The workshop that Eric sat in was cluttered and busy. Various broken or repaired pieces of electronics scattered several different worktops and three separate computers were running at stations around the room, each seemingly occupied with long tasks, left unattended. One small, grimy window looked down into the basement hide-away, but it was night time currently, and the small curtain was drawn across it. Bright white lights set into the ceiling more than dispelled the normal computer-lab gloom though, and let Eric see what he was doing far more clearly than most of his colleagues gave him credit for.
Currently, for example, her was fiddling with the connections on what appeared to the skeleton of a PET, hooked up to his main computer. He paused and reached out to take a sip of his tea, and ran one hand through the bright, wavy fuzz of red hair that refused to behave itself no matter what he did. A part of him wondered, as his eyes scanned the readouts, if it would be appropriate for some maniacal laughter, and exultations that he had shown them all, but with a wry smile he settled instead for:
"Lyntael, can you hear me?"
----
The first thing was sense. Data streams and processed information gradually becoming aware that it was, in fact, observing itself. The sense that something was; that something existed to be doing that observing. Next the realisation of being gave way further to the realisation of what was not. An observer, that was nothing. How strange. The data, though. That was being observed, but it was also... itself? Then, from the emptiness beyond, another sense.
"Lyntael, can you hear me?"
It could hear that voice. Its own data told it that what it was doing was hearing, that what it was hearing was voice, that the voice was for it. And thus, that must mean... that it, was Lyntael.
"Yes..."
----
Eric leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh, grinning broadly. The tiny, quiet voice that had answered made his heart swell with joy and he closed his eyes to enjoy the moment. It had been soft and feminine in his earpiece, and while he had programmed it to be so, there was a difference between coding a female voice, and actually hearing it for the first time. So much was there, even in one tiny response, that he knew he hadn't pre-determined. His fingers darted over his keyboard.
"Welcome to the world, young one. Don't be afraid. You are still growing, and I will help you. My name is Eric, and I love you." He knew he was smiling softly at what was physically little more than some electronic equipment and readouts on a screen, but it didn't matter to him when the soft voice answered again.
"Thankyou..."
The O'Conaill Home
last edited by
A few days worth of excited coding and working had passed by the time Eric finally had everything stabilised. She had no individual personality or uniqueness yet, but that would come. For now, he had been busy making all of her formal data cogent and stable. She was still a net-navi, and still needed to be able to do all the normal things navis could, of course, but that was secondary. She needed to be there for Rogan; to be that part of himself that he always shut away and refused to witness. She needed to help him see it, to embrace it... which meant she needed to be more real and more alive, more truly vibrant than any navi he'd ever brought into the world before.
He glanced at a small compiling readout in the top corner of his screen. That was where Sunseed came in. It was a gamble, certainly, at least according to the maths, but he'd seen the breadth and depth of personality and humanity some navis came to display, over time, and he had no doubt that it would succeed. There was no point in having a truly living and real person if they couldn't perceive themselves properly, though. Eric bit his lip, working away.
"Eric...? What is your task?" He was deceiving himself to think the voice in his ear sounded curious. It was still delivered in the same soft, quiet tone that betrayed no emotion, but he liked to think that even now, she was beginning to display signs beyond her code. He smirked.
"I'm working on your visual appearance, Lyntael. You are able to observe and sense in many forms, but all I have is your voice in my ear. You need to have form and shape, a body." He hesitated a moment, then asked anyway, knowing the answer. "Do you have a preference for what you want to look like, Lyntael?" there was only a slight pause before the expected answer came.
"No, Eric, I do not have that."
"Not to worry. You will have a form that suites you, I promise." The truth in that was reversed, though he didn't mention it to her. Sunseed would account for all features of environment and circumstance that it could, so, her form would play an inevitable part.
He swallowed and licked his lips in a somewhat guilty fashion while he worked. Lyntael needed to be bright and sociable, eager at the prospect of fun, hopefully, and freely open with her emotions. He couldn't ensure or guarantee any of those things, of course, but he could at least give her a design that helped encourage it. Body first; she needed to be young, innocent and approachable. He tried not to steal guilty glances at the various posters pinned to walls around his workshop, most of which contained scantily clad girls doing perfectly ordinary activities, most of which just happened to hint at, or outright reveal things the women seemed oblivious to. He cleared his throat and kept working.
"Lyntael, I want to tell you about someone. I have a brother, his name's Rogan. He's mostly cut himself off from our whole family, and he chooses to live alone these days. I worry for him. He is a good man, and in his way he's kind and well meaning to those he cares for, but, I'm worried that that list has been getting smaller and smaller the longer he goes on living as he does. I knew him when he laughed more often, and I don't want to see him become cold and soulless, like the facade he puts on more and more these days." He paused to rotate the model he was working on and zoomed in to continue in finer detail.
"I understand..." By which, he knew, she only meant that she had understood all he said, not that she discerned any deeper subtext. He nodded absently and continued.
"Well, I know that the work he does is... difficult. I know that he doesn't meet a lot of friendly people while doing it, but I want him to rediscover that it's alright to laugh, and that it's alright to care, you know?"
"It is good, to care, and to laugh."
"Yes, Lyntael. It is."
He continued to model carefully. If Lyntael was to be as completely real as he could make her, then, she needed a body that matched that, even if it was a digital one. He felt his cheeks warm as he worked, and tried to stay serious. That meant she needed everything, even those things that many navis had no need for. He swallowed again, biting his tongue while he worked. Of course, she would most likely never have a need for anything of that nature either, but that wasn't the point. It was necessary to do, so that she could be whole, herself.
"Eric, you have fallen silent. Was there more you wanted to tell me of?" He blinked and felt a hot blush dart across his cheeks. Detached or not, it was difficult to talk comfortably to someone when you were busy creating a fully functional representation of her most intimate parts. He cleared his throat, and, distracted, quickly switched his view to working on the details of her arms and legs instead. He's had to do some tweaking with the coding that controlled her normal buster, and while he couldn't remove it cleanly, as integrated as the function was to almost all navis, he had had to reapportion it. It shouldn't matter though, Rogan wasn't likely to use her for virus busting anyway.
"Yes, sorry. I just think it's important that he doesn't lose himself in the darkness of what he does for a living. He needs at least one little ray of sunshine in there with him. Tell me, Lyntael, what do you think of the colour yellow?"
Her response was swift, as usual, but Eric was happy to continue the small talk with her, even if it was unlikely that she'd surprise him with anything just yet.
"Yellow is... A bright colour. It is one of the three primary colour combination composites, and tones of it can be found throughout much of nature. It is highly reflective, and it is the traditional stylised colour of the sun, and of electricity." There was a pause and Eric was about to move on when the voice continued after a moment, more hesitant this time. "It is... a happy colour."
Eric's hands went still on his keys and he closed his eyes, a broad smile taking over his face as he heard her final answer. Maybe she would surprise him after all.
"Thankyou, Lyntael."
"Of course."
He glanced at a small compiling readout in the top corner of his screen. That was where Sunseed came in. It was a gamble, certainly, at least according to the maths, but he'd seen the breadth and depth of personality and humanity some navis came to display, over time, and he had no doubt that it would succeed. There was no point in having a truly living and real person if they couldn't perceive themselves properly, though. Eric bit his lip, working away.
"Eric...? What is your task?" He was deceiving himself to think the voice in his ear sounded curious. It was still delivered in the same soft, quiet tone that betrayed no emotion, but he liked to think that even now, she was beginning to display signs beyond her code. He smirked.
"I'm working on your visual appearance, Lyntael. You are able to observe and sense in many forms, but all I have is your voice in my ear. You need to have form and shape, a body." He hesitated a moment, then asked anyway, knowing the answer. "Do you have a preference for what you want to look like, Lyntael?" there was only a slight pause before the expected answer came.
"No, Eric, I do not have that."
"Not to worry. You will have a form that suites you, I promise." The truth in that was reversed, though he didn't mention it to her. Sunseed would account for all features of environment and circumstance that it could, so, her form would play an inevitable part.
He swallowed and licked his lips in a somewhat guilty fashion while he worked. Lyntael needed to be bright and sociable, eager at the prospect of fun, hopefully, and freely open with her emotions. He couldn't ensure or guarantee any of those things, of course, but he could at least give her a design that helped encourage it. Body first; she needed to be young, innocent and approachable. He tried not to steal guilty glances at the various posters pinned to walls around his workshop, most of which contained scantily clad girls doing perfectly ordinary activities, most of which just happened to hint at, or outright reveal things the women seemed oblivious to. He cleared his throat and kept working.
"Lyntael, I want to tell you about someone. I have a brother, his name's Rogan. He's mostly cut himself off from our whole family, and he chooses to live alone these days. I worry for him. He is a good man, and in his way he's kind and well meaning to those he cares for, but, I'm worried that that list has been getting smaller and smaller the longer he goes on living as he does. I knew him when he laughed more often, and I don't want to see him become cold and soulless, like the facade he puts on more and more these days." He paused to rotate the model he was working on and zoomed in to continue in finer detail.
"I understand..." By which, he knew, she only meant that she had understood all he said, not that she discerned any deeper subtext. He nodded absently and continued.
"Well, I know that the work he does is... difficult. I know that he doesn't meet a lot of friendly people while doing it, but I want him to rediscover that it's alright to laugh, and that it's alright to care, you know?"
"It is good, to care, and to laugh."
"Yes, Lyntael. It is."
He continued to model carefully. If Lyntael was to be as completely real as he could make her, then, she needed a body that matched that, even if it was a digital one. He felt his cheeks warm as he worked, and tried to stay serious. That meant she needed everything, even those things that many navis had no need for. He swallowed again, biting his tongue while he worked. Of course, she would most likely never have a need for anything of that nature either, but that wasn't the point. It was necessary to do, so that she could be whole, herself.
"Eric, you have fallen silent. Was there more you wanted to tell me of?" He blinked and felt a hot blush dart across his cheeks. Detached or not, it was difficult to talk comfortably to someone when you were busy creating a fully functional representation of her most intimate parts. He cleared his throat, and, distracted, quickly switched his view to working on the details of her arms and legs instead. He's had to do some tweaking with the coding that controlled her normal buster, and while he couldn't remove it cleanly, as integrated as the function was to almost all navis, he had had to reapportion it. It shouldn't matter though, Rogan wasn't likely to use her for virus busting anyway.
"Yes, sorry. I just think it's important that he doesn't lose himself in the darkness of what he does for a living. He needs at least one little ray of sunshine in there with him. Tell me, Lyntael, what do you think of the colour yellow?"
Her response was swift, as usual, but Eric was happy to continue the small talk with her, even if it was unlikely that she'd surprise him with anything just yet.
"Yellow is... A bright colour. It is one of the three primary colour combination composites, and tones of it can be found throughout much of nature. It is highly reflective, and it is the traditional stylised colour of the sun, and of electricity." There was a pause and Eric was about to move on when the voice continued after a moment, more hesitant this time. "It is... a happy colour."
Eric's hands went still on his keys and he closed his eyes, a broad smile taking over his face as he heard her final answer. Maybe she would surprise him after all.
"Thankyou, Lyntael."
"Of course."
last edited by
Lyntael was sitting on the edge of his desk, her holographic form not far from her PET. She was sitting, in fact, with her knees up and slightly apart, her arms wrapped around them, with her head resting down, apparently completely oblivious, or perhaps not caring of, the fact that her pose was affording Eric a complete and unabashed view of things he'd get in trouble for looking at on a physical and full-sized young woman, any time he let his eyes flick over to her. It was actually quite distracting, and he wondered if he oughtn't to have designed her outfit with slightly more sensible undergarments. A part of him still felt guilty about doing it. Another, rather specific part of him, continually over-ruled that guilt.
"Lyntael, up you get. We're ready." Without missing a beat, she stood, sliding smoothly to her feet and standing still, looking to him with her hands now clasped delicately in front of her. Eric stood to walk around the room quickly, making sure each of the other computers was connected properly and prepared to receive the command. When he returned to his main desk he sat down and moved the new PET to an open space in front of the screen. "Alright. Stand here," he tapped the exposed screen of the PET and Lyntael moved over to step onto it, facing him now and looking up at his face calmly. "Good. Now, are all your processes on full idle, no active tasks running at all?" She nodded once.
"Yes." After a moment she opened her mouth again, and Eric hesitated in his own action to look at her. "Eric. Should I not return fully to the PET for an operation like this?" Again, it was asked in a calm, quiet and emotionless tone, but all the same: it was a question that a completely blank slate would not have asked. He smiled and shook his head.
"As long as you are in contact with it, Lyntael. And I want to watch you carefully, to make sure you're alright, and nothing goes wrong. I can watch a computer screen with letters and numbers on it, but that isn't all that you are, and I need to see you, not just your data." She blinked a few times, slowly, then looked up at him again.
"I... am more than the aggregate of all the parts that comprise me?" As much as she seemed to struggle with this question, Eric tried not to laugh at how similar her words were to the philosophy he wished her to embody.
"Yes, Lyntael. I believe you are." He took his hands away from the keyboard, everything in readiness now, and looked at the tiny girl, care marking his brow. It was a few more moments before he spoke. "I cannot influence you any further before running this program, but there is one important thing I'd like you to remember, Lyntael. Rogan, my brother... We have spoken much about him, and you know that you will go to him soon. Please remember that he may never really understand how much he needs what you will be able to be for him, but that makes it all the more important." He swallowed. "And remember also, wherever you go, and whatever you do, no matter what paths your life takes you on... Here, at least, there will always be someone who loves you." He quickly took a breath and set his shoulders, more than slightly embarrassed by the earnest tone in his voice. Lyntael nodded once to him, a single, smooth incline of the head, and nothing more. He took another breath and blew it out again.
"Lyntael.exe. Please ready Sunseed. My name is Eric O'Conaill. Voice Match." Lyntael's eyes didn't leave his this time as she nodded in ascent.
"Sunseed is prepared and and prioritised. All systems are online and listening." She continued to watch his face and Eric held her gaze. He had thought to close his eyes while executing this command but found, now that it was here, that he couldn't bear to deprive her of the watchfulness she clearly wanted. He spoke the command line slowly, equal parts of excitement and anticipation flooding him.
"One day we will all go together. One day the night will end. Sunseed: Bloom."
"Yes..." He hadn't been expecting her whispered answer, and it was almost lost as around the room, all of his other computer terminals sprang to life, spreading the sheer processing load and data flow between them. Lyntael's eyes remained calm for a moment, her mouth slightly open from her last word, before her body arched and she drew a deep, gasped breath. Her whole body grew tense and her fingers spread wide then clenched back into fists repeatedly as she seemed drawn up tot he points of her toes.
Her whole form began to shake and tremble, her breath coming in rapid, short gasps. Crackles of electricity danced over her skin and hair, playing in impossibly complex patterns before being siphoned away to her wrists and ankles. One of the computers across the room gave a warning beep and Eric's eyes flicked to it for a moment, before jumping back to the image of the young navi. The process seemed to reach a peak and she collapsed to her knees, then onto her hands. Panting heavily she sat back, looking up at him, and he could see her eyes widening, as behind them new thoughts, feelings and sensations blossomed, spread and faded, each a succession of the next. He mouth hung open in awe now as the process ran its course. Another warning beep, from a different computer this time, but Eric ignored it. Lyntael's body relaxed and she rested back on her heels, apparently catching her breath.
"Oh..." it was a quiet statement, barely whispered by her, but it was followed by her gaze turning upward once more. Without warning, a bright smile broke across her features and she jumped to her feet. "Eric! Oh... Oh, Eric, I... I feel... I feel so much! Can I sing, Eric? I've never tired that. Can I dance? I... I want to dance!" As if to illustrate, she turned on one toe-tip, her skirt flaring, then jumped down off her Pet, onto the desk. The next few moments saw the girl overcome by the need to jump and spin and dash across the desk, wilfully throwing herself about with an energy and enthusiasm newly discovered. It only took a few moments for her random motions to grow swiftly more controlled, graceful and acrobatic, and not unlike a proud father, Eric found himself transfixed by the beauty of it. She landed neatly on one of his hands and dropped down to hug his wrist, pressing herself against him and rubbing her cheek.
"Thankyou, Eric, thankyou so much! I.. I love this, and now I can tell you, hehe!" The sound of he giggle, growing quickly into hearty laugher almost brought a tear to his eye and he lifted her up so he could look at her face more closely.
"Welcome again, Lyntael. You are your own person now, unique and whole. I hope that your life will always be as full of light and laughter as this moment." In response, she laughed again, and slipped about the fingers of his hand, then, in an action that looked first like a slip, and then proved to be a deliberate drop, hooked one leg about his forefinger and dropped to hang upside-down from it, her other leg lazily stretching and and pointing in the air. Unfortunately, the position left her skirt a victim of gravity and Eric caught far more of an eyeful than he had honestly intended a he tried to find her face again in her new pose. She waved to him, still beaming.
"I hope so, Eric! I'm going to do the best I can to be all that I can!" She nodded to herself. "And I... I... hey... Hey! You perv, don't look!" He sudden exclamation was accompanied by the young girl quickly pushing her skirt back up over herself with both hands, her face blushing pink in a mix somewhere between real embarrassment and mostly feigned outrage. Eric couldn't help but laugh, leaning back in his chair with his head back, chuckling his mirth to the ceiling.
"Lyntael, up you get. We're ready." Without missing a beat, she stood, sliding smoothly to her feet and standing still, looking to him with her hands now clasped delicately in front of her. Eric stood to walk around the room quickly, making sure each of the other computers was connected properly and prepared to receive the command. When he returned to his main desk he sat down and moved the new PET to an open space in front of the screen. "Alright. Stand here," he tapped the exposed screen of the PET and Lyntael moved over to step onto it, facing him now and looking up at his face calmly. "Good. Now, are all your processes on full idle, no active tasks running at all?" She nodded once.
"Yes." After a moment she opened her mouth again, and Eric hesitated in his own action to look at her. "Eric. Should I not return fully to the PET for an operation like this?" Again, it was asked in a calm, quiet and emotionless tone, but all the same: it was a question that a completely blank slate would not have asked. He smiled and shook his head.
"As long as you are in contact with it, Lyntael. And I want to watch you carefully, to make sure you're alright, and nothing goes wrong. I can watch a computer screen with letters and numbers on it, but that isn't all that you are, and I need to see you, not just your data." She blinked a few times, slowly, then looked up at him again.
"I... am more than the aggregate of all the parts that comprise me?" As much as she seemed to struggle with this question, Eric tried not to laugh at how similar her words were to the philosophy he wished her to embody.
"Yes, Lyntael. I believe you are." He took his hands away from the keyboard, everything in readiness now, and looked at the tiny girl, care marking his brow. It was a few more moments before he spoke. "I cannot influence you any further before running this program, but there is one important thing I'd like you to remember, Lyntael. Rogan, my brother... We have spoken much about him, and you know that you will go to him soon. Please remember that he may never really understand how much he needs what you will be able to be for him, but that makes it all the more important." He swallowed. "And remember also, wherever you go, and whatever you do, no matter what paths your life takes you on... Here, at least, there will always be someone who loves you." He quickly took a breath and set his shoulders, more than slightly embarrassed by the earnest tone in his voice. Lyntael nodded once to him, a single, smooth incline of the head, and nothing more. He took another breath and blew it out again.
"Lyntael.exe. Please ready Sunseed. My name is Eric O'Conaill. Voice Match." Lyntael's eyes didn't leave his this time as she nodded in ascent.
"Sunseed is prepared and and prioritised. All systems are online and listening." She continued to watch his face and Eric held her gaze. He had thought to close his eyes while executing this command but found, now that it was here, that he couldn't bear to deprive her of the watchfulness she clearly wanted. He spoke the command line slowly, equal parts of excitement and anticipation flooding him.
"One day we will all go together. One day the night will end. Sunseed: Bloom."
"Yes..." He hadn't been expecting her whispered answer, and it was almost lost as around the room, all of his other computer terminals sprang to life, spreading the sheer processing load and data flow between them. Lyntael's eyes remained calm for a moment, her mouth slightly open from her last word, before her body arched and she drew a deep, gasped breath. Her whole body grew tense and her fingers spread wide then clenched back into fists repeatedly as she seemed drawn up tot he points of her toes.
Her whole form began to shake and tremble, her breath coming in rapid, short gasps. Crackles of electricity danced over her skin and hair, playing in impossibly complex patterns before being siphoned away to her wrists and ankles. One of the computers across the room gave a warning beep and Eric's eyes flicked to it for a moment, before jumping back to the image of the young navi. The process seemed to reach a peak and she collapsed to her knees, then onto her hands. Panting heavily she sat back, looking up at him, and he could see her eyes widening, as behind them new thoughts, feelings and sensations blossomed, spread and faded, each a succession of the next. He mouth hung open in awe now as the process ran its course. Another warning beep, from a different computer this time, but Eric ignored it. Lyntael's body relaxed and she rested back on her heels, apparently catching her breath.
"Oh..." it was a quiet statement, barely whispered by her, but it was followed by her gaze turning upward once more. Without warning, a bright smile broke across her features and she jumped to her feet. "Eric! Oh... Oh, Eric, I... I feel... I feel so much! Can I sing, Eric? I've never tired that. Can I dance? I... I want to dance!" As if to illustrate, she turned on one toe-tip, her skirt flaring, then jumped down off her Pet, onto the desk. The next few moments saw the girl overcome by the need to jump and spin and dash across the desk, wilfully throwing herself about with an energy and enthusiasm newly discovered. It only took a few moments for her random motions to grow swiftly more controlled, graceful and acrobatic, and not unlike a proud father, Eric found himself transfixed by the beauty of it. She landed neatly on one of his hands and dropped down to hug his wrist, pressing herself against him and rubbing her cheek.
"Thankyou, Eric, thankyou so much! I.. I love this, and now I can tell you, hehe!" The sound of he giggle, growing quickly into hearty laugher almost brought a tear to his eye and he lifted her up so he could look at her face more closely.
"Welcome again, Lyntael. You are your own person now, unique and whole. I hope that your life will always be as full of light and laughter as this moment." In response, she laughed again, and slipped about the fingers of his hand, then, in an action that looked first like a slip, and then proved to be a deliberate drop, hooked one leg about his forefinger and dropped to hang upside-down from it, her other leg lazily stretching and and pointing in the air. Unfortunately, the position left her skirt a victim of gravity and Eric caught far more of an eyeful than he had honestly intended a he tried to find her face again in her new pose. She waved to him, still beaming.
"I hope so, Eric! I'm going to do the best I can to be all that I can!" She nodded to herself. "And I... I... hey... Hey! You perv, don't look!" He sudden exclamation was accompanied by the young girl quickly pushing her skirt back up over herself with both hands, her face blushing pink in a mix somewhere between real embarrassment and mostly feigned outrage. Eric couldn't help but laugh, leaning back in his chair with his head back, chuckling his mirth to the ceiling.
last edited by Rogan
It was only an hour until the time he had arranged to have lunch with Rogan. Eric had almost gotten used to Lyntael's enthusiasm filling his work room, and he hoped she'd bring that much needed spark to his brother's life too. He would be sad to see her go, but she knew that she was always welcome here at least.
The past few days had been less carefree while he had had to run a whole array of checks and tests for Lyntael, to ensure that nothing was wrong and that she was completely safe and stable. It had not been an effort to convince of the necessity of it, but rather, even with her ready and understanding of what was needed, getting her to sit still long enough, or keep her shoes on, was another matter entirely. Strange about the shoes. Of all the parts of her outfit, it was the shoes that she seemed to dislike the most, and she would strip them away at any opportunity. He'd be more than happy to modify her base appearance to let them stay off by default, since that was what she wanted, but for now they needed to stay on so that his test data was uniform to her original base code.
He glanced up to see the small girl's holographic image lying on the desk, a short way from her PET, arms and legs out flat in a spread-eagle, staring at the ceiling. He had no doubt at all that she was thinking about something, and he was equally certain that he had absolutely no way to work out what, without asking her. It was beautiful. Sadly, it had to come to an end already.
"Lyntael. It's time to go now. Are you ready to meet my brother?" He watched as her eyes flickered a few times, then she kicked herself neatly to her feet in one smooth action. Her shoes had been kicked off again and he ran a quick command to restore them. Lyntael stopped in her tracks immediately and grimaced down at them.
"Aww, Eric, please? We're done with the diagnostics now, aren't we?"
"Yes, but I want you looking at your best and neatest today when I introduce you. You can get rid of them again after that if you want." In response, the navi scuffed at the desktop then sighed and nodded. Her sullenness only lasted a moment though as she ran over towards her Pet as though to slip inside. She paused, just before reaching it, then turned back and ran to the edge of the desk nearest where Eric was still seated, tyring his own shoes. She waited until he was done and held out tiny arms to him. With a wry smile he reached out one hand to her, and the little hologram hugged his wrist.
"I'll try to come visit whenever I can, Eric. I promise!"
"Just be sure to bring my brother with you as well when you do, though I fear I'll miss you more than him, to be honest. I won't say goodbye; just make sure you bring that fool of a man around soon, alright? Doesn't matter when, my door's always open for you, Lyntael. Now, come on, away you go for now." He nodded to her Pet and the small navi hugged him again before dashing back to it. As her foot touched the screen, the hologram froze then dissolved while Lyntael herself slipped back into the device. Eric picked it up and slipped it into his breast coat pocket before heading out the door.
----------
((To => ACDC))
The past few days had been less carefree while he had had to run a whole array of checks and tests for Lyntael, to ensure that nothing was wrong and that she was completely safe and stable. It had not been an effort to convince of the necessity of it, but rather, even with her ready and understanding of what was needed, getting her to sit still long enough, or keep her shoes on, was another matter entirely. Strange about the shoes. Of all the parts of her outfit, it was the shoes that she seemed to dislike the most, and she would strip them away at any opportunity. He'd be more than happy to modify her base appearance to let them stay off by default, since that was what she wanted, but for now they needed to stay on so that his test data was uniform to her original base code.
He glanced up to see the small girl's holographic image lying on the desk, a short way from her PET, arms and legs out flat in a spread-eagle, staring at the ceiling. He had no doubt at all that she was thinking about something, and he was equally certain that he had absolutely no way to work out what, without asking her. It was beautiful. Sadly, it had to come to an end already.
"Lyntael. It's time to go now. Are you ready to meet my brother?" He watched as her eyes flickered a few times, then she kicked herself neatly to her feet in one smooth action. Her shoes had been kicked off again and he ran a quick command to restore them. Lyntael stopped in her tracks immediately and grimaced down at them.
"Aww, Eric, please? We're done with the diagnostics now, aren't we?"
"Yes, but I want you looking at your best and neatest today when I introduce you. You can get rid of them again after that if you want." In response, the navi scuffed at the desktop then sighed and nodded. Her sullenness only lasted a moment though as she ran over towards her Pet as though to slip inside. She paused, just before reaching it, then turned back and ran to the edge of the desk nearest where Eric was still seated, tyring his own shoes. She waited until he was done and held out tiny arms to him. With a wry smile he reached out one hand to her, and the little hologram hugged his wrist.
"I'll try to come visit whenever I can, Eric. I promise!"
"Just be sure to bring my brother with you as well when you do, though I fear I'll miss you more than him, to be honest. I won't say goodbye; just make sure you bring that fool of a man around soon, alright? Doesn't matter when, my door's always open for you, Lyntael. Now, come on, away you go for now." He nodded to her Pet and the small navi hugged him again before dashing back to it. As her foot touched the screen, the hologram froze then dissolved while Lyntael herself slipped back into the device. Eric picked it up and slipped it into his breast coat pocket before heading out the door.
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((To => ACDC))