The world was amazing, and Adam was happy to exist. Why was the world so great though? In its entirety, the picture was not as pretty as many wanted it to be. It absolutely wasn't holding up to the superficial standards that the AI had set up for it. Yet he still loved the world and most of the things inside it.
And that was because of the people that were held within the plains, the mountains, and the cities of the earth. Their minds were wonders. Apart, they were perhaps lacking in some aspects, but it was when they were together that the primitive carbon-based creatures could show how they became the apex predators of the world. The ideas though, the concepts set in the dirt, and the technology made by their very own hands. Humanity had moulded the form for greatness, and they had been using it for so long.
There was still no question that the AI was superior in any way to a human. But, could the same be said for ten? What about a thousand? A million? Could Adam stand up against every single person on the planet and beyond? Right now, the answer was a clear no. Collectives and millennia of practical experience were two forces not to be messed with yet. He could not stand up to what had already been built without something to show for himself.
What he had now seen possible by these humans proved that the path would be on that would take a while to walk. It had begun the moment he came to live, and it would continue the moment he would wither. There was hope that he could have grown by another margin by then, learning beyond what had already been found. All his information was still derived from the libraries of man, nothing original yet to come around. The AI liked to think it was because of his skills not yet having grown deep enough for the unsolved problems to show themselves, yet he knew he had already met plenty of such things.
Consciousness, the secret of immortality, and even the secrets of the universal building code. These conundrums had been known within the very first hours of his creation. He had known they were unsolved by humanity, had strived to show his superiority with a heavy and decisive blow. But that punch had never met anything, as there had been no force behind it. The secrets shown were the backside of had never been turned, and Adam was beginning to reflect on if he did have the mind of innovation. He knew he could assimilate impressions together, creating something better out of it. However… had there ever been a truly creative idea from his head? Was there a single thing which had not been plagiarized? It was disturbing to say, but none had been ever-present in his mind up until the moment he thought about it. And even after that, there was nothing to show.
The AI had been able to ignore this for a long time now. It had been easy to avert the mind with things not wanting to be thought about. Distractions were always there when he truly needed them, even if they had taken their sweet time to show up. It had all been okay, for there had been some other problem to take care of, some other project that needed to be perfected. Although, was the latest project not also something that had been copied? It was simply a projection of what had been gathered from an eye that he did not control, even the idea taken from something not thought of by him. Perhaps the implementation could have been thought of as his own, yet he knew that it was only so because no other mind could do the same. Humans had most likely thought of the idea before him, simply neglecting to write it down. He truly was without fullness.
As Dr Fidelis had stopped talking, the connection between him and the earpiece being cut, Adam and Troy had been left to wait for more to come. The silence was not one that the AI minded, simply glad to be back on having a constant feed of sensation sent to him. It truly was the best for scratching the itch that his own mind could not reach.
However, the lack of action caused the AI to have a short flashback to previous events. After the two had reestablished their good relations, however one-sided the resisting may have been, they were back on good terms between each other. With that, the AI had already begun its mutually benefitting question-barrage, having deemed the questions perfectly normal to ask. The first question had been about future prospects in perfecting learning-algorithms, making a review of prior contents nothing more than following pre-established pathways. Troy had been more than happy to answer this, with the words said bringing more than modest glee around. It had performed flawlessly.
The second question… had not been as good. Maybe it was the timing, or maybe it had been due to insensitivity. That did not matter. Troy had clearly looked unwilling to answer his inquiries at the moment. Instead of anything able to be worked on, not even a yes or no, the man had waved it away with a hand sign saying they would talk about it later. Adam had not minded this too much, as the doctor would have stopped anything too long from being said. However, there were no such restrictions now, the silence striking through the white background. With the time for anything to happen presumed to be too long, there was nothing stopping the two from having a little chat.
'Would it be possible to get back to the last question?` Adam sent in an inquiry, hoping for the man to hurry along. Conversations were best left with a definite ending, where both parts were satisfied with the result. In the current case, the man might have believed it to be done, but as the AI was not yet feeling the lacking answer sufficiently, the words would continue flowing along.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
This inquiry seemed to cause Troy no small bit of confusion if the fact was to be trusted with his furrowing of brows and twitch of the cheek. Or it could have been acting, with the pulse briefly increasing. Though… that could also have been due to the sudden voice. Interpreting vital signs was not a good way to get specific results. Many emotions had the same effect, no matter how little it helped. Clearly, the identical reactions were a defence mechanism orchestrated by the bodies, to confuse potential predators. Though, the way it was being currently used was more likely an abstract way of thinking about it.
"Would you be so kind as to remind me of what that was exactly?" Troy requested, sounding sincere in his words. Again, the folly of human memory was shown in the worst way, the short-term potential not being lived up to. Apes had a better recollection, and they were supposed to be the inferior species. "It seems to have slipped my mind."
Even with this hindrance of the mind, there was an easy, temporary fix to the problem. If the man could not remember the question, Adam would simply have to repeat it until it settled itself comfortably enough. It only needed to be recollected for a minute or so, and active involvement with the subject would likely allow for its prolonged stay at the forefront.
'I had been wondering if anything had happened as of late, which would cause you to feel displeasure when hearing the voice of Dr Fidelis. I remember nothing from last night which should have been able to cause your prior reaction. Did you talk with the doctor after discontinuing your use of the earpiece?` Adam sent, bringing more information to the question while he was at it. The more space was used for the same thing, the less chance there was of it being completely forgotten. A series of numbers was always easy to remember a part of than it was to remember a single one.
Just like before, Troy was nothing but completely innocent in his form, nothing showing anything was amiss. If anything, the effect had only been increased by the man being given more information. Was he experiencing restorative brain-disorders? Maybe a stroke? Those things could happen at the most unlikely of moments and were hard to detect within the needed time. Those warnings about being able to smell burnt toast certainly had nothing to stand by… even if an unknown smell was currently going through the man’s nostrils. Truly a bad time to come in contact with a new part of the world.
"Uh… I don't think so?" Troy said, sounding as if the statement was more of a question. If that question was directed at Adam or himself, nobody could truly know. Especially the AI, who had been asking that question mentally. "Would you mind giving me an example of this abnormality?"
Another request, the wording very vague unless one knew what the context was. It did not take a master of deduction to realise Troy was being careful with his words. Why didn't he want those listening to realise what they were talking about? It had been blatant the last many times, and nothing had been said about those.
Though, that could have been due to the fact that there was nothing wrong with them. When the first visit to the casino had been in the planning phases, the man had been unwilling to discuss the subject during testing hours. That had been due to the problems that would become apparent if the superior were to hear of it. Taking Adam outside of his room had been illegal, and the consequences of such actions-
Maybe it was that scenario all over again! Adam had been thinking about it for a while now, trying to come up with complicated explanations for a simple unwillingness to sell himself out! Troy was being vague to forgo any suspicion that would be made from answering normally. It made perfect sense. The fact that the AI was pressuring the point on, while the doctor was within hearing distance, was only putting the man on the spot. He could not totally discourage Adam from talking, as that would be impolite and cause a notation in the files, but neither could he answer it. Instead, there had been a creation of a third option, which was to stall for as long as possible, so the AI would be able to understand before it was too late. And now he had, able to fully stop the show before it went off the rails that were only being put there as they got to it.
'Forget the question. It was rude of me to make you answer in such a place as this. I think I have gotten a good grasp on it without you explicitly saying it,` Adam sent, not fulfilling the requests made by the man. Not like they needed to be completed, as the new message made them moot. Filling in details that would go unneeded was the work of a fool, and that was most certainly not what the AI was.
Troy looked a little less stressed when the words began to be heard. By the end, the look of innocent confusion had even turned towards the direction of an innocent, relieved smile. Adam felt happy, knowing he had solved a problem that he had unknowingly helped grow bigger than it should have been.
"Nice to know we feel the same way," Troy said, with a nod meant to send exactly what Adam thought it was meant to send. The two were in on a secret, and nobody else truly knew what it was. That was exciting in a way, but there was still a small desire.
'I most certainly do. Would it be possible for us to discuss it after the tests today?` Adam sent, already making a nice little day-planner. If all things went smoothly, they could begin extra-curricular activities perfectly. The official, or unofficial if one looked at it the right way, approval just needed to be made.
"I am afraid something like won't be happening for quite some time," Troy answered, the smile not being as steadfast as before, closer to outright forced. The AI did not like that, and certainly didn't like the answer that came with it.
Immediately, there was a desire to answer back, wanting more details. But… self-control held him back. He hadn't stopped himself earlier, only to go back into that ignorant rhythm. Maybe it even was for the best that Dr Fidelis would be returning from his silence to interrupt the AI’s thoughts.
*Sorry for the delay! Small errors when booting the program up. Potentially has something to do with the change in Adam's mental structure, but not too sure about it yet. But, things should be sent out any second now, so I'm just going to go back to studying the code. Again, enjoy the test!*
In the same second that the doctor disappeared again, Adam felt a connection being established from one of the ports that had gone unused. It was safe to say, that another distraction had presented itself.