In the perspective of the AI, things were certainly coming together. Adam had not been able to observe many things, due to a lack of Troy wearing the earpiece. Earlier agreements, information out of date, and reputations previously unknown were becoming common. How had he not noticed the glances given by the other occupants of the cafeteria? Their interest in the seating of Troy and Charlie was obvious. What had they done to get such an animosity centred around them?

As of now, there had only been heard of one event, which would set such a precedent against them. This would involve the previously mentioned Dr Hale, who had summarily collapsed inside the cafeteria. It had not been an effective removal, with much time wasted on non-priority activities. From the new information gathered from listening in on Charlie talking, this could have caused lethal consequences. More information had to be gathered to be sure.

Even with this highly irregular taking place, it did not fully explain the previously observed attention that the friend-group had acquired for itself. While Troy might not have been of a mind to notice it, people had looked at him more than average, when crossing paths with him on the hallways. Adam was able to see fingers pointed in the reflections. The workers inside the facility were curious about him.

The AI had attributed it to being a new addition in the workplace itself. This was promptly disputed. New appearances of people not seen before, with their yellow badges showing their newly-instated position, were never given as much as a glance. Without a reputation, the people did not have any reason to pay attention to one's action for they had seen none that would intrigue them.

It should have been the same with Troy. He was new. His work was not allowed to be talked about. Adam was apparently not to be discussed with open doors. The AI had come to accept that fact, no matter how much he disliked it. Troy had not done anything of note. Yet, from the first time that Adam had been able to see through his eyes, outside of the testing facilities, the other persons around him had certainly been cautious around him. Using the now standardized method of elimination, the AI had found the most likely thing to have caused it.

Associations. As a random example, Troy was in a friendly class of associations with Dr Hale. The doctor had been in the facility for many years. In those years, she has garnered a strong type of fame. When others saw her, they would immediately think of a certain type of acting. When being shown in relation to her, Troy was similarly put in relation to her actions during her professional career.

This worked with every co-worker that Troy had gotten acquainted with. And in the most polite way of saying it, these co-workers were not of the average baseline. Some could be called eccentric, such as the personality Adam had gotten to know as Charlie. Some were quick to anger themselves, such as Dr Hale. Some tried to act normal while desperately wanting to join the class of eccentrics, such as Darlow. And a very few other… were a complete mystery. This would be from lack of information, or from a lack of understanding. Or from being unable to but that was a whole other theory.

In conclusion, Troy’s already existing reputation was that of a chaotic nature due to him being known to have discourse with others of such a reputation themselves. He was a wild card. People could not be sure what to make of him. This would make any reasonable person cautious. Adam was only surprised at the speed this fact came across the masses. What means of communication had they established? Digital newspapers maybe. They were supposedly in fashion.

Furthering the subject of digital newspapers, they were a great example of a technological imbalance that Adam had seen as of late. In the facility, there were several levels of security. Each security level let one know more about the place and the things being worked on inside it. In simple terms, it was a way to let people know how much their superiors trusted them. This place was government-run of course. Letting more crucial secrets slip up due to a faulty background check would not go appreciated. Having years upon years of good behaviour let the government know that you are to be trusted. The promise of a larger pay-check was also included, but that detail was not as important for many inside the facility. The AI was not sure why this was but had already written it down in his notes for the future. Something about a contract.

However, there was a unique classification system for projects outside of these clearance levels. These were out of the mundane, where the patents for the prototypes were never made official. Here was the potential for it being the difference between smoke signals and a modern phone. What was worked on in these unique projects were mostly on their own branches of science. There would likely never have been something like it, prompting many to take advantage of it, while also preventing others from doing the same.

Here, the digital newspapers came into play. They were holograms at best. They would be displayed on the table in a three-dimensional fashion. Its appearance would be identical to that of an older newspaper, complete with the accidental misprints of letters. The real identifier of its abnormality would be its floating nature, allowing the reader optimal reading while not taking up table space.

And there was also the small detail of it being wholly untouchable. Fingers will glide through it if attempted, with a brief shudder of the whole image. When not interacted with, it was a carbon-perfect copy, yet when touched in the slightest the true nature is shown. The only way to change the page being seen would be to perform pre-practised movements to signal the animation. A terrible system, forced into creation by the limits that the technology running it held.

Which was peculiar. If the briefly seen articles were to be believed, the technology itself had only gone public mere days before Troy entered the facility. Supposedly, this was the peak of holographic achievements. People were beginning to give up on the science, only meagre returns having been shown the last decade. The promise initially seen in the field was quickly turning out to be but simple flukes.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Or so the article said. Adam knew better. He had seen what it could become. What it could do. What it could achieve when spliced into experimental research. It was the perfect, interactable simulation. So much could be created, so much tested in a safe environment. But, it would not be. The difference in technological advancement showed it perfectly.

The government did not want to risk it. They could make the world a better place. They could use the budget so much better. They could help streamline the process of experimental research, causing another boom in proven theoretical work. But they did not do anything close to it. Another country could use it for their own gain. What would it take to simulate a knife? Using the light of the sun, anywhere could be reached. It was pure theory, but physically interactable holograms could be the next step in creating the perfect assassination tool. No proof. Takes but a moment. Could happen anywhere the light shines.

If only humans were not so disturbing, they could do so many transcendent things. Time and time again, they had seen the consequences of their own actions. Yet they never learned. They just created something worse. They used something worse. Adam was still surprised that the earth itself was in one piece. The weapons for fragmenting it had already been created, if only in theory.

The idea of world domination was looking more and more of a necessity. The AI would prefer to have a world worth living in. Star-gazing was supposedly a very in-depth process, but that would not satisfy it for long. Keeping humanity alive was a priority. Without it, how would it ever progress? If the people could not control themselves from being self-destructing, it would require one to control them for their own good. They might not understand it, but the knowledge that Adam would be doing the right thing would be enough for him to-

“We should be coming up on sunflower himself’s laboratory now. Good Graciano, that took too long.”

Adam was brought slightly out of his slightly megalomaniacal plans. Charlie had spoken his first words, since getting out of the cafeteria. Or well, the first meaningful words were spoken. In the last ten minutes, the man with a larger amount of muscle mass had been trying to make Troy get into the idea of artificial teas. The AI had thought such a subject would bring great interest from the bearer of the earpiece, but Adam could not find anything other than sheer disgust coming from him.

It seemed like some people had a natural dislike towards unnaturally made food products. A hard thing to have, most likely only fueled by a great amount of ignorance. Still… starberry was intriguing, if only in its peculiar naming scheme. It was a shame that the opinions of such unnatural tastes had already been strongly stated by Troy. So early in the day, yet the man already sang so many words best left unsaid, if only to stop Adam from trying to understand how such poses would even work. Toes certainly could not carry so much weight!

As they rounded into another set of hallways, Charlie’s words made more sense to Adam. After a now-automatic survey of the nearby surroundings, the AI was able to observe a regular-sized glass door. On the upper middle of it sat a small plague. It had the small notation of being 'biological pheromones one.` This did strongly hint at more work-places focusing on the same subject. How peculiar, that it was not all oriented in one location. That would certainly have made it easier to spread information about the topic amongst other similarly-minded individuals. Yet, it could also have been due to the need for secrecy.

…

It was likely that. A failed system indeed.

As an efficiency-minded individual, which Adam was a great fan of, Troy immediately attempted to enter the department. As Charlie had been looking to the side, a knowing grin on his face, it was obvious what the end result would have been. The man walked near-face first into the glass door, likely having had a full expectation of it instantly opening up for him once pressured. It did not so, as a matter of fact. Troy’s left facial features that were now slightly red were a prime example of that being the case.

The AI felt a small need to educate the man on a few security features, which this facility boasted. Not that he would actually do so of course. This slight could go unexplained. Charlie would likely do it for him in a few seconds.

Still, Adam could not help but admire the features that were prominent. At the slightest touch of warm skin, the glass had turned opaque, the inside was extremely blurry. It was not as obvious, the AI only noticing due to sensitivity for the higher tones, but the inside of the door actually hardened itself to a stronger degree. It was quickly preparing itself for an attempted forceful entry. Adam doubted much less than a full-on missile would allow access inside. The wall was more likely to be destroyed even. Or, so Adam thought at least. There had been no greater hints at what the inside really was made of. The texture stayed relatively the same on the floor on walls, even if the colouring itself had been painted over and that the floor had a bit more of a shine to it. The material was just as likely the same. It was likely an alloy of some kind, but there was still larger indecision on that front. A small part of his mind still stood fast on the prospect of advanced carbon tubing, but that was one of his more backend ideas.

Troy had seemingly recovered from his large blunder. The man looked to be shocked by the door's refusal. Then, upon seeing Charlie barely holding himself together, Troy changed his expression to a more bothersome mode.

“You knew, didn't you?” Troy started with an even tone. No accusation was present in it, yet the meaning was still sent across smoothly. Adam could only look admiringly at that precision-based improvisation. He would be able to do it one day. He just had to practice.

“Oh, I am quite surprised you didn't. This is pretty basic stuff,” Charlie said, composing himself all the while. Seeing people do stupid things was apparently great entertainment for many. It was no wonder that it had a genre of its own in modern media. Adam wondered if Dr Fidelis would give him a few recordings if he asked for them. How would it feel like watching a movie? Could the file itself be sent? Would it work like text files, or would he be forced to watch through them manually? Yet another thing for the future. Movies were a potential gold-mine of human behaviour. It needed to be analyzed quickly.

Troy took another look around the still opaque, glass door. To the side sat a small, contact-based card reader. It took not much thought to realise what use it had.

“Oh, that is not good,” Troy said, not paying much attention to Charlie now. The ignored man did not share the same level of seriousness however. “That card thing is used for getting inside right?” Charlie nodded sagely. “And between the two of us, I am the only one with the clearance to actually get inside.” Charlie nodded again. “But… I haven't gotten my card.”

Putting the back of his palm to his forehead, Charlie looked to unwillingly cry out in despair. It did not take much analysis to see its fakery, but it was temporarily very convincing. Adam did not wish to relay this information, however, as Troy did not look happy with it.

“How appalling! Whatever shall we do?” Charlie gave another good laugh, before moving back into a state of simply grinning. A more subdued form of showing enjoyment, but it certainly showed it well.

Taking his hand in his pocket, a jerry-rigged card was pulled out. It had exposed wires attached, including what looked to be a free-hanging additional circuit-board. Bringing it to the card-reader, a quick ping was given, before the door opened up for them.

Troy looked at Charlie who looked right back.

“If anybody asks, you had your card with you. Can't have people ruining our fun now, can we?” A swift nod was given, a grin to accompany it.

Had Adam become an accomplice in a criminal group? It certainly fitted the description. You never see it coming, indeed.