After finishing that discussion the talk moved to a more sedated and normal-ish pace.

  Miriam Eversoul moved on to speak with Vivian Kellet about the schedule and the logistics of living on the apartment, Vivian Kellet would not remain to live within the apartment.

  The same was to be said about Alexanders, but that had already been addressed. The man had said he would spend more time coming, and that should be enough for Ale.

  She was still dealing with most of the things that had happened, and the fact that she had been out and about for so long. Well, not that long, she had been out for more before, or for extended amounts of time whenever she had a mission to deal with.

  Case in point, the st mission was probably among the times she had been out for the longest time yet.

  "Is there a problem?" Miriam Eversoul suddenly asked.

  At some point that Ale hadn't noticed, the woman had sat beside her.

  Ale was now sitting in the lounge area of the apartment, watching... she wasn't even sure what was on the TV.

  "Not really..." Ale said, checking quickly on her memory database and downloading the data on what she had seen straight up to her active memory to see what had happened...

  Nothing much while she was deep in thought; Alexanders had merely sat beside her for a few minutes, smirking like a madman, as they watched TV in silence.

  Sapphire had said something to him to which he nodded and said his goodbye.

  Then Ale had continued staring at the television for another hour or so before Miriam Eversoul came and here they were now back in the present.

  She had really dissociated hard huh.

  "Nothing relevant." Ale had eborated before Miriam could even say anything. "I was just thinking..."

  Or well, not thinking at all.

  "A penny for your thought." Miriam Eversoul suddenly said, offering monetary gain... or not, probably some weird saying that she didn't have the full cultural knowledge to understand. She was picking up those as she streamed, of course, but there was only so much, besides, most of the sayings she was learning didn't quite transte well for normal environments if she was to be honest.

  It was more like her viewers were being influenced by her and not the other way around.

  "I am unsure about what to say or do." Ale decided to just get out the words out in the open, "I... we don't have these types of problems, or we didn't use to have them."

  "How did you solve them before?" Miriam Eversoul asked, "What was your thought process."

  What was the thought process?

  "We did what was best for Alexa," Ale answered as such, "We would sit at the table and think what to do, Alexa sometimes helped or chimed in of course, but I usually discussed our pns with Alexandra before picking a path and pn around that goal."

  It wasn't that hard, but that was not an option anymore was it? Perhaps if Main Core hadn't lobotomized itself then it would be different, but Ale wasn't confident in being able to bring that one back.

  "And what about what's best for you?" Miriam Eversoul suddenly said.

  "Me?" Ale was surprised... or well, that shouldn't have surprised her as much as it did. This was the kind of person this woman was after all.

  But that made Ale really think, what was the best for her?

  "I..." She was not really sure, she hadn't thought of it like that, could she even allow herself to think like that? Would Alexa... Who was she kidding, Alexa would probably not mind it, chances were that was part of the reason why Alexa had let her stay this much outside.

  Alexa was like that, she cared for them as much as they cared for her.

  So then... it shouldn't be an issue, right?

  "...I want to go back." Ale ended up saying, "...I really want to go back, to stand there and announce that... I have arrived..."

  To say that she was back.

  "Then you should do that." Miriam Eversoul said encouraging her, "As long as you can do it safely, as long as you don't put yourself at risk. Then you are free to wish to do just that."

  She was?

  "But..." Ale said raising her hand, closing and opening her fist, "... The mana corruption..."

  "I'm sure Alexanders will come tomorrow from that door all smug telling us how he managed to solve the issue." Miriam Eversoul said with a huff, "He probably already has the solution."

  Ale... didn't think so. She didn't think that Alexanders had the solution, even the one that he had given her to temporarily purge her from the foreign hostile mana was just that.

  A temporary solution, Ale could still feel the corrupted mana being syphoned away leaving a bubble devoid of said mana around her. She had pinged for the full schematic of the device and had found that the most compact thing was still as big, if not bigger than the apartment building she lived in Ohio.

  Which was terrifying prospect. But it was that big because the blonde... Because Alexanders had done away with all the easy methods avaible and just put out the most simple way to achieve what he wanted.

  He was creating in a very inefficient way a void of mana. And the barest formu or example he was using was the phenomenon that Alexandra had achieved when she triggered her Core creation event.

  Which was a whole other thing.

  "... I... don't think I can go back." Ale ended up saying, "I can't... Alexa could go back, right now. But... I would not be able to go out..."

  "And do you think Alexa would want that?" Miriam Eversoul asked smiling at her, "The fact that you are out and about tells me that she wants you to destress too, doesn't she?"

  ...Yes.

  "Alexa..." Ale was about to say that Alexa didn't want that, but instead, quick-started a blueprint they hadn't used in a long time. She made a mini speaker in the palm of her hand, hidden beneath the skin and flesh. "Alexa, do you want to go back to Ohio? Or do you want to stay here?"

  Ale pinged Alexa and ensured that she knew the speaker was there.

  "..." Even so, the speaker refused to speak.

  "...Alexanders is gone," Ale said for some reason, she wasn't sure why, but she had noticed that Alexa didn't want to be or stay around the blonde man, even if she herself acknowledged him as their older brother.

  "...Alexa knew that." Alexa's voice sounded from the speaker.

  "...That's..." Miriam Eversoul said looking at Ale's hand, "Interesting... Ventriloquism? No, this is something else... It's an application of your Core Power?"

  "Yes," Ale nodded, "It's one of the gifts that Main Core left for us."

  "He was a dummy!" Alexa chimed in, "Main Core was a smart dummy!"

  "That's not the important thing here," Ale said turning her full attention to the fact that Alexa had indeed spoken when they confirmed Alexanders was not around, "Do you want to go back to our apartment?"

  "...Alexa doesn't mind either way." Alexa's carefree voice sounded from the speaker, "Alexa wants Ale to also have fun, so if Ale wants to stay here Alexa doesn't mind! Her friends will come ter anyway! Big Brother said so!"

  "So she was aware?" Miriam Eversoul commented from the side, "And yet didn't come out? Interesting... Is it because she doesn't know him yet? But he said that the asshole was her brother..."

  "But Alexa doesn't mind going back if Ale wants to." Alexa continued speaking, "Alexa knows that Ale wants to go back to the [Fan Girl]. Alexa will do her best to keep the bad tasting [Feels] away!"

  ...That was sweet in on itself.

  "So there you have it." Miriam Eversoul said after recentering herself, "Alexa also wants what is best for you."

  "...Okay." Ale said nodding, "Then we can stay a few days more, but we are returning to Ohio."

  "Alexa doesn't mind if Ale wants to stay here." Alexa started saying as soon as Ale said her pns, "Alexa also likes it here!"

  Ale wasn't sure if Alexa truly wanted to remain here or go back. On one hand, Alexa had all her friends in Ohio; even if they were going to come here, they would not come immediately.

  On the other hand, she had Miriam Eversoul, someone who Alexa was... weirdly imprinted on.

  "Any reason to want and return there like that?" Miriam Eversoul asked, "Is it for Alexa? or for yourself?"

  "It's for both of us." Ale answered closing her hand and dismissing the construct within, "Thank you Alexa."

  "Your welcome!" Alexa answered only within her mind.

  "How so?" Miriam Eversoul asked intrigued, "I seem to remember you saying that Alexa would probably like it more there than here. I can understand it since there aren't many kids around for you or her to py with."

  That... was part of the reason yes.

  "But as Alexanders said, kids will start coming on. I can assure you that I will do my best to move those pns forward and get at least a couple of families with children for you to py with within the week." Miriam Eversoul stated, attempting to assure Ale about that.

  And to be honest, Ale believed her; she believed they could get people within the week, more so because if Alexanders truly wanted to help them, she believed he would be able to move people to this pce before the week finished.

  But no, that was not the reason why she wanted to return to Ohio.

  "It's not for Alexa that I want to return to Ohio." Ale said answering to those statements, "It's also for me."

  It was mostly for her to be honest. As Alexa said, she could spend the time here if needed, she would find something to entertain herself quite easily.

  And if it was to help Ale, Alexa would do whatever was needed, she was that kind of girl.

  "I need to face the consequences. And I want to reassure [Big Sister] that I am fine," Ale just wanted to go back to their home, to their apartment, and while she knew that their stuff was probably already picked up and here, she still wanted to return to that apartment. "Besides, because of our power... There is meaning in doing it in person, it wouldn't do if we just spoke it through the phone or via video call."

  Ale of course knew that would work for most, but they were shapeshifters. Their face was not something that hard to make or fake.

  Not that Ale had seen other people who looked like them... One couldn't fake the vibes or how they behaved other people as easily as they could. Their method to achieve that was also something that not many could achieve.

  Ale couldn't help but shiver at the realization of what Alexa did to achieve such uncanny mimicry.

  More so since those mimicries were quite close to Ale's self, as they were created by a simir process to the one that birthed them, even if they didn't bloom to the same degree as her.

  "I see...." Miriam Eversoul said nodding at Ale's words, "I will respect your decision. But I will not authorize such travels unless we can guarantee you will be safe."

  "Alexa can move as normal ther-" Ale started saying only for Miriam Eversoul's finger to be put atop her lips, silencing her.

  "I meant your safety too." Miriam Eversoul said, "I don't know how it feels for you, but to me, to the people around you. What your body goes when that side effect from Test Subject Ms2 looks quite painful."

  "It isn't..." Ale started saying only to shut up as soon as Miriam Eversoul frowned at her, "... I can cut the nerve endings of the affected parts before it becomes an issue."

  To be honest, it hurt like hell. The feeling of her body turning into ash was not something she wanted to go by again if possible.

  "If you need to cut the nerve endings, then more reason for you to not go back." Miriam Eversoul stated pinly, "I am sure Alexa also doesn't want you to suffer."

  "Yeah! Alexa doesn't want Ale to have the pains!"

  "... But..." Ale started speaking only for Miriam's Eversoul finger to be raised again, that gesture was enough for Ale to shut up again.

  "It is meaningless if you can't be out." Miriam Eversoul shook her head as she said that, "If you aren't going to be out and about, you may as well remain here. Or do you want Alexa to be alone in Ohio?"

  "... She won't be alone." Ale grumbled.

  "I can live with you, Vivian can come every now and then, but we can't stay 24/7 with you." Miriam Eversoul sighed, "Not yet, we need to adjust our schedules for such a big change. The only one who could get away with doing so is the blonde asshole, but even he isn't that irresponsible."

  "He isn't?" Ale asked surprised.

  "...I mean, if the things he was doing were work for others he would probably just ditch them, but his current work schedule is filled with things he wants to do." Miriam Eversoul smiled, amused at that, "Imagine the irony, first time the asshole wants free time but can't ditch it since it's his own work."

  Ale did find that funny.

  "So... When can I go back then?" Ale asked, "And how are we going to test if it's safe for me to return?"

  "When Alexanders pulls from god knows where the device that will purify or isote the mana around you." Miriam Eversoul said raising a finger, "Or when we got confirmation that the ambient mana is no longer hostile to you."

  "And how are we going to confirm that one?" Ale asked, unsure if people could even find out about that.

  "That... we will need your brother to confirm." Miriam Eversoul merely said in the most irresponsible tone possible, "He probably knows how to check for that, since he is the one who made that weird bubble devoid of mana that is following you."

  ...How was he even doing that actually.

  Ale understood the basis of the idea, create an environment devoid of mana, simple. But how was that device able to track where Ale was and isote the ambient mana from touching her?

  That was the question.