Xiulan stands as the others do, though she does not rush for the door. To Sasha, she murmurs, “That correspondence - something you can send along with the weapons specs?”

And then: “If you have the data for it, it’d be interesting to analyze potential associations between Crow, Vulture, and Quill.” With a sudden flash of humour, she adds, “Maybe they got their names out of the same hat draw.”

More seriously, they certainly sound like code names and a thematic link is not something to ignore. Just in case.

[If Sasha is going over to talk to Ione, Xiulan won’t hold her up, she just wanted to get these two bits out there.]