Ren waves at Dr Elune as they climb out of the Mag-Pod, groaning from the ride, "You're back early. Where are the kids?"

The doctor grinned, stretching with a sigh, "Don't call them that... Makes me feel parental. And that would be weird." Glancing around, the doctor wandered through the mansion, headed to the opposite side, "Anyway, I list them slightly."

"... You lost them? But, Alex should be traceable over the networks, if you know where to look."

"Yeah... Somehow, Alex switched to an encrypted line. I couldn't see anything, so my options were to physically go after them, or to come back and monitor from this end."

Ren raised an eyebrow, stepping outside as they headed for the shuttle, "Oh really? You do know that a lot could have happened by now, what with it being an hour to get here... Depending on traffic, and speeding."

The doctor nodded, "I kept my eye on the traces of the encryption, so Alex is still running at least. Also, even if they do something to the AHOR, Alex is still technically here... So, I would find out pretty quick. They are fine."

Ren blinked, "Crap, keep forgetting that. Alex has gotten far too convincing at using the units..."

Dr Elune nodded as they closed the shuttle doors behind them, "Hey, it took me a while to figure that out too... Advantage of a long ride with nothing to do but worry."

Ren chuckled as they put on their goggles, headed into the central area of the shuttle, "Well, Alex sure seems active. Plenty of activity through the cables."

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The doctor nodded, glancing around at the brightly lit hallway, "I guess so. Let's have a peek at exactly what is occupying Alex's attention, shall we?"

When they got to the observation room, Ren started up a diagnostic console, and took a snapshot of data for the two of them to sift through.

"Hmm, some embarrasment... That would be Jolana's doing somehow... Seems to be running a sim..?"

Ren pointed at a section of data, "Not quite sure what this is... Do you know?"

"Hmm? Not re- Wait!" Pulling out an old record, Dr Elune grinned, "A little different... But I think they are with someone Jolana knows. Closely."

Ren smirks as he sits down on one of the benches, "Going to pester them about the details once they get back?"

Dr Elune nodded, then paused, "Hmm... You know, I think I can figure out the location from where this encrypted line leads. You curious enough?" Ren nodded, watching as the doctor ran a subtle mapper on their phone.

"Let's see... Fairly deep in the spire, odd... Aaand I have an address. What are you... Oh, neat. Alex would love this place! I can see why Jolana went there. Now, who here is the owner..."

Ren glanced at the doctor's screen, and paled, "Wait. Was that... Maximus Engelbart?"

"... Yeah. You know him?"

"... I do. We need to call them back. Now."

And suddenly, the encrypted line dropped, Alex switching to a low-bandwidth transmission... And Alex's connected position began to move.

"... Too late, it seems."