During Graham's trip with the others, Leslie rests in the ship's living area but she can't sleep. Something gives her visible concern and stares up at the ceiling with the light being slightly dull to make it easier to sleep. She turns towards the front of the room. "Hey, Are you still here?"
A glow with a hue of pink filled the spot where Alloy suddenly appears. It surprises Leslie since she wasn't expecting her to appear there. She zips around Leslie for a few seconds being pretty jolly. The small fairy-like projection gives Leslie a wide smile. "Need something? I'm slightly busy with the ship's computer."
"Why am I weak- No, Why is Graham that strong?" Leslie sees that question makes Alloy oddly uncomfortable? So many emotions built into this supposed ship A.I system. Something is definitely different about Alloy which is interesting and concerning. "What's wrong?"
"Graham lived on a harsh wasteland planet for a decade, His strength is a direct result of that...." Alloy seems much sadder than usual, like something is bothering her. She's not proud of having to raise him on that wasteland. It's a terrible place for a childhood and a reason for some of his quirks.
"What about your android body? It should be strong enough to protect a kid." Leslie sits up with a concerned look because a realization dawns on her. He was able to repair her knee parts... Alloy's projection has its head down. "He was the one who repaired your body!? That means..."
"I hated being useless in his survival, Only running the ship and some weak drones." Alloy's projection turns her head to Leslie. She notices how Leslie's held out her hands for a moment. It's hard to comfort an A.I without a body but she can tell what Leslie wanted. "I'm glad that his dream is starting, I just hope you two have wild adventures."
"You're going to be with us, Don't act like you will disappear or some shit." Leslie lays back down since the cracks hurt more when she moves. She picks a broken fragment from her neck and stares at it. Her human appearance is just skin deep which is uncomfortable to think about.
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Leslie had fallen asleep while those three were traveling to the tower. The cracks and chips of her crystal body have slightly faded as it slowly gets repaired. Her body has a slow acting repair mechanism which allows her outer crystals to look human. She stirs awake from the sounds of doors opening.
Graham helps Caelan into the living area with smudged lines of blue on their face. He helps them sit on the couch as Leslie gets up. She looks shocked when realizing that it was actually blood. Did something happen!? They rub their forehead for a second as Alloy went to grab some water from the kitchen area.
"What happened!?" Leslie doesn't know how to handle eye bleeding? She's stunned in seeing this as Alloy walks back in. She looks to Alloy for questions but doesn't know where to begin... Did this happen at the tower!? "Alloy, Is Caelan's eyes okay?"
"I got taken over... by the Yellow Spirit." Caelan's throat stings from being forced to speak like that. There's a taste of blood in their mouth which is worrying and their voice is rougher than before. A cup of water is refreshing to the pain. Alloy made the right call with this water, It really helps. "My eyes aren't weaker, It's likely offset by my enhanced vision."
"Some of their blood vessels around the eyes were damaged, It's most likely from the tear ducts." Alloy gets a bit too close to Caelan's face as they drink water. She's worried about the long term damage like scarring or weakened blood vessels. It could lead to issues for them. "I hope you don't have chronic bleeding from them..."
"Uh... Could you move a bit away from my face?" Caelan holds up a hand that makes Alloy back up. They need some space and more time to process those blurred memories. What are these spirits and how does she relate to Alloy? They don't need her in their face. "Thanks for the water, I'm just dealing with something..."
"Sorry, She also doesn't have a good sense of personal space." Graham speaks from experience, It's worse in her projection form since she's made of light. He's by some closet in the corner of the living area. It's filled with a few miscellaneous things like old tools and boxes of scrap but there's a giant gray bag in the center. It's a massive bean bag chair. "I knew you hid this in here, Alloy!"
"Really? Soon as we get back here, That's what you're doing?" Alloy is just giving Graham a blank stare while he walks back. She's lived with his weirdness for ten years and still can't predict his behavior sometimes. The three watch as Graham places it in front of the couch.
"A bean bag chair... Sorry, I'm taking it." Leslie says lightly pushing Graham from the bean bag before flopping into it. She's face first on this giant bag filled with foam beans, Her body has little energy even after resting for almost half an hour. "These cracks are itchy..."
"Well, You need something longer than a nap! Let's rest here for a few hours." Graham looks at Caelan who's already fallen asleep. He turns back to the closet down but something catches his eye. An old book was under that old bean bag, It must've been there for awhile. He picks it up and smiles.
"That big old book... Isn't that your mom's favorite book?" Alloy says, appearing over his shoulder. She looks at the blood red gem embedded into the brown hardcover. It's slightly dusty from before the bean bag was covering it. There's something unsettling about this book even Graham feels it by just holding it.
"Yeah, She was always reading but never allowed me to read this." Graham felt nervous opening it. The book has always been off limits for him since childhood, So this feels weird doing it now. He opens this book and the words shock him from what's first said. "To those who will fight near death's edge..."
He slowly turns a page and the text describes flow basics? All of it was stuff that he knows but this catches him off guard. The book has all kinds of information on flow control along with basic techniques like weapon formation or infusion. He already knew all this stuff, So he's skimming through the pages.
"This is a flow technique book, It looks like an antique." Alloy is surprised to learn what his mom was reading. Why does she not know about the book in detail? It's a bit odd to her for that very fact, something is off with this book and why is it so shady as a book... She's a bit worried about the other things inside it.
"It has some things that I have never heard of, You can go check on Kolton." Graham says while sitting at the workbench in the living area. He's getting invested in the new techniques mentioned in the later pages. This might prove to be useful if he can learn them even Leslie might need some of them when she wakes up. Alloy leaves the room with some concern as Graham starts getting deep into the book.