"I'm a talker, not a fighter..." He heard Chance mutter as they walked downstairs.<br/><br/>"Of course you are. But you'll still be talking to our contact in an hour..." He took a moment to catch his bearings. The lack of sleep was starting to tear at his psyche. "Once our friends get here, we can rest a bit more. We'll have enough people to start doing watch effectively..." He looked to the parts strewn about and picked up a few cogs and a piece of the apparatus. "Get on the computer and check the coding of the program again, Like I taught you..." He then started to attach pieces and used corresponding tools to secure them. "You've been a great asset to me, Chance...and I know what you're searching for. Once we get to town, I'll have you talk with Viktor about it...He's been in the loop for a long time; knows the ins and outs of Russia's politics and Americas Economic trade scene..." It was working that opened him up, made him feel human. He knew this, and Chance had probably finally caught on to this. Any other time, Alexi was a cold individual, capable of zero remorse or consideration for others. When his mind was on his passion, he was a normal human. Excessively talkative, but it was a good compliment to his introverted character. He then stopped and looked at Chance, his eyes remembering a distant memory. "When I was your age...I didn't have many people to involve myself with..." He took a moment to consider what he was going to say next as he attached the apparatus to the rest of the machine. "If anything ever happened to me, to where I was incapable of protecting of you...I want to be sure that you can defend yourself somehow..." He stopped and immediately returned to his work. He felt he had overstepped his boundary, but the past year they had been together, he felt like a human being protecting him. A father figure, if not a Father. He cared for Chance, and was aware that he was a young man that needed guidance. He wanted that chance to take care of him, in his own twisted way.<br/><br/>"Now. Run the diagnostic and go through the programming. You know how to do this, so I'll be over your shoulder to make sure." He walked over to chance and rested a weathered hand on his shoulder. His other hand raised up to eye-level. 0445. They should be making contact now, if not in 5 minutes. They would hear the sound of their radio transmission going off on the console, and they could respond from their sanctuary in the basement.