ten seconds, after which it chimed again in a longer, more insistent way. Khan finally made his way to the door and it opened with a swoosh, followed by a perky female voice with a British accent that sounded part South African and part fake. "Just thought I'd drop by! It's been awhile. Are you making any progress?"

Khan's voice was flat. "Doctor Marcus, you know that my data are automatically uploaded to the central computer every twenty-four hours. I don't need personal visits from the tax collector." With a smacking sound, Khan pressed his palm to the wall and the door swished shut in her face just as she had started to mount a protest. The room fell silent.