NationStates Jolt Archive

She's a little shaken, ''S ok...Don't worry. Just take things slowly, ok?'

"I can do that. Just forgot..."

He glances over at her, "You okay? Aside from the near catastrophe?"

'I'm ok...You just scared the hell out of me, s'all...I'll be expecting a big hug when we get home.'

"You got it."

"Well, nearly killing us wasn't on my list of things to do today..."

'I hope it wouldn't have been...Oh, we pass one of the bigger tank factories and a couple of nice parks on the way back. It's quite scenic.'

'I don't suppose you've seen one of the documentaries about buildings in GMC? They usually feature the bigger tank plants...Faith Park's always at the top, of course, but that's out in the middle of nowhere.'

"Can't say that's I've seen the documentaries. Well, I saw a list of all of them, and was a little intimidated. Didn't know where to start."

'Yes, we do kinda like our docs here...Anyway, you've never seen Faith Park?'

"Er... I've seen a picture...?"

'Oh, it's not the same...Faith's the production line that builds Mark 7s. The whole facility covers about twenty-two square miles, and the main assembly line is one of the biggest in the world. Say...Maybe I could take you there sometime?'

"Sure. It'd be nice to see where our tank came from."

In a lower voice: "And where the spare parts came from..."

'Oh, you're not still upset about that, are you?'

"Well, it was rather frustrating to have a crate full of parts after we thought we had put it back together. And then to try again, and be missing parts..."

[Heh... #75265 for arms manufactoring...]

'You did get it back together again eventually, right?'

"Yes and no. It was put back together, but not really by us. Seems Rachel was expecting us to... tinker, and had parts and a team of technitions ready. Seems our reputation preceeded us..."

'Oh...That would explain those jokes, then...*'

[*The ASPD guys came back having learned every Hack-specific dirty joke they could discover, invent several of their own, and acquire large quantities of whatever form of alcohol The Hack prefers. In other words, it was kind of a holiday.]

"...jokes? Do I want to know?"

[Sounds about right. And generally the alcohol would be stout and nasty-strong whiskey.]

'I should think you already do know most of them..Err...See, there's these three guys walking in Chiba City one day...'

[Stop her, I don't know the rest...]

"Whoa... that's okay. No need to continue. I was asking if they were joking about us..."

[That's the start to an insulting joke! You should be ashamed!]

'Sorry...And a little...But I'm sure your guys were joking about them too, right?'

He coughs, "Uh... of course... not..."

'Come on...Everyone thinks we're paranoid. It's something of a stereotype.'

"Actually, it was more along the lines of... well... gun fetishists..."

[Er, if that really is a word...]

[I fear it probably is]

Alice smiles extremely sweetly, 'And do you think we are?'

He looks over, and then points at her smile, "Now that's not fair..."

'I know.'

[Damn womens and their wiles...]

"Well, no. Of course not. But then again, I'm not used to driving with a loaded pistol in the glove box..."

Alice laughs, 'It's not like I'm going to pull it on you...'

"I certainly hope not! It just seems a little odd." He grins, "Kinda like driving on the wrong side of the road."

'I guess it'll be odd for me when I'm spending time in The Hack too...'

"I look forward to showing you around the real thing."

"Um... we seems to be a bit out of the city..."

'Oh! Stop here a minute, just pull in by the side of the road...'

Josef starts to pull to the right, shakes his head, and pulls to the left. "Where are we?"

'Just outside the City...my house is about ten miles that way...' she points, 'Guess I distracted you...Sorry.'

She looks up at the full moon. 'It's a beautiful night, isn't it?

[It's also snowing a little.]

He puts an arm around her. "Yes, it certainly is."

She closes her eyes, and smiles, 'That's the first time I've had somebody there to do that for me...Our school prom was on a night like this, but I was on my own then.'

"Hm. I can't believe nobody would want to go with a smart, beautiful woman like you..."

'Are you just trying to see how much I can smile?'

"That or blush... but I'm being serious, too."

'Something to do with being shy...Or plain, or something...Maybe that I'm...'

[As I mentioned (telegram)]

"Oh, come on now. That certainly doesn't matter to me. Like I said, you're beautiful, and I mean it."

'...I glad you think so...I love you. There, I said it.'

"You... you do?"

Alice nods, 'Yeah. I do.'

He gives her a kiss. "Good, cause I love you too."

She takes off her glasses, then hugs Josef, resting her head on his chest. 'Thank you...'

She stays there for a little while, then, 'Maybe we should go home soon...?'

"If you want... It is nice here, tho..."

'We'll have to remember this place...' she looks around, 'Maybe have a picnic here sometime in summer, or something. But we'd better be getting back...'

"Hm. Drive away from office, forget to make any turns, stop at moon. I think I can remember that."


He turns the car around, and heads back towards her house.

'Got any preferences regarding dinner? I'm just trying to think of...Left here...Something.'

"Chicken and rice? I guess it largely depends on what's in your fridge..."

'I'm sure I can manage that...Oh, It's a seventy limit on motorways. You want the next junction.'

"70... I would assume that's kph...?"

'No, Mph. That's why that guy behind's flashing his headlights...'

"Fair `nuf." He excellerates quickly, but not enough to stress the engine. "I think I'll read up on just what the local regs are before I drive again..."

'Well, at least you were under the speed limit...I guess you'll be my chauffer in The Hack, huh?'

"At least for a little while." He smiles, "actually, I was running on a bad assumption. I figured you guys were metric since you've got England's left-driving too."

[Hack isn't metric]

'No...guess we never really saw the point.'

[GMC only uses metric occasionally. On the whole it's Imperial.]

"Ah, well, I should try to keep that in mind." Eventually they pull up to the house. "Well, we're home..."

[Forces older than the universe are demanding I go to sleep soon. One more post.]

'Well, you're the one with the keys...'

[Hm... seems someone warped time to make it much, much later than it should be]

"Ah, right." He gets out, and if she lets him, walks around and opens her door. He unlocks the house, and in they go. "Thy keys, m'lady."

[Naw, I just haven't been there yet. Night shift n'all.]

'Why, thank you brave sir knight,' Alice laughs, 'Actually, Annie always calls Sally Knight that...It's a bit of a joke between them, although Anne was mortified at the time...'

[But one more post!]

Josef bows deeply, smiling. "But why was she mortified?"

[And who the hell is Sally?]

[Sally is Rachel's cute lil' sis (and our ambassador to Reploid Productions)...she was at the party. She's almost blind in her right eye, with a circular pink scar around the outside; the eye is cloudy.]

'Well...Seeing your ex's little sister get hit in the face with a lump of shrapnel will do that do that...It wasn't nice, apparently. It was really Sally's fault, she'd mishandled a grenade...But Annie hardly saw it that way. Anyway, they always tell people that Sally got hurt in a mighty duel to the death, or something like that.'

"Oh... I see. I didn't know what had happened. Wasn't trying to come off as callous."

[whump....zzzzzzzzzzzz]

'It's ok...These days they just laugh about it.'

"That's good. I'm she wasn't hurt."

"Oh, would you like me to help with dinner, or should I wait in eager anticipation?"

'Well, she's close to blind in that eye...But hey, she gets on fine without.'

'Well, it's one of those candlelit dinners, so I think you should just wait...Maybe talk to the dogs?'

[Missed a trick...In GMC, driver's side is the right. Feel free to name the dogs...]

[Sure, pass the naming off on me... and I realised that the driver's side would be backwards after they were already cruising around]

"Sure." He wanders out into the living room, dogs trailing behind him. "Hey guys, wassup?"

One of them starts chewing on his left arm. "Hey, now. That's not a chew-toy!"

[I'd say Violet and Dredd, but Violet's name just appeared up top (hides)]

'There's some candles in the desk there, by the way!' Alice calls through from the kitchen.

[That'll work, heh]

"Ah, right..." He slowly moves over to the desk, dragging Dredd behind him, "You're only going to hurt your teeth, you know..." He starts rummaging, and finds a couple candles.

"Got em!" he calls back.

'Ok, there's a holder for them on the side.'

[A rather nice one, in fact]

Josef frowns and puts down the candles. "I need this back." He manages to wrest his hand free of Dredd. He goes into the dining room, and frowns at the table. He gathers up the various notepads and papers, and puts them in the living room; he puts the candles in the holder, and places it in the center of the table. "Hm." He moves the extra chairs out of the room.

"Plates, silverware, etc?" He asks.

'On the side...The plates are out here, don't worry about that.'

Josef starts softly humming some Gary Numan as he gathers up some silverware and placing it on the table. He finds a couple of cloth napkins, and sits for a moment wracking his memory. He finally remembers how the pattern goes, and folds them into swans. "Hm... a lighter..."

'I don't smoke...There's some matches in here, actually...'

"Didn't think you did." He wanders into the kitchen, and grabs the matches. He gives her a peck on the cheek. "Smells great."

'Should be done pretty soon, want a taste?'

[It's good.]

"Sure." He takes a quick taste. "Hey, that's good. You're quite the cook."

'Thanks...'

[Apron says 'Kiss the chef,' BTW]

Noticing the apron, he thinks I already did, but, not wanting to argue with an apron, he does so again.

"Table's ready. Should I rummage for wine?"

'There's a cooler that Annie bought me in there already...I've got a bottle of wine in the cupboard.'

He grabs the cooler, dumps some ice in it, and grabs the wine. He moves it all into the dining room. He also puts a pair of glasses on the table. He also lights the candles.

"I think we're all set out here."

'Ok, I'll be with you in just a second.'

[Just thought...A spaniel called Dredd. Heh.]

"Okay." He sits down in one of the chairs and patiently waits for her.

'Ok, here we are...' she says, coming in from the kitchen holding a tray. She sets on plate down in front of Josef, the other in front of her. 'Well, eat up.'

<She's still wearing her apron>

Josef quirks an eyebrow, noticing that the apron is still on. As he pours the wine, he asks "Is that a hint...?"

'Huh? Oh...Guess you can if you want.'

[Gonna have to bail for a couple hours soon...]

He does... and after a few moments returns to his seat. After taking a couple bites, "This si really good."

'I hoped you'd like it...I'll have to try your cooking sometime.'

"I'm sure I can whip something up sometime. Tomarrow if you want, or we can wait until we're in the Hack."

'Tomorrow sounds good...Isn't it nice not eating alone?'

"Very. Same for other things as well... these past couple days have been great..."

'I know. I've never been this happy...And it's all because of you.'

[Okay, back in a couple...]

"As they say, 'looks like the start of a beautiful relationship'." He lifts the glass, "Again, to Us. New love."

'Yes...To us.'

'So, up for watching a few videos afterwards? What sort of films do you like?'

"It'll seem cliche, but I'm pretty fond of sci-fi. Of course, most anything is fine."

She smiles, 'Don't suppose you're a Star Trek fan, by any chance?'

"Original, TNG, DS9, Voyager or Enterprise?"

'Any...' she smiles, 'But that's kind of an answer in itself...'

"So, you wouldn't believe me if I said 'no', huh? Actually, I wasn't a big fan of DS9, but any of the others are fine. Or any of the even-numbered movies."

[You notice that? ST:1,3, and 5 all sucked, as did Generations, which could be called #7]

[Ah, 'The Rule.' Evens good, odds bad. Although I wasn't that keen on Nemesis...It was my fiancee that first pointed that out to me.]

'Great...I've got most of them...They run them on C2* all the time.'

[*One of GMC's government-funded channels. =No commercials.]

[Didn't see Nemesis, but 5 was just awful...]

"Sounds like a plan. Grab a tape at random, and see what we get."

'Ok...Once we've finished, or shall I put it on now?'

"Well, I think it would be nice to finish our dinner first. I'd hate to ruin the mood."

'Kinda hoped you'd say that...Plus my television in the living room is way better than this one.'

He smiles. "I'd kinda wonder if the best TV was in the dining room."

He pours a little more wine into his glass. "You want more?"

'Yes please...Well, actually I don't use this table except when Annie comes over...I usually eat off a tray in the living room, or my study.'

He pours some more for her.

"Well, I suppose that beats eating over the sink, which I've done more times than I care to admit."

'Dare I ask why?'

"Why did I do it, or why don't I want to own up?"

Alice looks mystified, 'Either?'

"Well, being the only one eating, I figured it wasn't worth bothering with trays or tables. As for the second part, it seems kinda... pathetic..."

'But...Over the sink? You don't seem a messy eater'

"I'm not, but like I said, it was laziness. After eating, drop the plate, and get back to whatever I was doing. Like I said, pathetic."

'You know, when I've finished this I'm going to give you a great big hug. You're not pathetic...'

"Well, I'm not going to argue with that idea."

[Dinner about done, yes? And I responded to your TG]

[Saw. Just didn't want to say 'And she'll be bringing Josef Specter along' without asking. Feel free to be a fish out of water; I'll TG you when Alice arrives there.]

'Good.' She puts her knife and fork down, 'I'll wash up later. Let's go and find a film. But first...'

She gives him a great big hug.

'There...Now, off we go.'

[so ka]

"Thanks." He drops his napkin on the table and walks with her to the living room, arm around her.

[huh?]

She closes her eyes, and runs her hand along the shelf, stopping at random. 'Star Trek Two?'

[Essentially: I understand]

"Wrath of Khan after dinner? Eh, why not?"

'Great!' She pulls out the DVD, then picks up her TV remote, poitning at a large TV in the corner, 'It's an integrated TV / DVD / VCR...I guess you're probably got something like this at home, right?' she grins, 'Actually, I can see you having a plasma screen...'

"The plasma's in the bedroom, actually. VR in the living room, of course. Why watch when you can be there?"

'Oh, I forgot...That would make more sense. I just like my old TV...Bought it ages ago. I guess it's nothing cool to you, then?' She puts the DVD in the tray, and give the tray a gentle push.

[GMC is multi-standard for DVDs, so we've got no problems there.]

"Oh, now, it's very nice. Actually, I don't usually use the VR. Some movies, its better to not be in them. Like horror movies, for instance..."

She gives him a look, 'And I'm sure there are certain other kinds of movie you wouldn't want to be in either?'

The DVD starts up.

'You bought that bottle of wine with you, right?'

"Well, sure, like... oh... OH! Oh geeze, no!"

He looks around gets up and gets the wine, thinks a moment, and gets the glasses too, then sits back down.

[smirk]

'Well, this is nice, isn't it?'

"Yeah, it is." He hands her her glass. "Actually, the whole days was."

'I'm glad you think so...' She rests her head on his shoulder.

He puts an arm around her. "Of course I do. Don't you?"

'Yes,' she smiles, 'I still can't believe it's happening, though.'

He gives her a squeeze, "It's pretty amazing, but here we are."

'What do you think North Hack News'll make of this?'

"Ugh... I hope they didn't see me driving... 'Hack Scientist Tries To Kill GMC Scientist In Lover's Quarrel!'"

'I shouldn't think so...They'd probably get arrested for spying, that close to main R&D. How smug do you think they'd be if they knew they'd got us together?'

"I wager they'd be horrified. Of course, I'm liking how their story turned out more and more as time goes on..."

'I'm sure you are...So am I.' She snuggles up to him, 'Love you.'

"Love you too... I think I'll send them a thank-you note."

'Yeah, they'd love that.' she laughs.

[One more post.]

"Nothing like tormenting the tormentors. But we're together, so we win, they loose."

'Well, you won't find anything like that here...GMCNN tend to back off if you tell them to.'

"That's good." He shrugs a little. "The folks at North Hack, are, well... hacks. Chiba City News Network is far more reputable."

'Well...This might make the news here...I am a senior official, after all.'

She looks a little unhappy at the idea.

"Well, it shouldn't be too bad... your press seems less... hyperactive. Probably just a mention somewhere and nothing else."

She smiles, 'Think there'll be a wedding story, too?'

Caught slightly off guard... "Uh... well... maybe...?"

'I hope so...' She gives him a hug.

He smiles, "There's a good chance."

'Alice Nicole Specter?' she says aloud.

He smiles, "Hint all you like, I don't have a ring in my pocket, you know..."

'Aww...' she smiles, 'Would've been nice.'

"Haven't had a chance to buy one, now have I?"

Alice grins, 'Well, there's plenty of time yet...No reason to rush things.'

He smirks, "Yeah, I'd like to know you for at least three days before proposing."

[one more post, gotta run errands]

[Yeah, I should probably go do some stuff, too.]

She grins, 'You still think I might be a homicidal axe murderer?'

"Oh heaven's no. It's 'gun-nut', remember?"

'Oh yeah, that's right...' she grins, 'Are you ticklish?'

Once again, he raises an eyebrow. "Why...?"

'Because I think you could do with a bit of tickling for that?'

"You see, these things work better when unannounced." He starts tickling her, "See?"

She giggles, obviously being ticklish herself, 'Hey...That's not fair!'

"So I should just stop and let you do the same to me?"

'It's an idea...'

He stops. "It's more fun my way..."

'Aww...' she blinks, 'S' getting a bit late...You want to head upstairs?'

"Time has a habit of running away from us, so yeah."

''Kay.' She takes him by the hand and leads him upstairs to her room.

Which is obviously a place she never thought a man would see.

There's a televison, PC and several desks and bookshelves, along with a large, comfortable-looking double bed with Alice's pyjamas carefully folded up on the pillow, next to a cuddly rabbit. Looking around, Josef will notice a few more partially-built model kits on the desk (along with a couple of dioramas on a shelf), and a partially-dismantled rifle the frame of which is propped up against the wall in one corner. There's a lot of photographs around; some prints of aircraft, tanks and ships framed on the walls, but also a photo of Annie and Elisa hugging her on her bedside table, and a few of her family and old school class.

There's a couple of vases of flowers around, as well as a couple of airplants.

There's also a few cocktail glasses, several of which have mostly-full bottles next to them. And a dartboard.

On the shelves, Alice has an amazing collect of romantic comedies, as well as a ton of books; as well as the expected technical manuals and weapon books, she has dozens of sci-fi and romantic novels. There's also a few box files and folders.

Josef is probably intrigued by her computer; the guts of it are located in a fish tank, with several flourescent tubes coming outof it, as well as real fish inside.

'So, what do you think?'

He looks around the room, interested, but, of course, his gaze keeps returning to the computer.

"Neat..."

She spots where he's looking, 'Well, I'm not so bad at building PCs, it's just when you switch them on...'

"...it explodes?"

She laughs, 'No, no...I just don't know what to do then, really...I'm no programmer. But it's good for playing games on. Maybe one day I'll overclock it enough to keep tropical fish.'

He grins. "Never thought about combining with a fish tank." He looks at the fish. "This is pretty damn cool."

'Well, they seem happy enough,' she sprinkles some food into the top of the tank, 'And I'm glad you're impressed. What's yours like?'

"Actually, it looks pretty plain. It's overclocked all to hell and back, and runs an OS that I wrote, but it looks normal." He winks at her, "And before you ask, no, it doesn't have a VR hook-up. That's at work."

'Sounds pretty good. Any opinion of the rest of my room?'

He glances sort of quizzically at the rifle in the corner. He examines her collection of movies and books. He taps one of the sci-fi books "This was really good."

"It's a nice room. More organized than mine, too."

She catches his gaze, 'Oh, that's an old Mosin-Nagant I'm fixing up...Annie gave it to me. I'll put it downstairs, if it bothers you.'

She smiles, 'I'm glad you like this place.'

He laughs "No, doesn't bother me. Just reenforces the 'gun nut' theory."

'I shouldn't think the toy rabbit helps that theory too much,' she says, noticing it and looking embarassed.

"Gun bunny? Actually, its kinda cute."

Alice yawns, 'Well...I think it's time to call it a night.'

"Agreed. 'Night, love."

[tg]

'Night, sweetie.'

[Tg]

The first rays of sunlight slowly creeps through gaps in the window blinds. The two of them are fast asleep, in each other's arms. Very faintly, a bird can be heard chirping merrily outside.

Then the alarm goes off, filling the room with a most gawdawful beeping. Josef's left arm swings out instinctually, smacking the alarm to shut it off, with disfavorable results as titanium meets plastic.

"Oh hell," he mutters when he hears the crunch.

'Wassat?'

[I guess she lies in at weekends and forgot to turn her alarm off.]

[That's what I was aiming for]

"Uh... your alarm... um... broke."

'S' ok. Needed to get a new one anyway.'

"Why was it set on a Saturday, anyway?"

'I think someone distracted me...It's usually last thing I do before bed.'

"You weren't complaining at the time..." He rubs his eyes a little. "Well... 'morning..."

She smiles, 'If you woke up first, is it morning?'

"It must be... I'd have a witty retort otherwise... oog..."

She hugs him. 'Wonder what time it is?' She searches her bedside table, eventually finding her watch, and her glasses, 'Ten twenty. Is that good for you?'

"Ugh... It's okay. It'd be better with coffee, oh chipper one."

'You know you love it really...Although I see myself making a lot of coffee in future...'

She kisses his forehead, 'Back in a minute, sweetie.'

"You're a queen" he calls out to her as she flits downstairs.

He rolls over to inspect the wreckage of the alarm clock. "Ew..."

'Thank you!' she calls back.

There's a short pause, then she returns with a tray with a pair of coffee mugs and some biscuits on it. She hands Josef a coffee, 'There y'go.'

"Hm... fresh coffee, delivered beside by a beautiful* woman. I could get used to this..."

[*tg]

Alice smiles, 'Glad you like it.'

[Tg]

"Very much so." He takes a sip. "Thank you."

'SO...We do you want to do today? I'm off work so...See the sights?'

"Sounds like a plan, but... you drive."

'Not feeling brave today? Ok...'

[One more post. Got stuff to do again.]

[heh... more PS2 time then]

"Well, that and the fact that I don't know where I'd be driving..."

'Well, depends how far you want to go...I'd like to show you Fortune City some time, but that's probably something we can do in the future...Maybe the Tower, a few of the bigger sights around here...Guided tour of Marshall City sound good to you?'

"Sounds just fine to me. It's time together, so I'm hip to it."

'Great...Breakfast? I feel like pancakes...'

He squeezes her arm, "Really?" Ducked a smack, he laughs, "Sounds good to me."

[yes, I use that lame joke in RL...]

'You want to wait up here while I make them?'

"Up to you. I'm awake enough that I can help if you want."

'S'ok...I can manage.'

"Okay," he gives her a kiss, "Thanks."

She returns some minutes later with a plate of hot pancakes. 'I've got honey, maple syrup or lemon juice.' She smiles, 'Hope you like them.'

[Lemon juice? That's a new one...]

"The syrup's fine, thank you." He is very careful not to spill on the bed.

[It is?]

'This is nice...'

[To me at least... *shrug*]

"Yeah, not something I was expecting to do one day..."

'Eat pancakes with me, you mean?'

"Less the eating, more the location and circumstances."

'To be honest, I never thought this would happen either.'

"Which makes it all the more nice. And, of course, the pancakes are good too."

'Hoped you'd like them...Means we can share breakfast.'

"True enough." After they finish he sets the plate down on an end table. "Thank you."

'So...What now?*'

[*Tg]

"I suppose we could get started on that tour you promised."

[responded]

'Sounds good...Just give me a second to get changed into something outdoorsy, ok?'

"Okay." He steps outside the room to give her some privacy. "We should probably swing by the embassy so I can change too."

''Kay...I'm going to ask your opinion on this in a minute. Be honest.'

Pause.

'But don't laugh.'

"Why? You planning on wearing lederhosen?"

There's some hysterical laughter behind the door, 'No...I just thought you might think I looked stupid...'

She steps out, wearing an extremely well-made and expensive-looking dress.

'Well...What d'ya think?'

He lets out a low whistle. "You look fantastic. Stunning."

"Not what leaps to mind as 'outdoorsy', however."

[I'm picturing something evening-wear looking. If I'm completely off base, ignore the second comment.]

[You're about right, only a longer skirt than you'd expect]

'Thanks...I always wondered if this would suit me...I bought it for the SCIMITAR party, I just wasn't brave enough to wear it.'

He turns her around to see the rest of the dress. "Pity, you look great in it."

'Well, if I'd known then what I know now...'

"We'll just have to make up for lost time then, hmm?"

'Does that mean you're buying me dinner?' Alice smiles hopefully.

"Sure. Any place you'd like."

'You may live to regret that...'

[Gotta go, one more post]

[Early "night" for me too... swing shift sucks]

"As long as I don't have to engage in gladitorial combat to get dinner, I think I'll be okay."

She grins, 'I was thinking more of somewhere expensive, actually...'

"I can manage. Besides, it'll be a great excuse to spend an evening with you in that enchanting dress."

'Enchanting? Wow...Maybe I should have worn this to the party...'

"Well, then I probably would have been too awestruck to even manage the conversation I did." He frowns slightly at his clunky sentence. "You know what I mean."

She smiles, 'Yeah, I think I know what you mean. Is that why you didn't speak to Rachel?'

"At the SCIMITAR party? Hrm. I don't really remember seeing her there. I'm pretty sure we weren't introduced..."

'Oh, she was there...*' Alice smiles, 'I think you were just concentraiting on someone else...'

[*Her and her sister, in fact.]

[I honestly don't remember her being there. I assumed she was, but...]

"Ah... well... I suppose I was..." He smiles, "Complaining?"

'Not at all...If I can hold you attention with her around, I must be doing something right.*'

[*Rachel is stunning, BTW.]

Josef pauses, thinking hard. "Hm. I may have talked to her once or twice about the Mk. 7, and our issues therein, but..." he sort of trails off and shrugs. "Eh."

'I'll have to introduce you some time.'

"Sure. Oh, hey, I just remembered something I wanted to show you. Can I borrow your computer for a second?"