The small room bustled with commotion, everyone gathered together and talking idly. They had squeezed into the study after everyone finished eating, and were winding down as they discussed upcoming plans.

"It will be a shame to see you go, miss Laura. I was rather looking forward to your continued work on the force-panel hull idea!"

Giggling softly, Laura shrugged, "You flatter me, Greg... But Jolana will probably br able to cover the rest, with Alex's help. I can keep in contact with you lot easily, as well."

Nodding, Greg chuckled, "Fair enough. I suppose you have bigger plans to worry about, after all... How are things going, convincing old Tom?"

"Slow going. Ren has been handling most of that, getting him to like Alex first, while arranging the AHOR integration trials. Thanks again for handling the production, by the way."

"No need to worry. I was already getting factories up to speed for my autonimous units, so the modification was a good way of starting up the new business."

Spotting Alex leaning near the fireplace, Laura wrapped up the oncversation, and wandered over, "Feeling okay there, Alex?"

Looking up with a blink, Alex smiled, "Ah, I'm fine... Just have a lot going on. The panel installation is almost done, by the way."

"What? You are still doing that?" Laughing, Laura tugged Alex away, "We have time to get those done later. You should relax a little."

Alex smiled, giggling, "It's fine, I should practice multitasking again. I somehow lost track of thing recently, and it's been bugging me."

"As long as you are having fun." Smiling faintly, she nudged Alex, "So... How are things with Jolana?"

Alex rolled their eyes, "Quiet. I planned on catching up once you and Francis had left... It's not like we had a fight, or anything."

"Oh? Do elaborate~"

Alex smirked, and poked Laura, "On what? Things got hectic, so there was less time to hang out. Why do people keep seeing more into it?"

Laura smiled as she wove through the crowd, "We just dote on you, that's all. Feels like a kid sibling, you know?"

Alex shrugged with a sarcastic grin, "Only from watching Hope and Judith. Don't go fretting over me too much, okay?"

Laura laughed, as Dr Elune popped over, "Did I hear someone picking on the Silverthornes~?"

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Yup! I was comparing Alex to having a sibling, so..." Laura grinned, waving the doctor over.

"Hehe, hadn't thought of it like that. Enjoying being a big sis, are we?"

"Oh, don't you dare. I can still kick your ass, you know." Laura huffed, crossing her arms.

"What, phyisically, or virtually?"

"... I would say both, but you are much more of a geek than I am."

"Say the one with the biggest movie collection~"

As the two kept at it, Alex smiled, and closed their eyes... Their mind felt heavy lately, from overthinking things, and from trying to stay on top of the facilitie as well...

Jumping as they felt an arm aroung them, Alex opened their eyes agasin, looking up at the two of them, having staggered slightly into Laura, "Huh... Sorry about that."

"You sure you are okay? You have been acting a bit odd, lately..."

"... I think I am just tired. Need to let my processor rest... Sort out my thoughts. Not something I have needed to do for a while."

Dr Elune nodded, "You should set up an internal alert, tell yourself when you are pushing your limit. Dropping processes can be risky..."

Alex paled, thankful none of the drones at the shuttle had been affected, "Point taken. I shall put this AHOR away... And get some sleep. Good night, everyone. I will see you in the morning, to see you off."

Waving them Alex out, Laura and the doctor glanced nervously, "Well, the proccessor is also a bit smaller on the shuttle... It was bound to reach a limit at some point."

Laura nodded, "It is odd, looking at Alex... Some ways I see just another person, some I still expect the logical robot."

The doctor sighed, "And we keep mixing up which is which. Well, we have time to figure it out, so let's just trust in Alex to help... We should really talk with them more, though."

"Hmm? About what?"

"There seems to be something worrying them lately... And it isn't one of us, as far as I can tell. Maybe... Maybe having someone to confide in will help them calm down."

Laura glanced around the room, then smiled, "... I have a solution to that. I'll send him a little surprise for the morning... See how he reacts." Whispering the idea to the doctor, Laura grinned evilly.

"... That's just mean. I'll leave it to you, then~"