Near as I can tell, relay point = huge, twitchy mass of melted hyooman + crystallized core. The mass seems to retain a certain cellular memory of the people it's consumed and can therefore mimic those people's forms at the will of the Peacemaker that created it. (The relay point on the Skid kept crying out in the voices of Cernes's soldiers for her to join them and become one with them.) Meanwhile, the core imprisons the victims' conscious minds, which means they continue to suffer until the relay point is obliterated.

During the fight with the relay point in Taurus, Shannon hesitated after Raquel destroyed the mass. He could see a child's face in the surface of the core. The little boy's expression seems to say, "Help me . . . It hurts . . ."

It's up to Chris to clasp Shannon's shoulder and tell the child, "We can't save you. No one can, not anymore." Then he turns to Shannon. "There's no way to save that child. Hesitating is not what you should be doing now. The best thing to do is kill them." When Shannon still holds back, he yells, "Shannon Casull! You swore to protect her, didn't you? No matter what you do, you've sworn to protect your little sister, haven't you? In that case, don't hesitate! I'm begging you, don't hesitate . . ."

(Did I already write this somewhere, by the way? I get the feeling I have, but I can't find it.)