[b]HB-202
Hoyland Station[/b]

HB stood near the growing group (presumably their new comrades) but not in it, snippets of conversation noticed but not interacted with, distant squalls unrelated to the raging storm. They knew that this would have been a good time to start noting names and putting them to faces but did not do so, indulging in the frenetic rush of anxiety instead of the clinician approach Zealots were trained to approach missions with. 

Lorei wasn't there. The Synth whose siren song in the form of a silent plea for space had dragged HB out of the criminal underworld and into the light was nowhere to be found. Why? Where was she? She was supposed to be in this unit, HB had only put their name on the transfer list after triple-checking it for hers. Had she backed out, or been reassigned? Had there been some accident, a collapsed engine or a bulkhead breach perhaps? It was possible that Lorei was no more, her already shattered mind erased from existence by laser fire or unfortunate disaster. It was unlikely, but it was [i]possible[/i]. Oh so very possible. 

Their mind seized upon their increased heart rate and morphed it, the drugs in their system instructing the body to take this negative feel and make something addictive out of it. The spike in adrenaline was as intoxicating as any hallucinogen, HB riding a wave of nervous energy that crested just as the VF's canopy opened.

HB saw her and stiffened, every muscle fiber tensing as if struck by lightning. 

Her. 

[i]her-her-her-her-her-her-[/i]

It took everything they had to not sprint straight for the Beloved Synth, and it was a strain that could not have lasted. Each step Lorei took brought HB closer to giving in, to bound forth with a million questions and hoist her into a hug so tight it would dent her plating. Had the man in charge not shown up, they probably would've.

As it was they instead snapped towards the approaching Cerasian, but not before giving Lorei the briefest glance. Their eyes, a deep red and seemingly pupilless, crinkled as their lips curled into the ghost of a smile, HB trying to convey every emotion but only really showing one:

Relief.