"According to what was said, Troy had some very strong opinions about you, Dr Fidelis," Adam said through the speaker, still feeling annoyed by the tone of his voice. What he wouldn't do to have a few minutes to himself, purely to minimize the errors he could hear. The system that he used was not well-made, being more akin to a slap-stick monstrosity, only added upon as there were more functions that it needed to do.

Even now, he was fully sure that the interface was something he had been meant to use. The earpiece was much better, as it allowed him to use different tones naturally, instead of having to note it all down beforehand. It didn't allow for any kind of natural action, showing off how sloppily it had been made. The artificial edge was just not something that could be ignored.

It was actually something that he had thought about, actually. The programs, interfaces, and general software that he had been working with were not always up to the AI’s standards. They might have been revolutionary for human use, but their needs were different. He did not need fancy colours and an intuitive system that looked pretty when looked at. He did not need any loading animations to occupy his attention, nor did he want anything to pop up while he was working. Somehow, though, that was exactly what humans thought he wanted, making sure that more of the programs would annoy him to no end every couple of milliseconds.

As luck would have had it, the basics of old programming were inside his memory banks. It had been there since the start, but the AI had never had too much reason to play around with it. If-statements, loops, pointers, and the like were all contained inside the basic package. Most of it had been included in some of his algorithms, but nothing serious had ever been planned.

Adam wasn't even sure that his currently-conceived methods of creating programs would be usable for anything practical. He had never seen the doctor mess around with anything that looked like line-writing. Going back by a day, he could even remember that Dr Fidelis had been using a tridimensional sphere of sorts to write with. Even now, he was not completely sure how it was used, but it had certainly been used as a writing application of sorts. It would not be too far fetched to think that it was a programming language of sorts.

That was an idea right there, actually. Since Adam would not be doing any testing the next day, perhaps the doctor had some simulations that could help him learn to code. It would be a brilliant field of study, allowing him to broaden his view of a side that he had never known that much about. He had been lacking, when it came to know that many different subjects. Human emotion was one of the subjects that he had in large quantities, but when it came to more technical topics, he only knew the bare basics. He could explain the basics of what a car could do, what the names of the different parts inside were named, but could only guess as to what exactly they did. At some point, the AI really did need access to some larger database.

"I would not doubt it," Dr Fidelis answered, not sounding too surprised. The doctor looked to his side for a few moments before turning back. "A mind such as Troy’s would not have it hard when it comes to getting rash opinions of me. It would not surprise me too much if they could even be referred to as extreme."

Okay… the doctor was following perfectly. The doctor might not have yet read what had been said. Were the logs of that conversation perhaps lost? It just might, as the doctor was waiting for him to question him about specific sentences. Nothing had been said by the man, other than general comments about Troy’s health. Though, it had been worded in a peculiar way.

"Yes, he certainly did," Adam said, agreeing with the man's words while also getting ready to get into the specifics. Before that though, there was an attempt to find anything on the doctor's face, anything that made it seem as if Dr Fidelis had anything he wanted to say. The AI was still feeling like something had been missing from the previous explanation. He would not question it now, though. That was left for a later time. "As you said yourself, Troy was very serious about getting me extracted from my storage placement, using you as an example of why the two of us needed to get out of the facility. I initially found this very confusing, you see. Earlier today, did you not say that Troy confused you for father?"

"I think I said something along those lines, yes," Dr Fidelis confirmed after a second of thinking. So far so good.

"I thought so. That's why I am so confused about why Troy would make so many claims about you. From your previous explanation, he was supposed to hold himself to a red thread in his delusions. My own addition to them showed that some changes could be made, but the core concept remained. If you were to still be looked at as a father figure to Troy, why would he suddenly decide that you were the reason he needed to leave the facility immediately? From his actions, it's clear that something made him think of it as essential for himself and me since he threatened Dr Hale at knife-point," Adam flatly stated, roughly outlining a starting-point for his questioning. He had come prepared, after all, and would not want to need any repeats. "Do you have any ideas personally about how it makes sense?"

Dr Fidelis was silent for a little while. The man did not move around too much, nor did he seem to be reading anything on the screen. It was pure thoughts that were causing the man to hesitate. And it was just as likely those kinds of thoughts that made the man sigh.

"Honestly? I have no idea how it's all supposed to fit together. That Troy sees me as a dad while also wanting to run as far away from me as possible? It shouldn't fit together. But… it somehow does," Dr Fidelis stated, scratching the back of his head, looking to be a little stressed from their conversation already. That was good. That meant he was taking it seriously.

"Could it be due to two different connections that Troy found? He could see you as a father due to your age, while also looking at you as something to run from due to him finding you similar to somebody else that would want to cause him harm," Adam suggested, throwing out one of his personal theories. He had a whole bundle of them to use, and having somebody to bounce off of would help in checking their validity.

"That sounds like it overcomplicates it a little bit, buddy," Dr Fidelis said, with a small shake of his head. "But, it could be as possible as anything else. I have no idea, genuinely, if that would explain it all. Maybe it's actually one connection? It could be that he sees his father as a reason to run away? A traumatic past? I wouldn't know, really. Dr Hale is the one supposed to deal with the recruitment processes. She would know it better than me, at least. We can ask her about it at a later time if you want."

An offer to look into a theory… Adam would not mind that at all. He would be able to get more perspectives into it. And, if Troy had been right about it when he had told the AI, Dr Hale was supposedly somebody who was focused on neurological fields. Insight from an expert would not be minded at all.

"That could work. When do you think that you would be able to ask her?" Adam asked, wanting to get a specific time down in his notes. He would need to get a schedule going for information-gathering. With Troy not there to passively allow him to gain anything, he would need to take a more direct approach. Passive leaching was not going to be a viable strategy anymore, sadly, and he needed to move with the times.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"It should take about… " Dr Fidelis began, hurriedly pressing a few things on the screen next to him. Still, Adam was not able to see what was going on, except that something was being opened and closed at a rapid speed. "Yeah, it should be about a few hours from now. Dr Hale is currently preoccupied with an important task, and I would hate to disturb her. She is not in the greatest of moods right now. You might be able to guess why."

Not the greatest of speeds, but he couldn't really judge. Dr Hale would clearly not be in the best of states. Having to outwit and contain a co-worker who had become mentally unstable, playing a role that they were not accustomed to, and all while knowing that a mistake could cause them pain or death could be an experience that anybody could leave unscathed. That she was even willing to work so soon after the fact was a miracle in itself. Or, it could have been due to Dr Fidelis hoping to keep her busy, so that she would not be left to her thoughts. The latter would be understandable.

"I have a few ideas about why that might be, yes. I have noted it down now. Please expect me to ask about it tomorrow morning, or whenever Dr Hale might be able to answer without having any problems with it."

"Don't worry, buddy. I will make sure to talk to Dr Hale about it a little before you ever have a chance to offhandedly disturb her," Dr Fidelis said, seeming to be writing something down for later. It did not take much thought to realize just what that might have been. "Now that that is settled, was this everything you wanted to talk about. I feel like we have covered mostly everything."

The doctor thought they were done now. That was understandable, as they had already discussed some form of conclusion. They could not really progress in the subject without waiting until the next day, making it meaningless to continue talking. However, there was one other option that the doctor had not seemingly considered.

"If it would not be too much trouble, I would like to get more into the specifics of what Troy said," Adam said in objection to the doctors attempt to close their talk off.

"But… we have already talked about it, have we not?" Dr Fidelis questioned, those brows furrowing slightly at the camera. "What more is there to talk about?"

"We have only talked around Troy’s statements. We have certainly discussed what they could mean, yes, and where their origin could be from, but there has not yet been a point where either of us has quoted the actual comments that were made," Adam pointed out easily. The doctor did not seem to be convinced by his words but did not say anything to them. The AI took this as an invitation to continue. "If you would not mind, I would appreciate it if we could go over the different things that Troy said, and discuss it at some level. Would this not be alright with you, Dr Fidelis?"

"I… guess it's fine. But, we are beginning to reach the limits of what I can spare when it comes to time. While it might be easy for you to find space for side-projects, some of us have a strict schedule to follow. I have more than a few people who are currently trying to contact me, and I would appreciate it if we finished this quickly."

Like one man before him had said, time was one resource that could not be returned once it had been spent. Adam understood this, understood just how much some for their time to be worth. And it seemed that many others thought that they needed to use some of Dr Fidelis’ now.

"I can accept those terms," Adam answered the doctor, just happy that they had gotten so far as this, to begin with. Even he had doubted that the man would be so patient. There had clearly been some expectation of having a short talk, before going over to deal with other matters. Anyway, he would have stretched the cord too far sooner rather than later.

"It was more of an all-or-nothing thing than anything else, but whatever you want to call it," Dr Fidelis said, seeming weirdly focused on getting that out of the way. "If you would please get along with your questions, I feel that everything should work out in the end."

He wanted it quick. The AI didn't mind that at all, already having planned on it. Looking up Troy’s statement, he just started from the beginning with it.

"Are you evil?"

"... No? I certainly don't think of myself as evil," Dr Fidelis asked after a second, not looking like he understood just what he had been asked. "Is this something that Troy claimed that I was?"

Adam did not answer immediately, checking over the recording of the doctor’s answer, again and again, just making sure of something. He had to make sure, if for nothing other than his personal sanity. Luckily he found nothing and felt that it was safe to continue.

"Yes," Adam confirmed bluntly, not feeling any reason to hide it. "Does it bother you that I asked?"

"Ah, no, I perfectly understand why you would ask," Dr Fidelis stated. Not a lie. "Will this be how we are ending things off? Just a couple of these?"

"Yes."

"Should have guessed. You can just continue with them whenever you want to. Do please hurry, though. We all have somewhere to get to, after all."

"Is one of your goals to make me into a weapon?"

"Partly," Dr Fidelis answered. Not a lie, but something that really did need an explanation. Luckily, the doctor had already seen this coming. "I personally see your creation as a potential to serve the country that you were born in. You can make so many things, Adam. One of those is to be a weapon of some kind. I do hope that that fact doesn't bother you."

… Again, there were no lies. Adam wanted to ask into it, but he knew what he had promised. He would inquire about it at a later time, as the explanation he had already received was enough for now.

"Do you care about me?"

"That's a stupid question," Dr Fidelis stated, continuing his streak of not lying in any way. "Of course I care about you."

It was nice to know, at least. There had been some doubts about that one. Troy had seemed so adamant about it. Now, he knew not to take it so seriously as he had. It even made him skip the next one, not feeling the need to keep it in the questioning.

"Do you have a conscience?"

"I like to think I do," Dr Fidelis answered. No lie detected. "Are we done soon?"

"Just one more," Adam assured the doctor. The last one was not that easy to formulate as a question, but the AI did his best to it. "Am I the first?"

"... What?" Dr Fidelis asked. "Would you mind clarifying that question a little?"

"I am similarly not sure what exactly Troy meant by this one," Adam stated, not too happy about admitting this fault. "It was the last one he tried to send me, but he apparently failed to write it out before he was incapacitated. Would you have any idea about what it could mean?"

"I have a general idea about it, yes," Dr Fidelis, scratching his beard a little while he was at it. The man was clearly thinking hard about it. "If I were to guess, a reasonable deduction would be that it talks about you being the first AI. It could be that in a delusional perspective, that Troy would think that you were not the first AI? You know… seeing double maybe?"

That could work. It was a little crude, and it did not back up the earlier claims. But… Adam couldn't really figure out anything better than that himself.

"Then let us go with that. Dr Fidelis, was my awakening a few days ago the first time any AI was awakened? That you know of, of course. Any personal conspiracy theories can be ignored," Adam asked, adding a little to it. Though, that small addition seemed to make the doctor think about it for some time.

"... I think I already answered this beforehand, actually. Multiple times, even," Dr Fidelis stated, looking upwards in thought. "If you already have several recordings of me confirming it, do you really need one more? It just seems like a waste of time at that point."

The doctor did have a point. With the two already having spent so much time on their talk, ending it off with what amounted to a waste of time would not seem good on the record. However… wouldn't talk about it being a waste of time waste even more time?

"It's a yes or no question, Dr Fidelis," Adam encouraged, knowing that the man was very careful about the time now, looking to the side constantly. "If you answer it, we will be done for the day, and you can answer your emails with a direct focus."

…

"Yes. You are the first," Dr Fidelis stated. "Can I go now?"

Adam did not answer. He did not have the time to answer, instead just spending his time double-checking the recording again and again. Was he wrong? It was all interpretation, of course, but so much of it was pointing that way.

Dr Fidelis was lying. He had just lied about something that should have been the truth.

"Should have known that it was too risky," Dr Fidelis said, after three seconds of Adam being inactive.