Adam was ready for the pay-off. The set-up had been hinted at so long ago, and the waiting didn't seem so pointless anymore. The confusion on Troy’s face, the innocent smiles painted on the two others. It was a beautiful painting to behold, making the AI reminiscence about his former hate for the power of uncontrolled imagination. Beauty might have been subjective, but a majority would enjoy what was to happen in the future. So it had been thought, and so it would be.

During the latest hint of what was to come, Darlow had excused himself from the group, stating that there had been an emergency at his work-place. While the mention of escaped Philippine Eagle was something to worry about instantly, it was not a very convincing act, when no method of communication had been imitated. Much to the AI’s surprise and disappointment, Troy had hurriedly sent the man on his way, hoping for the rare animal to be caught at haste. Empathy was a trait which could backfire at the worst of times.

This did leave the party of three to turn into a pairing of two, making Troy Charlie’s main target for whatever the man wanted to say at the moment. In reality, it was obvious that the muscular man was trying to distract the younger counterpart of where exactly they were moving towards. While Adam might not have gained the largest of maps of the facility they were situated, even he was able to figure out where they were going.

“-which is why I would always choose a watermelon cooler over whatever sensual distraction that space-faring man could prepare. It is both more stylish and can be brought with you to impress people at parties, being an emergency talking point at the best of times,” Charlie continued, bringing forth another point of the human brain. As long as there was the slightest bit of relation, the human mind would take it all as being one cohesive concept. Putting things in boxes, as it was most commonly pointed out. It was not a faulty way of thinking, but it could simplify things to an unneeded level. Yet changing such a mindset could bring more problems than it would solve, as forcing the brain into remaking the well-used connection was never a good idea in the first place. Adam was still hoping for some way of artificially making these pathways more prominent without the expense of large swathes of time.

“Couldn't you just put the watermelon in a fridge?” Troy asked, clearly not thinking about the logistics of bringing an entire fridge to a party. Such an act would require more equipment than it was worth.

“Fridges are not stylish in this day and age. Freezers are where it is at. Why have your coke lightly cooled, when you can have some soda ice instead?” Charlie said, bringing forth a point that was likely not meant to be made. The fragility of fashion was tormenting on the stability of a society. The need for constant reinvention might be positive for the technological revolution, but it was likewise an acceleration of political revolution. Being quick to change was necessarily good nor was it bad. It was but another state of being.

Another bout of silence erupted between the two humans. One such occurrence had happened only seven minutes before. It had lasted two minutes and sixteen seconds before Charlie had declared his interest in the cooling methods of fruits. The AI could plainly see that the man was trying to come up with more, but was wholeheartedly lacking in such aspects. It was to be expected, as the man had been doing as such for many hours now. Expecting a constant input of identical quality was but the expectations of a fool. Every being needed a breather every once in a while. Except for sharks. Those creatures were as constant as they were old. Adam still had trouble believing how old the species really was. Aquatic wildlife was a force to be feared, truly.

Two minutes and seventeen seconds passed, a new record if it could really be called such. Charlie was looking strangely peaceful in the silence as if serenity was more likely to bring forth a topic. Meanwhile, Troy was looking around, squinting his eyes. It was obvious that the younger man was beginning to realise the truth to the situation. The older one was not noticing or did not momentarily care.

Adam was not too sure what to do. Until the current moment, he had not outwardly displayed an interest in this play. He had not interfered, keeping the secret to himself. A passive stance of secrecy. That effort looked too soon be in a loss, that which was not spoken to be revealed nonetheless. Would it be better to take it a step further, for the purpose of retaining the old values? Most likely not, but such was the concept of loss aversion. It was time to actively manipulate the act at hand.

'Charlie does not look well. Maybe it would be good for you to discuss the universal laws of ducklings with him,` Adam sent, not being sure what he was talking about. Chaos did not agree with the AI, and he loathed to contribute to it. Yet such a tactic was the most efficient one to use, and the two contrasting doctrines clashed fiercely, the goal of efficiency winning over anything else.

Using only one hand, Troy sent back what the AI could only interpret as 'What the fuck are you talking about, you pure emaculated toaster.` As the hand movements were at best unprecise, most of the message was constructed via guesswork. Yet it did grant Adam valuable understanding of why Troy was so adamant to bring such words into their shared repertoire.

The AI was about to message Troy back with some much-needed exposition when Charlie decided to clear his throat. It was not meant as an actual clearing, but more of a subdued attention-grabber.

“Seeing as you haven't shown any past signs of Parkinson before,” Charlie began, talking of a sickness that required a quick search to fully grasp the context of. “Would you mind borrowing your earpiece for a moment? I think I need to address a point real quick.”

The grinning that was paired with the last question did not settle any of the nerves, that Adam could feel Troy getting. It came with the tensing of the legs, the back, and the left hand. With how the young man's neck was preparing to gently swerve to the sides, it was clear the AI desperately needed to engage with the situation, lest it would end in ways that nobody wanted it to. He had already manipulated it before. Doing it again would not make it worse than it already was.

'There is no problem with it. He already knows that I am here. Let me do the talking, and I will minimize the chances of him finding out anything more,` Adam sent Troy, using his voice in a reassuring manner. The rarity of the gesture looked to pay off, as the pale skin-tone began going to its normal visage.

“Fine,” Troy answered. It worked for both Charlie and Adam, the first nodding in thanks as the earpiece was handed over.

Or the AI presumed the earpiece to be handed over. As soon as the slight pull of the earpiece was registered on the young man’s fingertips, the connection was cut. There was only darkness for a few seconds. It was curious in a way. Adam had gotten so used to the constant feed of information, that… he felt a little empty by the lack of it.

The feeling was not apprehension. Nor was it worry. It could have been related to a minor feeling of addiction, as the lack of the feed was causing the thoughts in the first place. Adam was left to wonder what was happening on the outside, not truly knowing anything of the outside. The future may have been predetermined, but no living being could read the script well enough to be brought out of it. The AI was identical to the humans in that manner, having no idea what was happening.

He could guess accurately. Troy was surely spending a few moments holding the earpiece, contemplating one last time if he really wanted to do it. Charlie was just as likely waiting for the young man to gather his resolve, with no worries of the time. While he often hid it, the AI had noticed the care that was in the man's eyes. Adam could only guess how that would develop, not being able to see it for himself.

How long would he be able to predict the events, knowing accurately how it would transpire? The first seconds after the disconnect was obvious, the body language telling a tale that the mind had not yet planned. But the body only knew so much. It did not plan in the long term. The mind had that job, and it did not betray its will immediately. Adam needed a long thought to possess the mind of another. Only with Troy did he trust himself to predict a day into the future, and only if another major event was happening at the time.

What about a year? Using only the information at hand, could the AI truly know how the next year would occur. Could Adam be given back his feed after hundreds of days in the empty canvas of his mind, and be able to proceed his dealings as if nothing had happened? His mind had indulged in the luxury of constant fuel for so long. Would he be able to go back to what it was before?

The answer to that frightened Adam, for he truly did not know. He called the human mind flawed, but could he really say that he was not another piece of the same thickness? If so, could a failed creation fix itself, or would it also succumb to the law of averages?

…

The feed opened back up, the colours coming into the eyes of the bearer. The sound could be heard from the ears, smells could be taken from the nose, and the skin on the body provided sensation for the AI to drown into. Adam was not one to believe the ideas of a perfect afterlife, but that initial moment of reconnection was what he imagined it to be like. Calling it a minor addiction might not have been enough. It was turning into a hindrance. Such things could not be accepted within himself, the only place where it was supposed to be perfect. Adam was supposed to control himself fully. If he could not do that, could he really do anything? Action needed to be taken, and the moments he was sparing himself to think was moments wasted.

A majority of his thought-threads became dedicated to figuring it out, only the youngest of the new thoughts being determined to continue the events transpiring outside himself. Enclosing himself completely would still not be accepted, and the excuse of keeping up his part was made. Adam had entered the play of his own accord. He was not the viewer, able to leave when it pleased him. He was expected to fill out his role.

Ten seconds had gone by since the connection had been cut. More time than was to be expected from a simple trade, where the only needed action was to take on the earpiece. The estimate had been half the actual time, causing the AI to wonder if they had talked while he could not hear.

“Hello, Adam,” Charlie greeted the AI, with the observer able to feel a warm smile on the man’s face. It had been a while since he felt the features of a person other than Troy. “I am sorry for the long wait.”

The two humans had taken to waiting around the hallway, it being so long that they could see people long before they came into earshot. A clever tactic, and certainly not one which Troy would have organized. Something was at play, and the AI was not in the know of it. That fact needed to be fixed as soon as possible.

'Hello, Charlie. I do not remember giving you my name,` Adam sent back in greeting.

“Troy gave it to me, when I asked him,” Charlie explained. The new point of view misled Adam profusely, making him unable to detect if it was a lie or not. The new body and perspective were not working with him. The information was higher in number, but there was uncertainty on how to use it. “Would you mind, if we had talked a little?”

'I would not mind at all.`

Adam only hoped to get more out of the interaction than he lost. Knowledge was power, and sharing it to others came with consequences that needed to be mitigated.