Alex jumped, surprised as they received a forced message from the doctor, "Anyone there?"

Turning on the AHOR, Alex blinked awake, "You called?"

Dr Elune nodded, walking away from the terminal linked to Alex's maintenance cradle, and sat down on the bed, "I was just getting worried. You have not responded to anyone for a few hours... Even Laura, who wanted to go over instilation of some prototype force panels."

Alex fidgeted slightly, "My appologies. I found an unusual book in Greg's study... And it has been bugging me since. I had not realised I had ceased external monitoring."

Dr Elune smiled, "As long as you are okay. You should probbaly attend to your messages, though."

Looking into the message bank, Alex grimaced at the pile of requests that had come in, "Wait, it has only been a few hours! Sheesh..." Setting part of their attention to deploying the drones, Alex leant back on the cradle with a sigh, "Anything you wanted, specifically?"

Dr Elune chuckled, "Just some company. We are also planning a little party tomorrow night, to send Laura and Francis off. You might want to add that to your, ah, list."

Alex rolled their eyes, also making use of some of the projectors arounf the place to follow up on some of the requests, "I will look into that after all this... I really need to set up a better monitoring subroutine." Lazily looking around with half-lidded eyes, Alex let their mind wander a little as they worked.

Dr Elune smiled, tapping their fingers, "Seems we are hopeless without you, now."

Alex smiled faintly, "No... Not just now. I'm just easier distracted now, so it's more noticable."

Laughing, the doctor nodded, "Myself longer than the others. Say... You mentioned a book? What is it that has your litertal undivided attention?"

Alex froze, moving a lerger portion of their attention to making sure the drones would not be affected, "Uh... Complicated. Can it wat ten minutes? Need to clear the queue a bit before..."

Nodding in understanding, the doctor simply watched Alex as they concentrated, part of their mind calculating the best way to answer the question without casuing unnecessary commotion.

After a few minutes, Alex had finished some of the simpler requests, and was almost finished scheduling the upgrade to the temporary shuttle, using a detatchable design by Laura. "Okay... I should be able to chat again, now. Where were we?"

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"A book."

Shoot, they didn't forget. "Ah, right... Well..." Alex fidgeted, then sighed, "It has to do with something I can't say. But, from what I have read... I am starting to figure out a lot more than I should."

Dr Elune raised an eyebrow, "Oh? As in, learnt too early? Or... Shouln't have learnt...?"

Alex grimaced, "Mostly too early... Mostly. It was also a... Private journal."

Snickering, Dr Elune shook their head, "You have internet here... Nothing new, I'm sure." Alex giggled, the doctor hitting close enough to the truth for now... But not the important one.

"Either way, it is proving an... Insightful read. I do not know if it is right for me to talk about the contents yet... But, I have gotten some idea as to how to proceed."

Dr Elune smirked, "Regarding Jolana?"

Alex blinked, then waved their hands, "Wh- No! Nonononono! I was refering to when we head to the next Haven! Geez."

As the doctor laughed, Alex rolled their eyes, "Anyway... Speaking of Jolana, I haven't heard from her for a bit. You know anything?"

Dr Elune nodded, "Only that she is busy helping arrange the departure. You should probably catch up at the party, she looks like she needs to wind down a bit."

Alex nodded thoughtfully, and groaned as they eased out of the cradle, to wander over to sit on the bed as well, "I should probably ask Laura to come back with some souveniers... Both for entertainment, and in terms of AHOR."

"Hmm? How so?"

"Well, for one, better cradle units. Skin repair applicators built in would be a good idea, and more importantly... They aren't very comfy."

The doctor nodded with a chuckle, "While you aren't connected to the unit usually... It would be embarrasing to get bed sores. Send the request with Laura."

Alex nodded, "Also, I have quite gotten used to the Diplomat models of AHOR... How about an upgrade?"

Dr Elune blinked in surprise, "Hadn't thought of that. Now that the production methods should have the kinks worked out, and I have that modification set up... Yes, I do beleive bringing back a few models would be a good idea."

Alex grinned, and flomped back onto the bed, "I suggest an Officer to show off, a Butler-Maid combo, and that modular idea if we could."

Dr Elune grinned back, "Yes... That lineup should do just fine... With one special addition."