In the excitement from finding her friends, Alice forgot that, at least through their perspective, she kind of abandoned them while she escaped. Trapp seemed happy enough to see her, but Maki’s bitter remarks didn’t cut through her as much as the realization that because of her programming, she had betrayed her trust. Though it’s not like she would have willingly left them behind to be captured if she had any choice in the matter! They are the priority! She couldn’t help that she was a valuable piece of ordnance to UEE higher-ups, and they wouldn’t risk her being taken by the enemy under any circumstances. Besides, she wouldn’t even be here to break them out if she had let herself be captured with them. Tactically, it made sense to let two soldiers be captured if one could escape, so the UEE could keep another piece on the board. They would understand that, right? Once they were safe and sound back on the Lincoln, she would try to explain that to them.

Or maybe they all just forgot, herself included, that she was a weapon, and not a real girl.

The announcement on the loudspeakers quickly brought her back to the moment at hand. The rescue party she requested was on the way, and just in time! They had a small window of time to work with if they were to make the most out of this rescue, so they had to act fast. Almost instantly, Trapp formulated a plan of action and began telling her and Maki, while her smile returned out of respect. Once he finished, he reminded her to finally let them out of their cells.

[color=7ea7d8]“Ah, right!”[/color], she saluted and quickly turned to the console, opening the doors to their cells and setting them free. Looking back at them, she bit her lip as she awkwardly faced Maki, too ashamed to make eye contact with her. In her head, she was apologizing over and over again, but when she finally opened her mouth, she started to mumble,

[color=7ea7d8]“M-Miss Nishizumi, I, um…we should get going.”[/color]

She promptly turned around and proceeded to take point as Trapp said, starting to lead them out of the hold-up. There would be plenty of time for them to talk and patch things up back on the Lincoln. She could still tell where the Eagle was, so she knew where to go. Thankfully, the hallways were almost completely empty due to the Coalition soldiers leaving to fight the incoming rescue party. Even more fortunate, that meant the hangar the Eagle and Hellcat were kept in was left unguarded in all the mayhem. As the three snuck inside, Alice remembered the data center. There might not be enough time to download anything, but there must be something they could do while they escaped.

[color=7ea7d8]“Wait! I know this might not be the best time, but remember, Jehan is a research colony. They have to keep records of all their research and experiments somewhere: a data center, and I know where it is.”[/color]