Jolana giggled as she gently nudged Alex, "We're here. Time to wake up."

Blinking awake, Alex eased out fo the Mag-Pod, reconnecting fully to the AHOR unit, "Sorry, got distracted reading one of the signs through a security camera. Also, if I may ask... Why am I only being provided my routings as we go?"

"To keep things interesting. Can't have you snooping ahead now, can we?" Taking Alex by the hand, Jolana let the Mag-Pod whizz off to a garage for the moment, and walked closer to Alex, "Now, be careful... These places get rather crowded."

Alex looked up at the sprawling cityscape around them, in the middle of one of the many shopping districts. miniature elevators formed rows of pillars, connecting the teirs of walkways extending above and below them.

"You know, it is one thing to look at this through a camera... And another to be in the middle. I'm getting  better feel for just how huge the spire is now!"

Jolana nodded as she wiggled forward, careful not to bump the crowd of people flowing back and forth as she led Alex along, "We are still nowhere near the middle, you space-bumpkin. Now then... Let's show you some of my favourite stores." Alex smiled nervously, letting her lead them along as ehy looked around, trying to take us much in as their bandwidth would allow.

Ducking into one of the lift-tubes, Jolana pulled Alex in with a smirk, "I would tell you which floor to go to... But this is more fun. Might get some stares, though." Hugging a rather flustered Alex in the small tube, Jolana pressed a button behind them to move up a few floors.

Laughing as they wandered in to a nearby store, Alex nodded, "Well, I did see a few stares here and there. I guess most people don't like doing that?"

Jolana blinked as she looked back, stopping by a shelf full of various machine parts, "Hmm? Oh, that's not it. It's just traditionally only something couples do."  Hiding her grin as Alex turned a more intense shade of red, she sighed at the rather unexciting collection of parts, "Say, I come here now and then to discover new gadgets to use in my experiments. You getting any ideas?"

Alex shook themself back to reality, "Uh, no. A lot of this looks... Well, niche." Peering at an automated corkscrew, Alex giggled, "And, I could make most of it given a simple assembly line."

Gently nudging Alex back towards the door, Jolana dramatically rolled her eyes, "Show off. Now, there are plenty of interesting places here, and we don't want you out and about too long." alex obediently put the corkscrew back down, waving goodbye to a bored shopkeeper as they moved on to the next store.

The shopping went along rather quickly, ducking in and out of stores to give Alex a glimpse of the urban bustle. A few entertainment stores got a shrug from Alex, always connected to the internet anyway. The clothing stores simply got a polite nod, used to curating Dr Elune's wardrobe. A toy store got a more interesting reaction, Alex temporarily distracted by peppering Jolana witha foam dart gun.

Panting as they sat down on a bench, a tree providing a little shade from the light filtering down, Jolana giggled breathlessly, "Almost expected us... To get kicked out!" Alex nodded with a grin, catching their breath as well, "Say... How come you need to breath?"

"Hmm? Oh, it helps ventilate and cool me. I could use water just as well, and I could always just try not to over-exert myself."

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"Huh. Neat." Glancing around, Jolana blushed, "Oh, whoops... Out in public. Not meant to ask questions like that."

Alex ruffled her hair, producing a groan from Jolana, "Don't worry too much. Most people can't even hear through the bustle, and I do live with 2 prosthetics researchers. Not too hard to correct them." Alex did smile sadly though, and leant back, "But, yeah... I should keep that in mind too."

Jolana nodded, then froze, "Uh, please lean back forwards."

"Huh? Why?" Alex sat back up, confused.

"... I had not noticed you lack a navel. That, uh, is unexpected."

Alex blinked, "Oh yeah. Modification put in by the doctor. Guess that is unusual."

Jolana tilted her head, "Probably has a good reason... Should have told me when I picked out your top, though." Alex simply shrugged, and Jolana shook her head, "Too late now. Anyway... How about some lunch?" Alex nodded, easing themself back up as Jolana navigated their way down to a food court.

Alex squeezed into a booth with Jolana soon after, a tray sitting between them, "This, uh... Is compact. Everything like this in the spire?"

Jolana nodded, "Mid sections, yeah. Outer edges have some more room, and upper spire has the luxury to afford extra space... But most of it is like this. Seen anything like this before?"

Alex shook thier head, "There is a similar food court back on the station, but not nearly as packed. And the food isn't nearly as quick."

Jolana picked up a burger, "The joys of a packed city - you can pre-make food, and safely assume someone wil buy it. I keep forgetting you were born on a station, huh..."

Alex grinned, "Technically, I was actually made in this Spire, by Dr Elune. I wasn't running effectively back then though, so my earliest memories are from when we moved to Patria Altera."

Jolana blinked, "Wait, really? I thought Sam moved there before the Mars war... I had always assumed you were, like, 10 years old at most."

Alex shook their head, munching on some fries, "Nope. Technically, I am legitimately 18 years old. It's just I only hit my equivilant of "puberty" at 17, not 12 like others."

Jolana simply stared at Alex for a moment, "... Oh. That, uh, is interesting to know."

"... Why are you blushing?"

Jolana coughed, thinking fast, "Just thinking that Sam is older than they look. Always thought they were mid-twenties."

Alex smirked, "36."

Jolana outright spluttered on her drink at that, and Alex could have sworn they heard someone else couch at the same time, "You okay there?"

Nodding, she dabbed at her chin with one of the napkins, "I'll be fine. Just... Damn." Laughing, the two of them finished their meal, continuing to poke fun at the poor doctor as they finished up.

Wandering back to a Mag-Pod bay, Jolana turned to Alex, "One more stop. It's further in though, so you will have to nap again. Here is your map."

Alex closed their eyes, brow furrowing, "Interesting map. I thought going that far in was a bad idea?"

Jolana led Alex int the pod as she whistled innocently, "We'll be fine. The path has been approved, and I trust this guy. Also... You will be interested to see what he works on."

Dubious, Alex cycled down, slumping in their seat as Jolana locked in the coordinates, sighing as she relaxed. The day had been an... Interesting one so far. And it was only going to get better.