Alex blinked in surprise, stirring in the night as they felt somethign tug for their attention. Powering back up, Alex saw that it was a request from the station, so they set up the recurring encryption as they finished waking back up.

Connecting through to Laura's workshop, Alex waved through her monitor, "Odd for you to call. What's up?"

"Thought I should give you the good news." Laura grinned tiredly, slumped over the back of her chair as she waved back feebly, "Everything is all set over here. New council is doing a good job in our place, core sysems are issue free, redudant sytems fully tested... And, your drone control program has worked wonders."

"Ah, I had meant to ask about that. When I went offline recently, I did notice a slight impact from me not running the drones... And that was one day, in a mansion." Alex grinned as they looked around, "Good to see the old place will be fine without me."

"Hmm? Not planning on coming back, are we?"

"Ehhh, it woudln't be the same. I would be part of the crew if I did come back, not part of the station itself."

"Good point." Prying herself off the chair, Laura yawned, "Also, I have finished the requested models of all the newer units, complete with new biomechanics. These will use chemical reagents in your 'artificial blood', to mend you from the inside. Will even scab over open wounds."

"... Neat. I probbaly only had a few months left on these units, before they started showing major signs of disrepair..."

"I noticed that, on the reports I was sent by Sam. What exactly have you been up to?"

Alex blushed, sighing, "Let's just say, I didn't learn my lesson from the time I overloaded my processor. The AHOR units get taxed from that as well..."

Laura narrowed her eyes, "Don't go frying yourself just yet. I have a specially-made neural weaver over here, which will do wonders once you get plugged into it. Do some reading on brain structures, and see if you can help Ren build a better... You."

Alex grinned, "Will do.I trust it can handle the larger unit, as well?"

"Oh, yeah. Not all at once, but you will end up more powerful than you were over here... We just need to find ways to handle the heating problem from the concentrated light.."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"... Why don't we switch to a lower frequency? Maybe ultra-violet?" Alex giggled quietly, "And, it has been brought up that we can run water cooling over the system, to also use the heated water to regulate shuttle temperature."

"... That... Uh..." Laura rubbed her eyes, yawning with a nod, "... I'll look into that tomorrow. Souonds good so far. The main reason I called was to let you know I'm likely to be back in, say... Three weeks?"

"That's great! It hasn't been the same without you~" Alex bounced happily on the monitor, beaming excitedly.

Laura watched with a faint smile, "Seems I have missed a bit while I was away. You are much... Peppier, I guess. How are things going over there?"

Alex went to respond eagerly, then froze, "Uh, before that... One question."

"Hmm? Go ahead?"

"... Do any of the models you are bringing back look like my current 'diplomat'?"

"Not really... I should have thought of that, made you a new version of those, too. Why?"

"... I'll keep that in mind. Guess I can't go galivanting around in the new models every day." Alex sighed, "I have been running sims for Max and Tom... Tom being our benefactor, who you have met." Laura nodded, blinking as she tried to stay awake. "Well, he knows now. The problem is Max... Also was on Mars, but is less..."

"... Forgiving?"

"Close enough, but yeah. I need to let him know, before suddenly busting out new bodes."

Laura rubbed her temples, groaning, "I'll leave that to you lot. And, hey... You convinced me not to kick you out. Won;t be that bad, right?"

"It only took, what, how many years have you been cheif Engineer now?"

"Shush."

They both giggled tiredly, "Well, I shold let you go, I hear you need sleep like we do, nowdays."

"So do you. Sleep well, Laura."

"Night, Alex." Smiling as she disconnected the call, Laura turned away as the line cut out. Alex was eft with their thoughts, wondering if tthey had enough time...

Deciding that it would be best to simply talk it over with the others in the morning, Alex turned in for the night, and powere back down, thoughs idling as they sifted through their memories for sorting, dreams flickering inbetween.