Cor smiled softly at the sight. He may have come out here more than most programs but the view was still quite something. The thought of taking Tetra out here to be able to paint it had crossed his mind… but crashing out here had happened after his friend had disappeared. “You alright back there?”
"I'm fine," Nora said, curling a little closer to him, shielding herself from the wind chill… and, she liked being this close. He smelled nice, and he was warm, too, and his hair was messy in the wind…
Cor nodded, blushing a little when he felt her face so close to his neck. It would be easy enough to blame the wind for the growing redness and her position but he wouldn't deny that it was nice. At their current speed it wouldn't take much longer before they reached the Recognizer. Maybe I should tell her… I doubt she would tell anyone. But how would she react?
Nora scanned the mountains beyond them for the Recogniser, though it was hard to do so when she was squinting. She wondered if it was still glowing.
Cor kept driving towards the mountains. It wasn't too much further but it would be hard to notice it unless you knew what to look for. Or were just very lucky. Any external glow it might still have was either covered by the snow or dim enough to be dismissed as low ambient light. The rest of it was still in decent working condition, though he doubted it would fly again.
"Are we close?" Nora asked. She was beginning to feel cold.
“Almost.” he nodded. “You see that big mountain with the smaller one in front? It's right in between them.” he pointed out, speeding up a little more.
Nora nodded and looked towards them, spotting them in the darkness.
It didn't take much longer before Cor was able to navigate between the two mountains, parking his lightcycle once they were close enough to the Recognizer. “Well, what do you think?” he asked with a bit of a proud smile as he waited for Nora to dismount first.
Nora looked it over as she dismounted. Crusted with snow, it might have passed for part of the landscape unless you looked close enough, in which case you noticed the faint, but still there, light lines.
"I think it's…" She paused, searching for words.
Yes, Bit said, whizzing around Nora's head.
Nora nodded and smiled.
Cor chuckled a little as he derezzed his lightcycle and stood beside her. “Come on. Let's get inside. Then you'll really get to see it.” he encouraged, remembering how cold she had been on the drive up.
"I've never been in a Recogniser before," Nora confessed with a small smile.
“Don’t worry. I've only been in this one a dozen times.” he half-joked, trying to reassure her even though he'd been on other Recognizers at least a couple times. “It’s not so bad.”
Nora followed him through the snow, listening to it crunch softly under their feet. "Where's the door?"
“Right here.” he said, walking past her and brushing some snow off a small palm-sized panel. Cor quickly entered a brief passcode causing the door to open next to him. “Come on in.” he encouraged, smiling.
Nora quickly - and gratefully - hurried in after him. It was bigger than she had expected; the sound of her footsteps echoed softly. Bit whizzed off to explore.
“Be careful, Bit. As big as this place is, we don't want you to get lost in here.” he called after the curious rascal. Cor shook his head with an endearing smile before turning back to Nora. “Hope it doesn't get into too much trouble.“ he teased, more hoping that he wouldn't have a big mess to clean up and organize later.
"I think it's just exploring," Nora said, returning his smile. "I hope it doesn't scare Hermes."
“It won’t,” he assured her. “Come on. Tools are over here. Unless you’d like to explore a little as well?” Cor asked, more like offering to show her around if she wanted to.
"Hermes isn't fazed by much, then," Nora said, following Cor. As curious as she was, she needed to get her helmet fixed, and as quickly as possible.
“Not by curious Bits, at least.” he chuckled, leading her to where he kept the repair equipment. Honestly, he was still debating on telling her the truth about Hermes being an old alias… But he was worried that she might think he was too much like Castor if he did. Though that had been becoming a personal concern as well.
(Ok but I found their song(s))
Nora laughed softly, glancing around as she followed him. It was bigger inside than she'd thought it would be. And call it intuition, but something told her it hadn't been touched by a program in what felt like hundreds of cycles. Deciding not to impart this particular thought to Cor, she kept an eye - and an ear - out for Bit instead.
(what do you mean? What are the songs?)
Cor smiled at her laugh as he continued to walk through the familiar passageways. It may have been a while since he had last been here but he still knew his way around. “So, what do you think of this place so far?” he asked to fill the silence.
(Rapture by Alok and Neon Lights by Lodato)
"It's bigger than I thought it would be," Nora said honestly. "I can see why Hermes likes it. It's unique."
(I know Neon Lights and I love it! It totally fits. Especially Nora. Though I don't know Amok… I’ll have to check it out later.)
“Yeah…” he nodded, thinking about how many programs and equipment this Recognizer had carried on average. It kind of made the size of it make sense. “Unique… I never thought of it that way.” he admitted.