Sodden, shivering and shaken, Hope peeked around the corner, quickly retreating back as she held up two fingers. The other two stifled groans, Tom holding his hands side to side to ask how big.

Hope thought about it, and gestured in the middle. Nodding, Tom pointed at the far wall, glancing back as Max nudged his way to a similar spot behind. Hope pointed at the ground near the corner. With a silent nod, the group shuffled forward tentatively.

She did not make it to the corner though, as one of the hulking mechs crashed around the corner ahead of them, gunfire spraying over the alleyway. Hope fired a burst from her repulsor, but did not manage to avoid the hail of bullets headed their way.

Grumbling as she logged out, defeated, Hope peeled off her helmet, reclining in her chair with a sigh. Glancing around, she picked up a display to see how the other two were doing.

As they had been further away, they managed to duck behind doorframes in time, only getting light nicks and scratches from passing lucky shots. When the mech got thrown back from Hope's departing shot, they let loose immediately, riddling the core of the machine with holes, ducking back as the other mech approached from behind the ruin of the first.

Satisfied that they would be able to continue at least a bit longer, Hope left them a message they she was going to stretch her legs for a moment, and put the display down, not exactly expecting a response in the middle of a firefight. Hopping to her feet, she wandered to the garden, taking the opportunity to catch some fresh air.

She blinked in surprise as Alex fell in alongside her, smiling as they looked around at the garden, "Sorry about that. The whole event was pre-scripted, I didn't expect you to get a faceful."

"Ah, no worries. That sim was meant to be hard, after all." Chuckling, she nudged Alex, "Say... Won't Max get suspicious if he needs a sudden break, or something?"

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"Nope. Other unit is still there, waiting for the sim to end." Alex smirked as they spotted a nice bench, making a beeline for it, "One of the advantages of having two bodies."

"... I keep forgetting you can do that. I almost never see both in one place." Grinning, Hope wandered to the nearby flowerbeds to take a closer look, glancing back as Alex sat down, "Isn't it distracting, controlling that as you run the sims?"

"... A little. Main reason I sat down, I can divert processing from my legs." Sighing, Alex leaned back, "It's not so bad if I keep my senses dulled. I can spare the concentration for a chat, like this."

Hope nodded, coming over to sit down next to them, "Guess you aren't up for a jog then?" Alex groaned, making Hope giggle, "Kidding. Jogging doesn't really do you any good, anyway."

"Mmm... It would be interesting, if I could improve my body simply through using it like that. I'd probably go the opposite way, though... Too much time in the lab."

Hope snickered as she nodded, "Yeah, I could see that. You, ah, would still get some exercise, though..."

"Hmm? How so?"

Smiling, Hope raised an eyebrow at Alex, "I saw your little boy butt slink out of Jolana's room, this morning. You looked awfully... Refreshed~"

Alex blushed, sighing as they glanced away, "I guess you have a point. And that was my girl butt this morning, if you must know."

Blinking in surprise, Hope leaned closer, "Ohoh? Hadn't occured to me you were trying both. How do they compare~?"

Alex nudged Hope away, sighing in exasperation as they got up, "... Needs further study." Hoe snickered again as she got up as well, "... Shush. Anyway, I doubt the guys can last much longer, they are about to trigger another ambush. You should head back, and I should hide."

Hope nodded, walking towards the mansion as Alex called out, "Oh, and don't mention our chat. Second body and whatnot." She nodded, waving as she turned back, and heade inside with another giggle.