Alex jumped slightly as Hope tapped them on the shoulder, "Mornin, Alex. Enjoy your little rest?"

"Yes, actually." Smirking, Alex turned around, stretching a little with a groan, "Still waking up, though. I haven't seen you around much, what have you been up to?"

Shrugging, Hope started in the direction of the gardens, "Not much. Since I have no tech to try out, and no way to do some 'improvised mining', I have just been hanging out most days, reading or sightseeing at the Spire."

"Improvised mining, heh. I like it. Anyway, I don't think you have seen our new Mars sim yet, have you?"

Hope perked up a little, "No... That one I keep hearing about, set in the war?"

"That's the one. I have a feeling that you would love it... Once I'm less groggy." Grinning, Alex looked around curiously, "By the way... Where are we headed?"

"Glad you asked! See, I'm bored... And you need to refresh yourself this fine morning. Sounds to me like we should do some fitness tests, hmm?"

Groaning, Alex spotted a long pathway up ahead, and some fenced off fields, currently unused, "You want me to do sprinting and hurdles?"

"And some gymnastics, and a little obstacle course. I will set that last one up as you run, then do them all myself after, how does that sound?"

Grimacing, Alex nodded, "Fiiine... I should test my limits again anyway, see if my systems have degraded since we last tried this. What gave you the idea?"

"Just feeling cooped up." Hope pointed at a tree in the distance, grnning evilly, "Think you can sprint that entire distance?"

"... No. I have to try anyway, don't I?"

Hope smiled sweetly, and Alex sighed, already feeling sore at the thought of it.

Alex collapsed face-down onto the bed, Jolana giggling as she raised an eyebrow, "Hello to you too. You look... Dishevelled."

"Nice word choice." Alex let out a muffled whimper into the matress, "Some advice... Don't exercise with Hope."

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

"I'll keep that in mind." Grinning, she glanced down at Alex, "Wait... Why do you even need exercise?"

"To keep my body... Callibrated, I guess? Also, helps me understand current wear and tear." Alex sighed as they rolled onto their side, "Also, to entertain a very bored Hope."

Jolana nodded, "Guess that works. Still have enough energy to move stuff into your new room, later?"

Alex nodded gently, "Drones can do that part... I'll be fine. You sure the room next to yours is fine?"

"Yup. Warning of explosions, remember? Just, Put anything valuable on the far side of the room." Giggling, Jolana brushed a hand through Alex's hair, "And one of you sleep in here, when you can."

Blushing as they nodded obediently, Alex smiled, "Glad to be back in the mansion... Seems I have grown used to hanging out, now I can get lonely~"

Ruffling Alex's hair, Jolana wiggled down to hug them, "Oh, good... Gives you incentive to stick around." Curling up with them, she sighed contently, "I have confirmed Tom wants to come round day after tomorrow... Will you be ready?"

"I should be fully recovered by then... Just need to make sure I don't shut down again before then." Grinning, Alex hugged her tight, "As unfortunate as that might be, we will have to wait until after to build up my immunity."

Jolana rolled her eyes, smiling anyway with a blush, "In the meantime... Did you find any books for research?"

"No, actually. I had other things on my mind, thank you for reminding me. I shoudl get started, and leave you to your own reseach..." Alex moved to get up, and Jolana tugged them back down.

"You can read here... And so can I." Grinning, she pulled her display over, Alex fidgeting as they squirmed back into place, eyes half-closing as they read internally. Glancing at Alex's eyes, Jolana smirked, "Cheater."

Alex nodded, chuckling as they relaxed with a relieved sigh.