Troy should have known. Goats would never make themselves easy to be found. They are herbivores. Their entire life is devoted to not being found. Hiding out in the truly wild wilderness is their most distinguishing trait. If they could be found by anyone from a distance, the entire species would have already been eradicated.

So, why had he expected to find the creatures in so little time? Having spent twenty minutes contemplating such an idea, Troy had not yet found a good answer to it. Adam had been gracious enough to find out early, that they had been in the completely wrong end of the environment. The two of them had been surveying the lower-fields, hoping to catch the larger-than-average animals, with no objects to hide behind.

This idea, how great it may have sounded in its concept-phase, was entirely useless in helping them achieve their simple goals. Troy, when making this strategy, had been thinking of the whole environment, which they stood in, as a larger area. It was, to his narrow-minded knowledge, all the same thing, with the creatures migrating all around the place.

As it should have been evident from the very start, Troy, hereby known as a larger nincompoop, had been wrong in his guesses. While some goats did cross more open areas, the species that they were currently watching for, were known for their inclination to areas higher in altitude.

Adam had, of course, taken this last bit of information as a vital clue. Having made a better estimation of the general layout, of the scene in the start, the AI had been able to determine an unbiased idea of, where he believed these goats might be hiding.

The hills! It was undeniable. Troy hadn't said anything about it, due to both him not being allowed to help Adam, and him not wanting his input to be wrong again. As the words earlier might have suggested, the bearer of the mythical earpiece had noticed a slight mistake in his general actions. He had been breaking a few rules. While knowing, that any sway during the tests was only supposed to be at the beck and call of Adam, Troy had numerous times, in each test, acted autonomously. In more extreme instances, he had even given some suggestions to true answers, for the sake of the tests ending quicker.

Why the pair of specialists hadn't mentioned this to him, he couldn't be sure. His first thought, to reason this in-action had been due to simply not noticing. Such naive thinking had been pulverised back down immediately. He knew, for a fact, that Dr Fidelis was paying attention to everything when it came to the tests. There was not a chance, that several actions, on the same genre, had gone overlooked.

Which brought back the question, of why this rulebreaker hadn't been rectified from his position. If they had already noticed these mishaps, which he was sure they had, there must have been a reaction of some kind. The next actions, which Troy could think of, would be Dr Fidelis scribbling it all down, filling out entire expositions, about the inter-relationships of humans and AI. Could it be, that this whole chain of tests was just a cleverly devised method, of gaining data about Adam himself, and seeing how a bond between him, and a human, would work out, so they brought in an average person, with no discernable reason to suspect anything wrong, where they just decided to mash the two of them together?

…

Most likely not. The chance of Dr Fidelis simply changing the method of data being gained, to satisfy the current methods of data generated, made much more sense. Changing people were harder, than changing algorithms. At least, to his more simple perspective, about how such things worked, it was easier to do so. There was no need to quote him on such things.

Where was he? Oh, yeah, the goats. Having realised, that their methods of searching these horn-bearing creatures would be coming out fruitless, Adam had successfully redirected Troy onto a more effective path. A literal path, to be exact.

While simulated humans had likely never taken a step, on the ground near them before, a countless number of animals certainly had. This gave him a spacious trail to walk down, without being constantly worried about falling, due to an unseen bush. The current trek, which he had already walked on for some time, had been so trodden upon, that not even grass grew there. This did indicate a more extreme amount of passerby’s, which Troy felt lucky not stumbling in upon. While only a few of the larger animals could really scare him, it was their sheer numbers, which brought the true danger to the table. They had the capability of tearing him flat, not too unlike the ground he walked upon. While herbivores were commonly known as the prey of the environment, even they could kill a predator, with enough numbers. A few of the larger gatherers could even kill them alone. Luckily, Troy was decently sure that they wouldn't encounter such creatures in the current environment. Such things were likely left aside, for the next two areas.

'Focus on the ground in front of you. Please step aside by half a meter, or you will cause a longer delay.`, Adam sent.

Just to be clear, while there were no actual animals around, there had been plenty of… proof of their current habitation in the area. Troy was just glad, that he couldn't smell anything, that was simulated. It seemed even hardlight had a hard barrier when it came to simulating such things. Usually, when recreating scents, people lugged larger instruments around, which could accurately make them. Using a nearly countless number of substitutes, these machines could portray these fragrances, with mastery so precise, that no human could tell the difference. It had even caused some dogs to pause, before being found out.

Taking the necessary step to the side, Troy instinctively wrinkled his nose. While he might not be able to smell it, his brain was irritating enough to provide it enough mentally.

“Which mountain did you want me to climb again?” Troy asked, looking forward. It had been a long trek, as of the current time spent on it. And, it would be even longer, when he needed to get back to the starting point. In front of him, a near valley of hills stood. While he had been quite high up, when starting out in the environment, the walk over the higher ones had forced him to descend longer down, than what he would have liked. It was a clear marvel, that it wasn't the knees, which were his biggest predicament when it came to his legs. The ankles had gained themselves that particular crown, not being appreciative when being bent to the sides.

'These mounds of dirt and rock are still not officially classified as mountains. While they may look extraordinarily high, this is only an optical illusion. The rock formation, on the top, is much smaller, than what one would think. Also, it is the first to the right, which you will be climbing today.`, Adam sent.

Not minding the first part of the message any mind, Troy began the walk over the specified mountain. He was certainly glad, that it hadn't been one of the mounds father back. While these might not have been incredibly high, they were certainly wide. The distance to reach these hilltops would certainly take more time than Troy would have liked to use on them.

Yet, he wouldn't have had any say, on which massive top they would be reaching towards. If he hadn't relished, what had been proposed, Troy could, of course, have made another proposal. He was the one keeping track of progress, after all. Adam would have likely just thanked him for the kind thoughts, before going with his initial plan.

Therefore, he did not say a thing about their destination, for fear of it turning out to be even longer than expected. While there should have been no reason, for the AI to change his mind, Troy didn't dare to doubt the plausibility of it.

As he continued the long hike, over to the mountains, he did get himself robed into a very severe type of dilemma. It was one of mind, one of willpower, that he was desperately losing against. Even if he had opposed it bravely, for oh so long, the tension was always there, forcing him to survive the onslaught.

Suffice to say; Troy was bored out of his mind. While he wasn't one to criticise outdoor walks, there was a limit to what a city-goer could muster. Looking at wildlife? Sounded fun. Being out in the wild? Even better! Being out in the wild, for an unknowable number of hours, where any type of physical distraction will get you passive-aggressively talked down at, for not being focused enough on your surroundings? Not as fun.

To alleviate this fault in mentality, Troy had decided to the most mature of routes; Solving his problem, by pestering someone else about it.

“Hey. Adam”, Troy said, hoping to get the AI’s attention. If such a short message wouldn't do the trick, there would be nothing that could.

'Hello, Troy. Please be more effective in your conversational abilities. For future reference, it would be best if you layout your questions in the first message, minimising the number of total messages being sent. The delay, that is needed between the texts, are too long, for extended conversation during testing. If you prefer your current method of communication, please keep it outside the test environments. For now, it would be best, if you follow the approved standard of talking. Be sure to try, the next time you vocalize your thoughts.

It would help improve the efficiency in our conversation, and speeding along the process of testing, while likely also improving the overall quality. To get your next words going, I will help you along, by answering in the format, that you most likely desired out of me.

Yes?`, Adam sent back, in a rather lengthy answer. In all of his talks about efficiency, he had seemingly forgotten to keep his own messages on the shorter side.

Troy briefly entertained the thought, about letting his beliefs on those rather lengthy messages be heard, but decided against it, in the end. The AI would undoubtedly have its reasoning backed up, with an innumerable amount of sources. Or it would base it all, on personal experience, from looking at the man’s own actions.

“Good to know, buddy. I was wondering how we would be looking for these goats. I mean, I have already guessed, that we will be moving ourselves to their habitat, in this environment. That much is obvious. But, I was looking for a more descriptive manner, of how we will be searching them out when we’re there. Like, any special surveying methods. Maybe some extra stealth, we will be putting in, so as to not scare them all away, before we get the chance to even look at them?” Troy asked, making sure, to over clarify his question as much as possible. If that digitized scrap-bucket wanted highly detailed answers, he would get exactly what he asked for.

Quantity over quality wasn't the fastest method of communication, but who was Troy to critique such things? He wasn't the entity that was dedicated to achieving maximum efficiency. High-tier concepts, of such a calibre, couldn't possibly have been gained through years upon years of personal experience! No, the entity, who had gained sentience six days prior, obviously knew more about it than him.

'Your practical uses of informing me of your questions’ intent is not under the problem, of being too short. In fact, I believe you may be suffering the conundrum of giving too much knowledge, regarding your question. While more context is always preferable, there is also a fine balance, which must be walked. The word knowledge ratio has been pointedly ignored, in your recent message. This can be attributed to certain repeated concepts, which were reintroduced multiple times. In your next message, I would prefer it, if you favoured more consistent additions of context. Repeated information is unusable to me, with the eidetic memory put into the equation.

To begin the actualisation, of a more practicable answer, to your new question, I would say that it will need to be planned, at a later date. Even with an observation of the general terrain, upon the hills, we can still not be too sure, on what means we will have to disguise ourselves with. The forefront of your mind, should, of course, be focused on prevailing in being unnoticed. These are loose animals, which, as you may have understood, are not accustomed to any form of human intercommunication. With your volume, the most likely acknowledgement, to your proximity, will be defensive aggression. The beings will likely attempt to strike first, on the grounds on it being better than not being surprised by your own attack.

Any further planning than this will likely be classified as unusable, due to the extremely varied conditions, which has the potential to come up. While we wait for the probable circumstances to be disclosed, it would be best, if the time is spent in silence. These animals have a hearing sense, much more refined than you could ever discern. It would be best, if we notice them first, to commence with.`, Adam sent. Troy was still keeping his calm, totally not seriously deciding, if he should mention the hypocrisy before him. Or, inside him… whatever.

Having delayed his boredom-filled state by a good ten minutes, at the very least, Troy went back into his reserved mood. Most of his mind looked within, seeking more understanding of the gained knowledge. The outside environments may have been artistic in nature, but even they weren't pretty enough for them to be looked at continually.

In earlier tests, the surroundings had changed every few minutes, allowing him to focus on them so much more. Now, with nothing big having shifted in some form, Troy’s mind simply refused to concentrate on it. The need for stimulation would not be achieved through the sensory organs, forcing him to devise something himself.

What had Adam expected of him, when he talked? He wanted it short, so little time was used on pure communication. Yet, it also needed to be longer in length, so no piece of knowledge was left unsaid. Had it been left unspoken, that Troy needed to take it as the price and demand scale, where he would just limit himself to the meeting point? If so, it would make much more sense, than the pure nonsensical wordings, which the AI had sputtered out. It surely made sense, if one studied the words closely. The problem was, with such a thing, that he had no intentions of doing so.

Another rule, which Adam had told him, oh so many times, was the need for clarity. While complexity should be put it too, when it was needed, the message needed to be a hundred per cent clear. If one simply let a misunderstanding be created, due to ambiguous phrasing, it would be labelled as a failure, in his eyes.

Would it be rude, if Troy called the AI failure? If asked to explain why he had done so, he would always be able to call on the AI’s own wordings. And, if told such interpretation was wrong, Troy would be able to fire back, that the misunderstanding had been caused by shoddy wording, looping the whole argument back to the start.

When giving erudition to another person, it would always be best, if the message was altered, to the individual. There would be no reason trying to use medical terms while explaining quantum physics to a baby. On such occasions, it would have been much better to use the bible physically, as it gave a much better grasp on the subject. People are inconsistent. Their learning methods are varied. Giving the same instructions to a hundred separate people would yield a hundred separate results. But if one needed a specific message sent across, and you couldn't change the person, to get the perfect integration it would be the transcript, which would be needed to change. Three variables, with two that remained constant. It was understandable, once you perceived it appropriately.

A lesson is given, which the teacher didn't use himself. How sardonic. If he had grown any bolder in the last five minutes, Troy might even have finally gathered up the nerve to mention it.

…

He totally had.

“Hey, Adam! You're a-”