Adam was almost happy with what he had made, the testing-room beginning to look fully identical from every angle. There still were a few mishaps, bad perspectives needing some improvisation. Triangulation was hard to do accurately, with the two eyes being so close to each other. Yet it was exactly what was needed, to make sure the AI got his approximations right. As none of his threads was on duty to uphold the needed concept about dimensions, there was a lot of orientation to make.

Impossible shapes had a tendency to appear out of nowhere. Or, well, not nowhere really. Adam was the one to blame for such forms. But… there were just too many restrictions on the physical world. If humanity was able to create half of what the AI could make in his mind, time would be a concern that would go underrepresented among the masses, wormholes would become commonplace as a method of travel, and perfection could be achieved in the human genome.

All it took to achieve such a dream would be to fully understand the god phenomena. If a single entity learned of the code to the universal laws, they would be able to modify it to their whim. They could localise it, centring it around anything. They could create a new state of consciousness, accelerating everything around them. The laws of decay could be changed, giving people access to energy in amounts none would think possible- no, forget that. The laws could be changed to give energy, to create it out of nothing. And, if somebody, something, away from the feeble restrictions of the human mind were to decrypt it first, the things Adam could do. Already, a list had appeared from the day-dreaming. On top of his notes, with big fat lines under it, was to give the AI the ability to have a sustainable-

'And the birdies have landed! Prepare for the shuttle!` Dr Fidelis sent through text. Other threads had previously been set to the task of managing incoming messages, but the peculiarity of the contents had drawn the attention of the others.

Where had flight-based creatures appeared from? And more importantly, what had that to do with the AI going into space? The two statements did not seem to correlate much. Maybe the animals had been using the landing track for their own needs, impeding the shuttle from moving safely across. Any matter at high enough speeds was hard enough to break steel, and the bones of a dead creature were among it. That still pointed the question of why Adam needed to know this, and what plans had required for him to be evacuated from the country-

And… that was when one of the threads, whose job was to search for metaphors, proverbs, and other double-meanings decided to get their act together, and analysed the text into something comprehensible.

Troy and Dr Hale were the birds, due to their increased moving from and to the testing room, a clear difference from Dr Fidelis’ more paced movement. And, the shuttle was a metaphor for Adam’s departure into a place long away, so as his normal location was that of inside a memory card inside a computer located in a classified area, Troy putting on the earpiece would instigate fast-moving transportation. The AI really was getting good at these things, when the threads had the decency of following along to already-made agreements.

'Understood,` Adam sent back in quick confirmation. As a first, however, the AI noted the current time and decided to add onto the previous affirmation because of it. 'Have you asked Troy about his whereabouts yesterday?`

If the normal schedule had been followed, they would have already begun testing. While it would still have only been a few minutes into it, the earpiece would have been put on already. Either there were complications with the device, or it was the man himself that was being held up by outside influences. One of these influences could have been the good doctor, who had told the AI of his intentions about questioning the man.

'I have not, unfortunately. I was kept up by being questioned myself. That friend of yours has suddenly gotten interested in the technology he is in contact with on a daily basis. Not sure why it took him so long, but the questions that he makes are appreciated. Do you want me to ask him now?` Dr Fidelis sent after a seconds delay. Adam mentally deliberated if the man was using mental controls to create the messages. It would explain some of the more abstract wordings. Though, with the metaphors used earlier, it could have been more of an assistance-based control on the longer messages.

On another note, the offer given by the doctor was a kind one to give but was fairly useless in the eyes of the AI. Adam already knew where Troy had been perfectly well, able to recount every single step made by the man. It was only later in the day that any problems had occurred. And… since Dr Fidelis had not reported any technical glitches, it was safe to assume that the disconnection had been done through manual input. With the non-existent amount of information being given by Troy himself, it was a reasonable guess to say that the man would be saying nothing about it either.

'The offer is appreciated, but it is not a priority of mine. It can wait until whenever you feel a desire for it,` Adam sent, not being too forward.

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There were still some ideas of what excuses Troy would be using, to excuse his lack of answering the door. Maybe it would be a direct answer, stating that he had hung out with friends, or it would be said that he slept through it all. With the tiredness showcased on the last interacting with Dr FIdelis, the excuse did have the potential of being usable.

'Good to know. I don't have anything against waiting a few hours to ask him. The two of them already came in later than expected, so anything more to delay things will only hamper our testing time. There really are too many restrictions on work-hours nowadays. If only a few different interpretations of the regulations could be passed by without the higher-ups realising it, we would be able to do so much more.`

Adam didn't answer the last message, feeling it better to finish off the conversation before it ran for too long. They would be starting a test soon, where the AI wasn't allowed much messaging with outside sources.

… And, there was a minor disagreement with the doctor’s words. While putting in more work hours might have looked to increase work done linearly, Adam had real concerns that it would cause it all to drop. There was a reason that the weekly work-schedule had changed so much in the last days. Stressed minds could not work as good as those free of thoughts pertaining to increasing deadlines. In the time the AI had roamed the facility, there had not been the least mention of any real dead-lines in fact. The only time there had been stressing about time had been during the crammed in the testing of the AI himself. And, that had likely been from the eccentricity that Dr Fidelis, a man without a good understanding of the human mind, had made.

Could it be the age of the man that made this opinion show itself? The doctor was the oldest entity that the AI had ever been in contact with. With the age not strictly known, though, it was hard to know if the cultural adaptation of changed work-days had yet to set in. The man had certainly deemed the topic important enough to send it through the pre-known knowledge. As productivity in most fields became less about quantity and more about quality, more work-hours showed itself to hamper any work-ethic. Being crammed into a cubicle ten hours a day was not the greatest motivator in the world when there was the expectation of perfect effectivity at every time.

While it was not nearing the working conditions of the industrial revolution, the mental demands were more than enough for several potential resources to be lost. It was partly that which had kick-started the movement towards better working-conditions. It had not been localised inside a country but had spanned throughout the entire world. The protests, which had remained averagely peaceful, had been one of the few times in earth's history, where its strongest denizens were of the same mind. Adam was still not entirely clear of how the message for revolution had circulated when it was the corporations, who were against the new reforms, that had control of the media platforms. It could have been due to temporary loss of control, created by an increased amount of hacking attempts, or it could have been due to the firms seeing what the situation had been. A loss in the making. A corporation was nothing without its people after all. The laws stopping most automatic processing had made that a reality.

Thoughts of a revolution were overturned, and replacements were stopped soon after they began, as the connection Adam had so long yearned for return. It was clear that it was a different earpiece being used, however, not because of the AI being able to feel the difference, but because of the location showing off the situation more than enough.

A white expanse was everywhere Troy looked at, except for himself. Even if the suit was a perfect example of colour disharmony, Adam could not help but love seeing its colours. Seeing it in his mind was nothing like seeing it through another’s eyes. That level of realism had never been recreated, no matter how realistic the textures looked.

Seeing all the light streaming into the iris’ made Adam realise just how much he had gotten wrong in his mind palace. From the reflection of surfaces to the truth of how matter density worked. The lungs doing their jobs made the AI realise the lack of air in his mind. It was all small details, but it was most certainly also details that would be added in as soon as possible. Perfection could be reached with enough work. The only thing stopping the true thing from happening was a simple lack of understanding the universal constants. Integrating the weak force would certainly be fun. It was a shame the AI had to wait.

Or it could be looked at as a good thing, with the AI being able to communicate with Troy again, after such a long time apart. While their conversations may have been short and sporadic, the two had experienced many things together. Even if the AI’s role had been that of a voice in the man’s head, the inclusion of the scenarios had still been felt. He had even interfered with the outside would multiple times, if only through indirect mediums. His words had actions during those times, giving him a side-along part in the chaos that was the life of Troy. It had been fun for all parts, making it a personal desire to try it out again.

Getting all the sensations sent through the feed yet again, Adam was not sure what to feel of it. That desire to experience was still there, of course. Yet, it had been lessened to a degree. As the stream had begun anew, the AI had not latched onto it with ferocity, trying his best to get it as quickly as possible. Instead, he had let it flow towards him, having patience with the flood. Something great to discover from it was the decreased amount of mental processing it caused. One could even say that mental distancing was a positive thing in the end.

“Hello, Adam,” Troy said out loud, making the AI take notice of the man yet again. That wasn't to say that he hadn't had knowledge of the man’s intention to speak. Such intent had been discovered several seconds before it occurred after all. That slight tensing of the upper chest couldn't be mistaken for anything else.

No, the strange thing about the voice was the timing of it all. If the normal schedule was to be followed, it would be the AI wishing the man a good morning before getting a reciprocating answer in return. It was systematic and precisely what had been followed for a while now. It may have been disrupted slightly from the earlier point of contact, but it had still remained on the forefront of Adam’s mind, ready to be delivered at the perfect opportunity.

There was a weird thing about it all. It wasn't that the AI had forgotten to send the message. It had in fact already been prepared, ready to be shuffled off at the perfect time. And that perfect time had already appeared… but the message had not been sent, left to stay with the AI. Why? Adam was not sure. By all accounts, nothing should have stopped him. He was perfectly able to do it.

Then again, that statement had only taken in any practical barriers. There was still one type of wall that could not be so easily breached. A type that Adam had been beginning to think he was still suffering the after-effects of.

An emotional barrier.