AndrAIa could see the tension he carried in his shoulders as he walked a short distance in front of her, one hand shoved into his pocket and the other touching Gun's holster out of habit, Frisket trotting alongside him. This system was too quiet, too peaceful. There was not a single virus to purge from the system, several cycles had passed without a game cube, and Matrix was becoming increasingly restless as the nanos ticked by. That crashed itchy trigger finger of his, she thought with a quiet sigh.

"Maybe we should access a byte to eat, boys," she said, coming up to match their gait, and Matrix grunted in that way that she knew signalled reluctant agreement, still scowling at the ground in front of him. She smiled, brushing her bangs out of her eyes, and moved around in front of him, walking backward as she spoke.

"What are you in the mood for? Energy shake?"

"Just some slow food and an I/O shot, I guess," Matrix shrugged, finally looking up from the ground.

AndrAIa made a face, falling back into step beside him, "Ugh, really? That's— Well, I figured this system had a lot to offer – you know, compared to the last three – and we might as well make the most of it and get something... Well, something better than that. Live a little."

A sigh. "Fine, what do you think we should get?"

AndrAIa shrugged, "No idea."

"Sometimes I think you act like that on purpose," Matrix said, his hand finally falling away from Gun's holster. He was finally starting to relax a bit, she noted, and she felt a slight sense of accomplishment in her chest that put a little more bounce in her step.

"Like what?"

"Difficult," was all he said, the corner of his mouth twitching into a half-smirk, and she knew that was his version of what usual sprites would consider a "smile".

AndrAIa smiled back with a wink, "It's part of my charm."

It almost surprised her to hear him chuckle after so many cycles of silence, and that little flame in her chest burned brighter. "So, how about that place over on level 9? I hear the chips over there are high-quality."

"Level 9? We've only been here a couple of cycles and you already know the whole system grid," Matrix said, a touch of amusement in his voice, "Sure, I guess it couldn't hurt. What do you think, Frisket?"

Frisket looked up to his master, his ears perked up and his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. He nodded, making a sound halfway between a pleasant growl and an excited bark, and Matrix reached down to scratch one of the dog's long ears. "Well, I guess it's settled then. That place on level 9."

"Oh, it's called Access Point," AndrAIa pointed out, and then proceeded to tell him all the information she'd already accessed about what was on its menu as the three walked along the street toward level 9.