Alex shook themself, taking a deep breath as they smiled softly, "I'm sorry, feeling a little tired lately. Do you mind if I leave youto it?"
Ren glanced back, nodding with a grin, "Still recovering from yesterday? I suggest you wind down... I'll hold the fort here." Taking the dummy control panel from Alex, Ren shooed them off as he turned back to the vr setup, Tom and Jolana having some fun messing around in the haven sim.
Groaning tiredly, Alex thankfully returned to their room, nestling into their maintenance cradle. Putting the AHOR into standby, Alex sectioned off the majority of their proccessing power to handle the sims, leaving a sliver to dream.
Feeling their consiousness unravel, Alex took the opportunity to dig out some memories that hadn't quite... Settled. Thought, feelings, experiences... Those that were still unfamiliar after the fact. Shivering, Alex let the first one spread through their consiousness.
A touch. A warm feeling, both from the person leaning on them, and in thought... A pleasant memory. Mixed in was something... Sharp. Alex grumbled slightly, confused... What was that... It was when she had... Ah.
Alex let the memory fade, having learnt what they needed from it. That wasn't as unfamiliar as they had thought... Connecting the memory, Alex stored it away, plucking some out to be archived while they were at it. Not lingering on it, Alex quickly pulled over the next memory, calmly floating through their thoughts.
Fear. Alex jumped, taking a closer look at the memory. A researcher... A love lost. There was no face to her... Alex blinked, and suddenly there she was. Smiling, laughing. Crying. Alex paled, yes, that was right... They had seen her before. Or, something like her.
Alex went to file that away for another time, but something caught their eye... Standing behind the sad figure was Ren. Hesitant, Alex came closer. A body without breath... From one who wanted a mind without body. Alex felt a pull, to something outside the dream... Havens, tantilisingly sparkling off in the distance. An answer, more detailed than any account.
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Alex snapped themself out of it, and forcefully put that memory away. Worrying on it would do no good, and that idea was dangerous... Wait. Why was it dangerous...? Alex drifted on that, perplexed. Monitoring would be simple... And borrowing some power could help speed things up... No, there was another danger as well, but what...
Feeling a tap on their forehead, Alex furrowed their brow. Sighing as they disconnected from their floating memories, locking away that last one, Alex reawoke the AHOR slowly.
Ren smiled as he straightened up, "Sleep well? Thought you wpuld like to know Tom has headed home already. You have slept most of the day away."
Alex glanced up, shaking off the lingering feeling of foreboding from the dream, "Hmm? Oh, yes. It is later than I thought it would be... Thank you for letting me know."
Ren nodded, wandering back out, "No problem. You usually can tell when to wake back up... Interesting dreams?"
Alex shrugged, "Tried being more precise in seperating the proccessing this time, didn't leave much for me. Anything weird in the sim?"
Ren hummed thoughtfully, "Actually, it was a little... Blander than usual. Less reactive, too. Your personality probably helps fill in the cracks, which was missing this time."
"Ahhh... Guess that method is out, then. I should do some chores around the place, then get back to sleep, using my full proccessors this time... Have a lot backed up."
Ren chuckled, headed out, "I'll leave you to your electric sheep, then. Have fun~"
Alex waved goodbye, sinking back into the maintenance cradle to assume control of the drones instead, before they paused, "Wait... What the heck is an electic sheep?"