[color=silver]
Ever the analytical one, Erica couldn't help but subtly observe Tommy's mannerisms and body language. Her reservation faltered a bit - it was clear he meant well and hadn't intended to pry. She needed to quit stressing over every little thing, no one here was going to cause any harm, and he and everyone else on EDEN spent every day doing exactly what she did: Going through the motions and trying to keep occupied. Of course there was much to do, things to be taken care of, machines to be operated and tests to be recorded. But at the end of the day... there was a lot of spare time. Even in their small community, every wing and bloc had more than enough manpower to take care of things and there wasn't much of a sense of urgency unless the situation called for it. Even in the medical wing, the majority of Erica's job was based on interviews and evaluations. It wasn't particularly exciting, and it was very rare for an emergency to occur. So it was nice, on occasion, to just interact. Erica knew that much of EDEN considered itself to be a "family" of sorts -- she had never gotten so close to anyone here as to consider them family, but at times, she understood the appeal considering that many of them had left real families behind on Earth. 

She returned the grin tightly, clutching her binder to her chest and looking back toward the laboratory when he mentioned the electrical system. [color=gray]"Seems to be alright," [/color]she replied, [color=gray]"Just a power drop, nothing major, everything important switched to backup battery power."[/color] It was then that Tommy mentioned her binder, and her eyes widened. Clearing her throat and trying to remain unperturbed, she said, [color=gray]"Yes, honestly fascinating. We train and groom ourselves for months in preparation to come here and still the environment has some unanticipated effects. And no two people react to it the same, everyone experiences it a bit differently."[/color] She smiled, shaking her head and laughing a bit. [color=gray]"I could go on about it for hours honestly but I won't bore you with it."[/color] When asked about herself, all she could do was shrug. [color=gray]"Nose to the grindstone as usual. Been doing some research on dietary supplements to counteract the weight loss effect. Much as everyone exercises and eats around here, it's hard to keep up the muscle mass, so we've got people in the lab working on it. Just for something to do. What about you? Anything new?" [/color]

She found that Tommy was easy-going enough that she could speak with him fairly openly. To her knowledge, he'd never expressed any kind of judgment or anything similar in regards to her personality; As clique-y as things could get up here, there were some people, including herself, who didn't partake in that kind of thing. And she appreciated when others held themselves above that as well. 

At the mention of the SPR, Erica lit up a bit, excitedly. [color=gray]"I did hear! That's wonderful! Are you excited to test it out?"[/color] Ever since coming to EDEN, she had been immersed in the medical world and had little time to focus on her other interests. Hearing about what was going on in the other wings kept her sane. A lot of the new technology in EDEN was discovered through trial-and-error and safety precautions were always taken to make sure no one got hurt in case of malfunction, but it was always fun to see things evolve from an idea to reality and all of the brainpower that went into creating it. The SPR had been in the works for longer than Erica had been on EDEN, and if all went well, it would be an exciting advancement in their abilities as far as leaving the base itself. 
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