“-Very reasonable entity, once I gained a deeper understanding, into your psyche,” Adam heard Troy end his apology off with. It had been a long and arduous task, nearly forcing the human to amend his many faults. Convincing him of the existence of these faults had been ever so hard. He should have guessed it to be so, honestly. Making a human, like him, acknowledge the faults, when making an unintended descent from a tree, had been hard enough.

How stubborn those biological beings were. If one they had no chemical influences, their actions could be dictated by something other than base needs. Such words, which had been shouted, showed just how close, these beings were to their ancient ancestors. The AI still was not clear, on how they had mustered the will to grow further than that initial stage of intelligence. And, as an even more important answer, why they had only walked so far. It could even be described as a roll. Not much distance had been taken, in their path to greatness. The knowledge barrier was simply too thick, for them to realise the true truths about the universe. Even if they had made a rather accurate numerical estimation, it was still not enough, in Adam’s mind. Their brains had simply not evolved to the needed point yet.

It had been a large period of time, since Adam had started the discussion, on how wrong Troy had been, in saying such things. While the AI did not mind constructive criticism, or any criticism of any kind really, there was a time and place for everything. While these times were not always clear when somebody directly requested an indefinite silence, it was not the smartest reaction, to immediately begin talking. Adam had done his best, to make sure, that Troy knew of this fact.

'Your apology is accepted. Please refrain from speaking any further.`, Adam sent back, having deemed any further attempts to be a larger waste of time. The human’s ability to feel guilt was a strange thing. At times, they pointed out the lack of ability to do so, in other creatures, while not realising how little they had it themselves. As one, who could tell nearly every sign of the human body, the AI was easily able to distinguish the amount of iniquity, which Troy was deeming himself to have done. It was reasonable to say, that it was much less than what it should have been, in the current situation.

The man had even thought it wise to mutter to himself, about the worthiness of saying his earlier sentence. Why, he had not refrained himself, to simply thinking these particular words, Adam wasn't too sure. However, having been made aware of just, how much guilt he was feeling, the AI had been forced to repeat all his lessons, about proper etiquette, without pause. Having observed the lack of enjoyment, which the man had when hearing these valuable information packets, he had thought of it as a properly constructed punishment. As it fitted perfectly, in both furthering Troy’s useful knowledge, and serving as a mental torment, Adam had filed it away for future reference. If the need ever showed itself, he would be using the technique again.

As the figurative hand of the AI made a larger observation, of their current progress, Adam began to hesitate, if his prior thinking had been as great an idea, as he had previously thought. They had been getting closer and closer, to the area, where he had approximated the animals to be. If Troy was to make another of his less-than-ideal vocalisations, the chances of achieving the optional task would be reduced drastically. The required one as well if the sounds were too identifying. If the wild goats overheard them, before being within sight, the animals had the chance of easily fleeing to not be seen. This would force the two, to scale another hill, in hopes of locating similar animals, which was not a convenient scenario.

Adam could feel Troy’s throat tense, growing ready to use the vocal cords, in but a moments notice. He wasn't directly preparing himself to talk with a goal in mind, though. More, readying himself, for when such a goal was successfully formed.

'Don't make me repeat myself again.`, Adam transferred immediately, upon noticing it. It worked, with Troy apparently giving up the occasion, a decent share of his upper-body slouching in the process. The AI had half a thought-process, to ask for a more proper posture. Yet, any additional correction would have a probable chance of active rebellion. Such a thing should not have been on the list of potential outcomes, but, yet again, he could thank the ingenuity of mankind for such a development.

Around them, the terrain had started evening itself out. What had before been a near forty-degree ascend had dulled to a lesser fifteen. Soon, they would have reached the apex, within reach of the animals natural walking pathways.

At first, Adam had been worried, about their potential means to hide, the vegetation seeming smaller than it should have, at these heights. Though, that had luckily turned out to be a fault of his own making, not taking in the lower perspective accurately, when looking at it from below. If he had to be even more precise, these trees might have been even older, than those below.

Instead of being massively populated, with low-hanging branches, this part of the forest had relinquished such bothersome design. What may have been hanging in lower heights, in the past, had raised itself over one and a half meters higher up. A more modest difference, to be sure, yet, it was once that counted immensely when it would come to moving around noiselessly.

Troy, not one to currently disobey twice repeated requests, stopped in his tracks, the moment, where he was presumably unable to discern the true direction of their trodden trail. This was seemingly due to the large quantities of possible destinations, which the creatures living there had. One could not expect them all, to reside in the exact same position, using the exact same trail. Different creatures lived separate places, with their earlier obvious path more than likely be a consequence of poor climbing places. While their path up the hill may have been steep, it was child’s play, compared to other alternatives. It would not have been wrong, to classify the path as a choke point, causing it to be well-utilised.

'It would be best, to walk quite, from now on. Speed is not essential, to the current task. Use as much time as you need, on the grounds of being noiseless. The current request is for you to get closer to the treeline, so it will be harder for nearby creatures to pick you out, from the surrounds. Please, begin.`, Adam sent, realizing how long Troy had been standing there. It might just have been a single second to him, but, in the world of potential predators, it was an eternity. No matter how sluggish herbivores may look, as they eat, they had the inclination of being remarkably ferocious. When the plant-eating animals attack, it is with the awareness that their life was on the line. While predators could run, when they wanted to, without the herbivores running them down, it was not the same when it was the opposite way around. When the prey runs, the predator hunts, just as it was supposed to do.

While Troy may have been in the possession of a notoriously slow reaction time, his movements did not have similar attributes. Crouching slightly more in the knees, than he normally did, Adam saw the man silently walk forward, in the direction of the nearest tree. Each foot was swiftly put in front of the other, but, safe for the soft grass being pushed into the ground, no sound was ever heard. The AI was mystified, on the techniques used to achieve such a thing. Having had a sub-category, completely filled with Troy’s walking patterns, and the sounds developing from them, he had thought himself educated on the subject. Yet, it took more than a cursory glance, to realize the variations, which had been put on.

The framework of his movements had been radically altered. Usually, his movement would have been unproductive, in its grinding against the floor. While not being enough to be heard, in the higher volumes, Adam had always been able to notice it. He, unfortunately, did not have the ability to simply ignore specific types of sounds, being limited to outsourcing only a few pitches. These movements, which Troy used in his usual day-to-day walks, could be better described if one thought of him as walking across a path of pure gravel. While no large quantity would be moved, each time a step was taken, there would still be a slight amount of friction, as he set his foot down, causing the smallest bit of noise. This would only be noticeable, by a human, in a truly soundless area. Animals, however, would have been easily able to notice it.

Then, when one took the new methods, of nearly phasing to the destination, there would be a noticeable difference. Instead of reaching the ground nearly flat-footed, Troy would first slowly put the ball of his foot down, not putting any larger amount of force behind it. Then, when it was made clear, that no unexpected holes were there, he would slowly apply pressure, bring the rest of his foot down in the process. This was not a quick process, where unnecessary movements occurred. No, such a thing would immediately have been noticed, due to the noise it would have caused. In the last fifteen repeats, of this movement, Troy had done it all perfectly, with no errors in his ways. It was easy to say, that even just this readily impressed Adam. The AI had seen the man fail at even the easiest thing. With this, he knew that it was simply just a lack of trying, which had hampered his earlier efficiency. When they were over this larger obstacle, maybe in the last environment, he would be bringing it up. A load of positive reinforcement could do a massive amount of help when the foundations of talent were already there. It was a shame, it had not been plucked, for the utility that it had. But, he should have seen it coming. This was still the Troy, he had known.

However, these techniques of staying silent were not only limited to highly technical footwork. If such a thing, was all that was needed, Adam would not have been able to scour the surroundings, for potential creatures, and expect any results. Luckily for him, and most biological creatures in general, one’s interactions was not the only source of sounds, coming from the body. Most actually came from within.

Like Adam had discussed previously, in the process of finding the birds nest, when staying silent, there were two main culprits, which needed to be taken control over. These two were the lungs, both useful and irritating things, and one’s heart, the source of all the deeper sounds, most bodies had the potential to muster.

Doing nearly any physically strenuous activity, these organs are capable of creating greater amounts of noise. This was, of course, not at the fault of the human, but at the fault of their composition. The body, of nearly all creatures, had to consume calories. This was to replenished utilized energy, which had been used during the day and night. The more calories spent, the more time the creatures would have to spend gathering more feed.

To prevent such an unneeded amount of calories spent, the bodies of nearly all mammals had grown to operate at lower speeds. This, while lowering the need input drastically, provided its own fair share of problems. Such as the moments where higher output was needed.

The heart will begin beating as fast as possible, nearing two hundred with most semi-healthy humans, and the lungs will fight desperately in sucking in air. Both of these vitals are not optimized for such workings, their underlying function was to conserve use. Being sent into full throttle did not come with any capacity of efficiency.

The lungs, breathing as fast as they were, are simply not capable of integrating any needed amount of oxygen into the blood. And, with the heart not having enough to work with, is forced to pump the not-fully cleared blood back out into the system. In the end, this would have established a chain reaction, of the body feeling heavier and heavier, the breaths deeper and deeper. If not for the human body's ability to offset the higher amount of energy being converted into heat, by regulating it, through the power of sweat, the current body-design would not have been continued. Instead, it would have been discarded into something more optimized, for their needs.

Nevertheless, to get back to another of these negatives, these processes produce sounds, not usually put out, in day to day life. If not for the ways that the human species is used to hunt, they would have been lost to the ages, as a species. Were the humans faster, back in the day, if they were so successful? The chance of them being much slower than their current living opponents is a near-definite. Being quick was not one of the species’ notable traits. Then, where are they smart in their huntings, trapping the creatures, without lifting a finger? While they certainly did to such things, it was not their main way of catching a feed. But, if not for their smartness or quickness, the question clearly came to be as, how they actually succeeded, in their huntings, with their little bodies physique to their favour? While they were certainly limited in their maximum outputs, it was a little lower down in the level of activities, that they reigned supreme. While they certainly weren't sprinters, there was a definite reason, that the so-called marathons still existed as a spot. What they lacked in speed and smarts, they made more than up for in endurance.

After having found the right balance, humans are able to outrun most mammals, when it comes to sheer distance. If his data was correct, the record, for the longest run, without stopping, was currently at five hundred kilometres. These creatures, who were well known for their smarts, did not lack willpower when it came to outrunning their prey.

And, getting back to the actual point, of Adam’s tirade, it was using these smarts, that they had developed more varied usages of this endurance. While Troy’s current movements certainly weren't quick, they were instead slow. They required easy steps while being in stress-positions. All the while, the threat of any sound being emitted, ruining every step of progress, helped in putting up the pulse.

If the pulse reached above a certain frequency, Troy would be forced to take deep breaths, through the mouth, ruining any chance of being silent. It was here, that so-called technical-abuse had to be taken, for him to succeed. Since an unknown amount of time, the human body had been to the beck and call of one’s breathing pattern. While not having complete control, it was the master switch, in how the heartbeat acted. A good example would be how quickly the heartbeat lowered, upon the lungs being stopped from breathing, in a lower amount of time.

Another good way, which was being currently used by Troy, to keep the heartbeat low, was forced, nasal breathing. While not being too forceful, Adam was able to observe him breathing calmly through his nose, avoiding any movement in his mouth. The usual response, to a raising heartbeat, would be to begin to breathe through the mouth. This would start a trigger in one's brain, to allow the heart to further increase its tempo. But, if one refused to do so, while also refraining from anything truly intensive, it was possible to forcefully keep one’s pulse down. While doing so was uncomfortable, and even painful, during extended periods of time, it was a well-used technique by older hunters. According to his law-templates, such activities had been outlawed, in most countries. Any wildlife had been classified as endangered, due to their now extremely low numbers. Adam was not surprised, at such classification, knowing how prudent humans were to impulse decisions. Hunting down their main food-source, down to nothing, was not something, which these being would be afraid of doing.

It took a further twenty steps before Troy had reached the tree. Moving under its covers, the man slowly leaned against it, making a quiet exhale. Or, could it even be called so, when it took the man a full ten seconds, to get all the air out? The pre-known information was simply not intuitive enough when it came to such questions.

A crunch of older leaves was heard, from behind the tree. Troy had frozen the moment the sound had registered in his mind, but, luckily for the AI, not a single noise had come out of him. However, with the knowledge of another entity being close, the body had seemingly begun to ignore its own orders, the pulse starting up another gear.

Adam could not let that happen, determined to at least do the required tasks. If the animal, which was very close, to his estimation, went unseen, they would lose their likely only chance at getting it all done.

'Troy. Focus. Take a slow breath, and commence silent, observational efforts. Get yourself off the bark of the tree, while making sure no friction occurs. Your skin-suit should not be able to hang on it, but it would be best to double-check, before pulling away. When the preparation is done, slowly go around the left side of the tree. The animal should be viewable.`, Adam sent. As the words flowed over to Troy, the AI was able to notice an obvious drop in heart activity. If it was a calming, or if it was simply a new focus on the situation, he wasn't sure why it was so effective. It did not matter, though, as the next actions would be much more in his lens.

They were in the endgame now.