"Araari! Where are you going!"

When Araari doesn't respond, Zoe worries. Even if Araari had decided she didn't want to wait here any longer, she wouldn't have run off into the desert by herself with no provisions. Maybe the thing that happened to her is happening to Araari?

Zoe runs to the bicycles and hops on one and goes after Araari as fast as she can.

Araari is just going to keep running. There’s someone chasing her—she has to go faster—

Well it DOES NOT SEEM LIKE A GOOD IDEA TO RUN OFF INTO THE DESERT ALONE WITH NO SUPPLIES.

Zoe is not actually sure how to overtake Araari safely. No matter which way she goes, Araari runs from her, and it's all open desert here. There's nowhere to corner her, and if she tries to stop her bike and approach her, she just puts more distance between them. Araari is very fast and does not seem to be tiring. Zoe despairs of catching her, and spends a moment torn between following her at a distance to keep an eye on her, and going back to Kolluli and possibly losing her completely.

HOW DO YOU TELL HUMANS THAT THEY ARE DOING A STUPID THING

He is going to SCREAM and point back at the village.

Magnificence screaming is enough to pull her to a halt. She promised to take care of him and she can't do that if she gets them lost in the desert with no supplies. With a pained expression, she watches for a moment as Araari recedes into the distance. Then, she turns her bike back towards the village and pedals as fast as she can.

When she gets there she shouts for help, and tries to express across the language barrier how Araari ran off into the desert, how she has no water or supplies, how even when Zoe caught up to her she didn't stop running.

"We need to go after her, and find her! She's not safe out there!"

Zoe frantically begins packing.

The Kolluli residents are concerned and create a search party! They convey through pantomime that Zoe, being frail, should stay here.

Zoe HATES being the weak one. She wants to help. She has to hold back screams of frustration, because they wouldn't understand her. Once they're gone, she doesn't hold back anymore. She paces, stamping her feet and kicking things and cursing her helplessness.

Not long after Araari collapsed, someone helps her up and puts her on a camel's back.

“Thank you,” she says, kind of weakly.

And so with one thing and another they meet back in Kolluli, and travel to Mersa Fatma, and fly to New York City.

Where Mrs. Winston-Rogers has found a new member of their team to replace Carrie Meadows.

"It seems like you do lots of... crimes... so she's the person I know who does the most crimes who is definitely not connected to the cult in any way."

.............that's fair.

What an incredible qualification. He almost wants to laugh.

......Concerning! But okay!

Zoe is kind of relieved that there is someone here who is better at doing crimes than she is. She's a hobbyist at best and that has not been sufficient.

Winning smile.

Okay, hello new criminal friend. So what... kinds of crimes... do you get up to... that is so not the way to ask that question. "So what is it you, uh, do?"

"Nothing you need to be particularly concerned about. I would say that I handle... reconnaissance. Good to know what one's enemies are up to before you determine how best to handle them, isn't it."

"Well. We could definitely use better stealth."

"I see. Mrs. Winston-Rogers hasn't given me all of the specifics, but I understand that you're investigating a cult of some kind? They eat someone you care about?"

Zoe shifts uncomfortably.

This is absolutely not intended as a pun.
 
 

"Yes."

He's not planning to elaborate on that.

Araari is not really talking. She is mostly just standing there while her eyes dart around looking for anything dangerous. Her back is firmly pressed against a wall so nobody can sneak up on her. This was perhaps not the ideal moment in her life for her to go to a foreign country for the first time.