Wanting to preserve his energy for the Technician, Chase rode through the streets on a motorcycle. With the sun gradually setting, the streets were quiet, save for a few people going about their lives, walking on the sidewalks, driving in their cars after a long day of work, or enjoying an evening snack at a food cart. Everything felt so peaceful and safe, he found it hard to imagine danger could be lurking right outside the city walls, but he had to.

In the rear view mirror of his motorcycle, Chase saw a suspiciously shiny silver car driving close behind him. The car had been in that same position for the past few turns and through the black-tinted windshield he saw an oddly familiar girl with light hair and hands gripped casually on the wheel, she stared at him, clearly focused on tracking him.

Chase sighed and he drove to an empty street and parked on the side. Just as he suspected, the silver car followed him exactly, oblivious to the fact that Chase knew. He got off his cycle and walked over to the silver car, knocking on the window.

The window slowly went down and Alice sat in the driver’s seat staring at him with a cheeky smile. She knew she was caught. “License and registration,” he said.

“Right,” Alice tittered and passed him her license, new gold bracers attached to her arms.

“At least she’s responsible about something,” Chase thought before looking back at her. “Alice.”

“Yeah?”

“I thought I told you to stay behind.”

“I am behind you.”

“Don’t get smart with me.”

“Okay, okay, look I really didn’t want to spend the rest of the day sitting and listening to Marcus’s sciencey stuff. Plus, he gave me this sweet car to drive around. It’s got a cupholder and everything!”

“Right, and the bracers?”

“Also, Marcus.”

“Of course,” Chase sighed. “I don’t have time for this. Just go back, okay?”

“But can’t I just go with you for a little bit? Or at least give me some last bits of advice about being a Guardian before you like…you know…fight the Technician again…alone…and probably—”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure though? I mean this isn’t the first time I heard those words and the complete opposite happened.”

“I really don’t have much to say,” Chase conceded. “No good advice, no words of encouragement, just some sad stuff that might not even be helpful.”

“Can I hear it anyway?” Alice tilted her head curiously. “I mean I’ll take anything really…your—” She trailed off.

Chase looked at her. He was struggling in thought, two decisions that pushed against each other. Did he really have time for this? The Technician could already be at the Vault, but at the same time, he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to make it out of their next fight in one piece. And if that were the case, as Alice’s mentor he should give her something to help carry on his duties. That’s added to the fact that he still didn’t know much about her to truly entrust her as a Guardian of the city. A sudden growl disrupted his internal argument.

Alice leaned away, her face turning beet red. “Uhh, excuse me,” she curled an embarrassed grin.

“Was that your stomach?”

“Yeah, I haven't really eaten lunch yet. Say, I saw this neat food cart nearby, you wanna grab something to eat?”

“I don’t eat.”

“Well, I’m starving, so maybe we can just talk for a bit?”

Chase looked at his map again and calculated how long his route is to the Vault. He looked back at Alice. “15 minutes.”

Alice lit up, “Great!”