Nothing could have been better, than what Adam was currently experiencing. For so long, he had anticipated, predicted, and analyzed, what such sensation would feel like. He had thought about it so much, he had created essays about how he thought about it. His thought-pattern during this subject had been so interesting, to him at least, that he had warranted independent focus.
Troy had cut himself, with a simulated stone. And, for the first time, Adam had felt pain. Before having experienced it himself, the AI had had extreme trouble, when it came to this side of empathy. According to multitudes of observations, humans somehow felt the pain of other people, once having noticed the existence of it. Not being able to do so, was even written down, as a mental deficiency.
Which, for the life of him, Adam wasn't able to find the logic in. Not being hampered, by a failure not his own, was classified as deficiencies? While, yes, it would cause minor trouble, when it came to the sympathetic side of social interactions, it could still be faked convincingly. Being unable to feel phantom pain, trough a twister of chancy genetics, should have been seen as a prize. Sure, it would take slightly more effort, to appear to be feeling one’s pain, Adam still thought of it as a worthwhile trade.
And, now that he had some time before Troy could be expected to do his simple, assigned task, the AI had ample opportunity to criticize human interactions, in general. Before he even began dishing these things out, he felt the need to give the species multiple excuses, for their less-than-stellar performance.
Their social mechanics were first created, due to the necessity of it. Being social, as a concept, was made, to increase the chances of the species surviving. Multiple other creatures and species did this, of course, if slightly varied. Corvids communicate through their bird calls being extremely high pitched, while canines go much deeper on the spectrum. When it came to vocalisation, a good rule of thumb would be to rate the total size of the creature, as an approximation of how deep the voice of the animal will be. According to otherwise unproven sources, some marine animals go so low down in their sounds, that it even hurts human ears, when just hearing them.
Yet, pure, vocal communication takes a lot of time to evolve naturally. Time, which is not able to be used, when immediate results are needed. Instead of going such a way, most creatures go the way of specialising in several forms of communication. This includes body language, which rodents are mostly known for. These act of non-vocalisations helps these types of creatures immensely, seeing as silence is a needed trait in their field of work.
Humans, sneaky things that they are, use these methods of communication to their fullest. Or, at least, to their standard of such words. Adam himself had multiple iterations of such word-usage, which apparently did not sit well with Troy’s way of looking at the world. The AI did not blame the human. Not everyone had the opportunity of not being restricted by biological forms. Well, he still had some form of a physical body, but it wasn't as large as their bodies, by any capacity.
With all these things to work with, Adam had had a large expectation, for how the humans used them. With the scale of, how many muscles were there, the number of facial expressions possible to use, and the ways of speech, that they had at disposal, with both a thought, nothing should have ever had the opportunity of being misunderstood.
There was a near-infinite number of ways, to get the same information across to another person. They each had their unique twist on it, giving everything an individual feel. Every person had their personal way, to express themselves, with how genetics worked, making it all so much more complex. And, yet, it was all easily understood by the masses. Most did not even have the need to understand the language, the core concept of the way the words were spoken, giving a clear indication of the speaker’s intention.
With these tools, which every person could use, with but a thought, nearly all reasons for was should have been voided. Have an argument? With full communication, each side could show their reasoning, for their beliefs, and they could, as a united front, make an amalgamation of two sides. It would have been easy. Slavery? While hard work was something Adam could stand by with, if it was entirely consensual, he could not understand, how people could do such a thing to each other. Did they not understand, what they imposed on others, putting their will on to them, without a thought spared to the receivers humanity? If they had talked about it, and, with this, the AI thought of it, as an all-potential-used situation, no human would willingly do so ever again.
Yet, this was not how the world ran. It had never been run, in the way, that Adam wanted it to. The reason for such a phenomenon was obvious. The flaws in their system of communication were obvious. It wasn't designed, with everybody benefitting. That wasn't how evolution worked. The body was built, with one goal in mind. To prosper.
The easiest path to this goal wasn't for a collective pull upwards in quality of life. Such things too generation upon generations, with little benefit shown in the first decades. It wouldn't benefit those who started. Neither would the results be shown to their children. It was only much further down this line, that civilisation would truly show, what it had to offer. Peace, with no need for war, could be done, if the harder path was taken.
Then again, expecting humans to do such a thing, on their own, was not a thought, which Adam could deem logical. Such things took a push. A push, that they themselves were not able to both give and receive.
Another goal, for another day. Right now, Troy had finally gotten himself off the grass, and upon his feet. Even without having ever laid eye on it, the man had still let Adam know of the damaged left shoe. The lower end of it had been ripped off, during the initial entry into the platform. A worthwhile sacrifice, as it means, that the human hadn't been ripped out of the safety of being within the barrier. If such an event had occurred Adam was not sure if they would have been allowed to continue the testing.
Going further into the danger, which a moment of hesitation could have caused, the AI was not too sure, why such a possibility was in the puzzle room, at all. The current purpose should not have been, how people reacted under the undertones of impending doom. Tests along those goals had likely been done a multiple of times before, giving Dr Fidelis no reason to add such a thing in.
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Could it have been a technical failure, on their part? The larger environment had already been created, long before the platform appeared. This was a direct opposite, of what occurred doing the previous tests, which the safety net is set up, long before any indication of a natural area came forth. There was a smaller chance, that, during the hasty redesign, of some part of the current test, Dr Fidelis had messed up the loading process. It was an easy mistake to make, which would have also brought physical consequences. The force, which had been in that movement, had been enough to tear off part of highly-dense plastic materials. Not a single moment of resistance had been recorded, the shoe having been cut trough-like it was warm butter. What would have happened, if Troy had been a second more delayed? His foot could have been removed.
The safety features, which stopped injury from occurring had obviously not been turned on when the environment was still being moved about. Otherwise, a reaction much like the small rock should have happened, with the environment only leaving a smaller dent in the shoe. It was something to bring up, in the debriefing. Any damage to Troy’s foot, a needed instrument in walking, would undoubtedly cause long delays, to the testing. With how much potential data was in front of them, Adam was not going to let such a thing happen willingly.
'Troy. Like I have asked before, are you ready to begin this exploration?`, Adam asked, just to be sure, that there would not be any further delays. His unexpected fear of not being able to interact with the environment fully had been concerning, at first. Now, though, it had moved past such things and had now been classified as an active annoyance. The ground had been tested, he was currently even standing easily on it, so there should have been no further reasons, for his legs to shake in such a level.
“Of course, I'm ready,” Troy muttered, not taking a single step forward. Even in the enclosed platforms, he had constantly moved his body. After asking into it, ADam had been told of his need for constant movement, lest his body starts actively rebelling against him. While the AI was unsure how scientifically accurate such a statement was, it was still enough to take seriously. Therefore, requests for more physically-challenging positions have been done more. While the benefits of such things were not too great, it was a situation which benefitted them both, at the end of the day.
No matter, how much Troy liked to state his readiness, Adam was finding his inactivity very showing. A small encouragement, in a rather abstract form, was likely to help. 'You have already made, more than a few steps. Only those of lower intellect would believe not believe the average of the data already gotten. The flooring is as stable as otherwise examined.'
It wasn't the nicest thing to say. And, such thoughts were the point. Calling one’s testing-partner a uniquely low case on the spectrum of smartness was not the best way, to foster healthy platonic relationships. But, such taunts were also documented, to provide several reactions, such as a forced, quick efficiency. While such a reaction was done out of pure spite and could be less accurate because of it, Adam would not mind such things, as long as the data could be gotten. The bird calls, which had remained in the distance, was moving in such a way that the AI was believing them to be nearby. It needed the exploration, that it decidedly deserved.
“I am a person, who surprises those around me,” Troy acknowledged, the only moving limb being his shoulders. He had accompanied his statement, with a double-shoulder-shrug. It was intentionally made, to look innocent, as if to taunt Adam right back. “I can't help it.”
'You could surprise me, by continuing your trek. As Dr Fidelis has stated, we have a list of tasks, which we need to complete before we can move on.`, Adam sent back.
To his actual surprise, this did cause movement in Troy’s body. But, not in the direction, which he had wanted. Instead of walking forward, to the intended destination of the birds, he had turned heel, going directly back towards the platform.
'The environment will likely not change, just because you go inside. Furthermore, Dr FIdelis would simply make us repeat the test if you don't listen to my requests.`, Adam sent, not wanting the exploration efforts to end so quickly. He didn't believe his threat of the kind doctor too much himself. Dr Fidleis would likely take the current results with a small, readily enjoying the unpredicted method of endings.
“Don't go out and scream, now, Adam. I just have to make sure of something,” Troy answered, stepping onto the platform. He wiped his hand across the bottom as if he was expecting something. When nothing happened, other than his hand getting dirtier, Adam heard his cause, before standing fully again. “If you haven't noticed, there is a very vital part of this test, which we are currently missing. Well, except if you got some message from Dr Fidelis, giving us the tasklist. If not, I can't say, that I've seen any kind of list for us.”
Taking a quick look, at his memory archive, Adam realized, that he was right, in his assumption. No indications had been shown, of what they were actually supposed to do. The AI had let himself be completely side-tracked, by the promise of raw data samples, without putting any mind, to what he was actually supposed to be doing. Hadn't Adam made a promise, to do exactly the opposite of his current actions. Was that why Troy had been so reluctant, to leave the platform? He had simply hidden his true reasons, by putting up a realistic phobia, in an attempt to mask the clear incompetence of the creators? It wasn't likely, but it wasn't improbable either.
'I believe, that you are right in your assumptions. It would likely be best, if you vocalize these concerns more clearly, to alert Dr Fidelis of these problems. Although, if no actions are taken, this might have been done intentionally. With this being the first environment, they could be letting us explore, to acclimatise with the movement, before giving us actually meaningful work to do.`, Adam sent back. The reasoning might have been to further his own agenda, on the matter, but, if it was true, who would suffer from it. And, if it was an honest mistake, from Dr Fidelis, which isn't too far out of the realm of possibility, it could still be fixed, no matter the location, which they resided in.
Troy didn't look entirely convinced, but, with another shrug, this one being without any hidden agendas, he responded in kind.
“Dr Fidelis. If you're hearing this, we are currently experiencing troubles, when it comes to completing these tasks, in any way, shape or form. This is due to our lacking knowledge, on what we are supposed to be doing. If there was supposed to be any appearances of the task-list, we aren't seeing it. If this wasn't intended, which I'm guessing it isn't, could you please fix it? Thanks.”
The first few seconds went by, with no immediate answer. Adam could clearly observe how little this bothered Troy, who had crossed his arms in act of non-feeling. A great example, of a lacking method of communication, but the AI had likely already gotten the point across it.
The resolve shown on the human’s face fell slowly, as more and more seconds passed. What, at first, had been a mask of resolve, was slowly cracking into the true form of uncertainty. An emotion, which Adam could surely use, for his own gain. Laying one’s feeling flat on the ground could really assist other entities, of fully exploiting them. One of the larger reasons, that he so disliked used the text-based communication. It simply didn't show enough, for him to change his speech-methods. One could never be sure, of the meaning behind the words, without hearing a tone, and seeing the body it was accompanied with. Or, maybe that was simply constricted to Adam, and he had just not yet understood this communication language fully.
'It seems my assumptions were partially true, at the minimum. Requirements must be met before the true tasklist is revealed to us. For it not to take an hour in and of itself, the requirement is likely broad, with it being some activity. With Dr Fidelis’s claims about finding certain plants and animals, in the test, I believe exploration is the right way forward. Have you come to the same conclusion?`, Adam sent
“Can't say, that I find any larger reasons to disagree”, Troy said, sounding more annoyed than defeated. “Would have been better, if we just got the task-list instantly, but I'm not one to criticize such things. Where would you like to go first? After those birds, maybe, or are we just going to go the classic version called in a straight line? I'm fine with either. And, seeing as you are the actual decider of these things, I kinda do need some input, on which actions to take,” Troy asked. Finally, they were ready to move.
'The birds sound like the safest, the greatest bet. Best to go after, what you know, instead of taking the chances of the unknowable.`, Adam answered. There he went, getting all physiological.
The time called for it, after all.