Lorna was, for the first time in a fair while, entirely caught up on her marking. There was nothing immediately doable to any of the experiments or monitoring projects she had set up and for once, just until her class this afternoon, she was genuinely free.

She'd gone to one of the local cafes and ordered herself a muffin and a latte, sitting by the window and watching the world go by. She only turned when she heard someone ask, 'Is this seat taken?'

"Pardon? Oh! Yes." She smiled, "Of course."

Lorna put the last of the boxes in the back of the pick-up Alex had borrowed, carrying a grocery sack of snacks and bottled water into the front so they'd have something to eat on what would be a long journey. She smiled at him as she opened the passenger side, refixing her hair back into it's bun. "It really is good of you to do this."

It was a celebration of the new communication system Forge had completed, connecting every resident of California. It was a carnival though- rides, face painting, greasy fried foods, and loud music and laughter all over the city park in front of town hall in San Fransisco.