Jolana slipped quietly into the observation room, lowering her goggles as she walked up to the dashboard. Tapping a button, she smiled, "Hey, Alex. You all right in there?"

After a faint delay, the speakers in the room crackled on, "Jolana! I'm mostly fine... Ren and Dr Elune have started on the repairs, and I have already moved all the data out of those systems."

Giggling, Jolana sat down in one of the chairs provided, "Any other reason you are still shut up in here?" She could almost feel Alex fidget at that, which made her giggle again.

"Just sorting out my new... Experiences. I have to handle all my own memories myself, with no subconsious to do that for me... Unless I make one." Alex sighed over the speakers, "And... I have been fretting over how to not fry myself if I ever get too immersed in something, whatever the cause."

Humming thoughtfully, Jolana smirked, "Well, here's an easy idea... Read up on neuroscience and phsycology. Most of your thought processes are modelled on a human's, right?"

"... Loosely in some cases, but yes. I suppose I could try mimicing some of the methods there..." Alex trailed off, pondering where to start.

"Well, you will neeed to leave your little fortress here to do that, so maybe later~" Grinning, Jolana glanced around, "Um, are there any cameras in here, out of curiosity?"

"No, actually. Just the microphone, as my only means of observing the room. Unless one of my bodies wanders in, of course."

"Huh. I'll keep that in mind, try to avoid relying on body language. You know, nodding and stuff." As they both laughed softly, Jolana sighed, "So, my morning has been pretty hectic..."

"Oh? What have I missed?"

"Well... Our dear friend Max decided to try and pop in as a surprise."

"Odd timing. Did he want to use the sim?"

"Yup. One little problem with that today, though... If you hadn't noticed."

Alex paused for a moment, "Ohhh. Uh, I hadn't thought of that. So, what happened?"

Shrugging, Jolana leaned back in the chair, "Sam told enough of the truth to disuade him. Sims use the shuttle, shuttle is under maintenance... Bad timing, that's all. Even explained why you were unavailable to chat, saying you had worked on the repairs all night."

"... Mostly true." Giggling, Alex hummed thoughtfully, "I hope the sensors recorded that conversation... I need to know my alibi, after all. Has, uh... Anything else gone awry?"

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Not really. Laura being gone means we barely experiment outside the sims... And one day won't hurt us. Everything else can run off the standard house system." Jolana squinted up at the blackened windows, Alex's brain obscured from view due to the brightness, "You will be back tomorrow, right?"

"Probably. I want to wait until the physical repairs are done, to be safe... By then, I should have enough of the rest sorted to at least reconnect with the mansion, if not an AHOR. Those things give a lot of feedback to sift through."

"You should dull most of it throughout the day. Again, hti those textbooks!" Jolana grinned, and stood up slowly, "Well, I will go back and work on some formulas, for now... Maybe sit on your body, see if you notice in the morning."

Alex chuckled, "I doubt I make a comfortable cushion. Please check with Dr Elune on the way out, to confirm how long the repairs will take. I will ask myself later."

Jolana nodded, than caught herself with a grimace, "Sure thing. See you later, Alex!"

"See you then." The speakers and microphone blinked off as Jolana slid her goggles back on, walking back out into the light-lock as they have dubbed it.

Emerging into the corridors on the other side, Jolana trailed her hand along the glass seperating the luminescent cables from the walkway. She noted the glass felt mildly warm... Huh. Smiling as she wandered along, she imagined the twisting cables like a set of nerves, not having to try very hard as they pulsed faintly with Alex's musings deeper inside.

Shaking her head to refocus on heading back to the house, she noticed the sillohuette of someone up ahead, "Hey! How's the repair going?"

Ren glanced up, startled as he grinned and waved hello, "Pretty well. Not much actually got damaged, it's just that this is apparently designed to only be replaced in longer segments. So, I need to head inside and get a few more made, we should be able to finish up in a few hours."

Jolana sighed with relief, "Great, I think I have grown too reliant on Alex's... Abilities. And company. Come on, I can show you to our little fabrication area."

Ren laughed, "That reminds me of a conversatin from all this starting out, before even the AHOR properly began..." Listening intently, Jolana smiled as she wandered out, heading back to help make some Replacement brain tubing.