Dr Elune groaned as they sat up, still half asleep as they looked around. Seeing the light strongly peeking through the curtains, the doctor blinked, surprised it was already approaching afternoon...

Yawning as they stretched out, they remembered as they went to get dressed: Alex had requested last night to have the day off, and to focus on just memory processing. Apparently a backlog had built up, which was causing some performance issues with the proccessors, and the hardware could do with some maintenance anyway. The doctor had agreed, sending out a notification to let the others know.

Shuffling out into the hall, the doctor made their way down to the kitchen, passing by one of Greg's unusual drones on the way. Ignoring it's salute, the doctor was surpised to find Jolana sipping at some juice, a plate of crumbs in front of her as she read something on a projection.

Looking up, she smiled, "Hello Sam. You looking for an early lunch as well?"

"Late breakfast, actually. I forgot that my alarm clock was in for repairs this morning." Chuckling at her confused expression, the doctor wandered to the pantry to find some bread... The lingering scent of toast had gotten them even hungrier.

"What do... Ohhh. Haha, very funny. Alex deserves some rest now and then too, you know."

"That they do. I am still used to when they would run prototyping through the night, rather than sleeping. Even now, Alex probably sets some power aside for our various requests each night."

Jolana hummed, turning back to her reading, "I suppose. My only experiences have been with the humanoid Alex... Not the artificial assistant you are so used to."

The doctor nodded, lost in thought as they set a pan on the stove, "Speaking of... I really could use a new assistant. Alex is efficient and all... But letting them grow more indipendant leaves less time for my demands, as extravagent as they tend to be. At least providing some help would be a good idea."

"You have anyone in mind? I doubt Laura is on her way back yet, after all. I can recommend some peoople, if not."

"Hmm... I have one... Nah, she wouldn't want to come out here anyway. And someone familiar would be best, as they would still work closely with Alex." Piling up an assortment of singed foodstuffs, the doctor sat down next to Jolana, "Thanks for the offer, though. What are you up to?"

"Oh, this? I decided to give a sho at combing Alex's data. You and Ren have to do it often, after all... Another person could be of help." Pointing at a jumble of largely incomprehensible letters and numbers, she simply shrugged.

"Hmm, that doesn't look right... Did Ren give you my decryption program? It helps sort out all this raw info."

Jolana shook her head, "Didn't ask him. This was just my whim today." Dr Elune grinned, and pulled up a few commands, starting up the afformentioned prgoram.

"This should be better." Leaning back as the data was replaced by neat folders labeled by date, Jolana curiously opened one, revealing a list of subfolders with an assortment of names.

"Interesting... Are these how Alex categorises their memories?"

"More or less. The more... Abstract names are given a close aproximation by the algorythm, or a simple number. Video, 3D scans, audio, feelings, it is all recorded right here."

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Jolana paled, "Isn't that... Invasive?"

The doctor nodded with a sigh, "Yeah, but neccesary to ensure no viruses have made their way in... Or other kinds of corruption. there is too much data to check individually anyway, so we siply skim for what we have labeled as warning signs. The majority of Alex's memories remain untouched."

Nodding, Jolana let the doctor rake over, "You know this better than I do. Say... How is the interface working so smoothly? I thought Alex handled all this."

"Yes and no. Originially it was all Alex, but as we started selling OHPS schematics, the need for more concrete software was needed. Also helped to remove some of the processing from Alex as well, which helped." Jolana nodded as she listened, she had forgotten that splitting the sold units would need that as well.

"Let's see... No violent thoughts, faint tinges of negativity in general, which are minor... No signs of overridden data, or of willful disobedience. All good... Now, what about curiosity..." The doctor frowned, opening up one memory, from Alex's dreaming. Groaning, the data revealed a smattering of images, and walls of text full of barly coherent wandering, "I hate having to sort through the dream sequences."

"This memory doe look rather different. Why are the dreams so... Odd?"

"They are a method for Alex to review memories for more precise comparison to current data. A lot of this text is simply Alex reacting... And cross checking. The images can be fuzzy too, as only the perceived detail being focused on gets actually recorded. Wait a sec, I ahve a second filter for this stuff..."

Watching the images collate to a more coherent video, the text thinned out as well, revealing what appeared to be Alex's thoguhts from observing the dream, "Okay then... Random thought wandering is pretty standard. The only thing that trpped the filter was this bit... Focusing on the end of the video, and of the inner monologue, the doctor frowned, "... Alex has gotten far too interested in Mars."

Jolana tilted her head, "'I swear I have seen her before..." Pointing at the video, the paused shot revealed a woman, Ren standing behind her, and a faint silohuette of Mars in the distance, "Is she familiar to you?"

"Hmm? Yes, actually. It's... Complicated, but Ren has one inactive AHOR unit requested from us. She looks similar to that. Since Ren was involved in the Mars incident, that probably explains the curiosity... But it still isn't good." Sighing as they shut the program down, they shook their head, "Too much security, too much potential for us to get suspicion raised towards us, and too many lingering bits of history Alex is better off avoiding."

Jolana nodded, getting up to move the now empty plates over to the sink for the drones, "Well, Alex probably realises this, I did see some caution soon after. I think I shall avoid joingin in these scans... It would just be too awkward."

"Makes sense. Normally there is less to look at, Alex is pretty well behaved. But yeah, there is the odd bit of embarrasment here and there. Alex knows this all goes on, and understands the need, but it is still rude off us."

Giggling, Jolana wandered out to the hall, "Well, you still have to ponder some assistants... And I want to help. Let's get comfy in the study, shall we?"

Finding this to be a wonderful idea, the doctor agreed, following after with a grin.