"Mm, your loss," shrugged Karen, completely missing the implication that Rogan hadn't actually been drinking at all. Despite her denial, she was already getting quite intoxicated, as evidenced by her slight wobble when she dragged the vodka bottle back to her side. Her shot glass now full again, she was completely content to recline back in her seat and let Harke do all the work for the moment.
Harke was still quite tense after delivering his impromptu presentation on the situation, though it helped things that it was on a topic that he was intimately familiar with, and the other party was quite interested in what he had to say. Uncertainty bounced around in his head for a little bit--what he said could possibly be used in something he had no control over, and he had no way of verifying that what he speculated was exactly what they intended. That said, he couldn't think of anything else to add to his predictions either, so all he could do for the moment was squirm uncomfortably in his seat.
"Er, yeah. While the research seems thorough at first glance, it seems like a lot of the documented work is needless repetition of already tested cases, except by different people. The actual work seems to be rushed quite heavily--it's like they're throwing personnel at the problem and expecting it to go faster, so they rush the work to try and satisfy the deadlines while padding their test count," mused Harke. The part about high-security Navis, he willfully ignored for the moment--the only ones that would match the requirements would be his parents' Navis, whom he had actually received very little details on.
Seeing the folder be shuffled to the side made Harke a little sad, as it was back to the non-technical aspects, which he would much rather have Karen handle. Judging from how she looked when he gave her a quick glance, however, that probably wasn't happening. The line of reasoning he had established was the reason why, when Rogan actually reached out for the bottle of vodka in front of Karen, he did a double take. Were they done with the business for now? Could he get home and nestle back into bed?
His hopes were dashed as Rogan appeared to continue to steer the line of conversation on the tracks. He grumbled internally, wishing the man would talk about something else instead--the way the conversation seemed to be leading into international affairs made his head hurt. Still, he would rather not be blamed on a lack of trying, at least. "A Netopian contract? That's pretty far out there. I would've thought they would locally source things--I was of the impression that the old guard running these things were pretty distrusting of foreigners," said Harke. His brow creased for a moment, before he ventured a query. "... Are you Netopian?"
Strelka Bar
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"Or someone enjoys torture and torment a bit too much, but uses this as an excuse to carry it out on programs and other facsimiles rather than real people..." Rogan murmur, musing mostly to himself while Harke described the rushed and padded nature of the work. It was a side thought, mostly irrelevant, except for the things he'd seen in Lyntael's recordings. Really, Harke's own assessment was more practical and likely to be the real driving force. Anything else was just 'happy coincidence'. He'd murmured the thought loudly enough for Harke to hear as well, but didn't give it any more time as the conversation moved along.
Once they were on less technical ground, Rogan took another slow, small sip of his glass, passing the hint of the taste around his mouth. Harke seemed tired, and Karen, he suspected at least, was probably at least a little bit more tipsy than she claimed to be. nothing more technical tonight, then, but perhaps there was still other information to gain that a little bit of lowered guard might smooth. He shrugged and made a vaguely permissive gesture with his free hand.
"I travel where my work takes me, and I go many, many places as a result. I've worked often all throughout north, south and central Netopia, for various contracts, and I expect I will again. You're right, though; a contract popping up for work coming from here, all the way over there... that is an oddity, and a curiosity. It might be dangerous for someone like me to poke my nose into it, perhaps, but where there are curiosities like this, I find, there is usually a lot of money to be made, from the right buyers and with the right information." He stretched slightly, letting one arm drape over the back of his seat as he took another small sip.
"If you don't mind my saying, Harke, you seem very young to be getting caught up in... situations like these." It might be a bit uncharitable of him, he knew; light knew he'd been involved in some questionable things at a time when he was no older than the boy appeared. Still, it would be interesting to hear his response. "These kind of affairs are the sort of thing I'd normally want to see a youth getting involved in. It's only on the outside, I know, but it's only a step away from a place where lives are routinely at risk. You're someone who has spoken to me, now, and if I didn't cover my own tracks thoroughly, and someone with ill intent wanted to track me down..." He shrugged softly. "You understand my meaning, I'm sure. It's why I work alone, and generally only have contact with... shall we say, people dirtier than myself." In his own mind, of course, Lyntael neither counted against 'working alone', nor against 'not working with youths', but the juxtaposition of that, against his concern here would probably be fairly visible to anyone else.
Once they were on less technical ground, Rogan took another slow, small sip of his glass, passing the hint of the taste around his mouth. Harke seemed tired, and Karen, he suspected at least, was probably at least a little bit more tipsy than she claimed to be. nothing more technical tonight, then, but perhaps there was still other information to gain that a little bit of lowered guard might smooth. He shrugged and made a vaguely permissive gesture with his free hand.
"I travel where my work takes me, and I go many, many places as a result. I've worked often all throughout north, south and central Netopia, for various contracts, and I expect I will again. You're right, though; a contract popping up for work coming from here, all the way over there... that is an oddity, and a curiosity. It might be dangerous for someone like me to poke my nose into it, perhaps, but where there are curiosities like this, I find, there is usually a lot of money to be made, from the right buyers and with the right information." He stretched slightly, letting one arm drape over the back of his seat as he took another small sip.
"If you don't mind my saying, Harke, you seem very young to be getting caught up in... situations like these." It might be a bit uncharitable of him, he knew; light knew he'd been involved in some questionable things at a time when he was no older than the boy appeared. Still, it would be interesting to hear his response. "These kind of affairs are the sort of thing I'd normally want to see a youth getting involved in. It's only on the outside, I know, but it's only a step away from a place where lives are routinely at risk. You're someone who has spoken to me, now, and if I didn't cover my own tracks thoroughly, and someone with ill intent wanted to track me down..." He shrugged softly. "You understand my meaning, I'm sure. It's why I work alone, and generally only have contact with... shall we say, people dirtier than myself." In his own mind, of course, Lyntael neither counted against 'working alone', nor against 'not working with youths', but the juxtaposition of that, against his concern here would probably be fairly visible to anyone else.
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Rogan's murmured evaluation of the alternate possibility of sadism in the research task force they had been poring over made Harke swallow slightly. It was hard to say how he should evaluate what Rogan had just said. The more likely evaluation was that Rogan had indirectly approved of the practice of AI torture instead of staying indifferent to it, only confirming what he had already begrudgingly accepted earlier. The other possibility, which he hopefully entertained inside of himself, was that the word 'excuse' clued in on his true feelings--that it was, at least, an activity that warranted an excuse in the first place. An activity that, normally, would be considered unacceptable. The little hope inside of his heart danced around slightly, while Rogan merely glossed over the topic and proceeded with the conversation.
"I see... I can't imagine it's all that fun to always be on the move like that. Do you enjoy at least a bit of your work? I mean, even with how cheap flights have gotten these days with how advanced flight technology has come, they still haven't solved the problem of legroom being awful," joked Harke, laughing slightly at his own joke as he tried to lighten up the mood--primarily for himself. He hadn't expected Rogan to answer straightforwardly about his own origin anyhow, judging from how risky his work seemed to be. Still, it was worth at least the little bit of small talk.
The topic of his age then came up, and he scratched the back of his neck with a complicated expression on his face. "I do get that a lot from the people I work with at SciLab--it was hard to get people to take me seriously at first when I first moved there. Still is, sometimes," he said. Passing a brief glance at his sister, he found her drunkenly slumped in her seat, staring at one of the younger men at the nearby bar through half-lidded eyes. "Everyone in the family is aware of what we do, and the kind of people that we attract. It's just how it is. Dad always said that it's fine if I was afraid, as long as it didn't stop me from what I was doing. Always keep my hands moving, and I'll be too busy to even think about it. Everything's fine as long we've done our own part."
As the melancholic tone took over the conversation, his somber self-exposition was interrupted rudely by the sound of something dropping to the ground, followed by loud, angry Sharoan curses, causing Harke to start up in his seat and turn towards the source of the noise. A pair of lanky men at one of the tables had started a fistfight, while the bouncer from the corner of the room could be seen rushing towards the two. Soon after, the fight was broken up with the two offenders escorted out of the premises, with all of the onlookers' previous conversations slowly resuming from the commotion, possibly discussing it between them.
"I'm going to assume you're not as rowdy as those guys when you're drunk--or, actually, do you ever get drunk at all? I only ever drink enough to be polite--Karen doesn't have any inhibitions of the sort. I'm pretty much the worst Sharoan when it comes to that," he laughed.
"I see... I can't imagine it's all that fun to always be on the move like that. Do you enjoy at least a bit of your work? I mean, even with how cheap flights have gotten these days with how advanced flight technology has come, they still haven't solved the problem of legroom being awful," joked Harke, laughing slightly at his own joke as he tried to lighten up the mood--primarily for himself. He hadn't expected Rogan to answer straightforwardly about his own origin anyhow, judging from how risky his work seemed to be. Still, it was worth at least the little bit of small talk.
The topic of his age then came up, and he scratched the back of his neck with a complicated expression on his face. "I do get that a lot from the people I work with at SciLab--it was hard to get people to take me seriously at first when I first moved there. Still is, sometimes," he said. Passing a brief glance at his sister, he found her drunkenly slumped in her seat, staring at one of the younger men at the nearby bar through half-lidded eyes. "Everyone in the family is aware of what we do, and the kind of people that we attract. It's just how it is. Dad always said that it's fine if I was afraid, as long as it didn't stop me from what I was doing. Always keep my hands moving, and I'll be too busy to even think about it. Everything's fine as long we've done our own part."
As the melancholic tone took over the conversation, his somber self-exposition was interrupted rudely by the sound of something dropping to the ground, followed by loud, angry Sharoan curses, causing Harke to start up in his seat and turn towards the source of the noise. A pair of lanky men at one of the tables had started a fistfight, while the bouncer from the corner of the room could be seen rushing towards the two. Soon after, the fight was broken up with the two offenders escorted out of the premises, with all of the onlookers' previous conversations slowly resuming from the commotion, possibly discussing it between them.
"I'm going to assume you're not as rowdy as those guys when you're drunk--or, actually, do you ever get drunk at all? I only ever drink enough to be polite--Karen doesn't have any inhibitions of the sort. I'm pretty much the worst Sharoan when it comes to that," he laughed.
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For a brief few moments, the conversation was distracted by the bar commotion. Rogan listened to the altercation play out, but his eyes stayed on Karen and Harke. Eventually, as it settled, he took another small sip; his single shot glass was about half empty now, and it hadn't been full all the way when he'd poured it. He shrugged, then shook his head.
"I generally prefer to keep my wits in order. Sometimes something is worth celebrating, and I'm not averse to sharing a drink with pleasant company from time to time, but I find it foolish to carry such things too far." His eyes flicked across to Karen again, and he tried to gauge how much of her drinking was actual alcohol, and how much of it was feigned. If it was an act, it was very good, but he didn't want to trust entirely that she was as drunk as she seemed. He focused back on the more talkative one. the boy's description of his outlook was solid, and to a certain extent more mature than some adults he knew... but more interesting was the apparent slip of the tongue there. Watching closely, he began to put the pieces together quickly. If it was the work that 'his family' did, then the 'dad' in the equation could only really be Ezarith himself. The idea that he'd sent his child as his representative put the rest of the situation in an interesting light. Something extra to consider. It also made him wonder who Karen was, in this picture. Not a bodyguard, that much he was sure of now. Not really a minder either. If anything, she gave off the bossy big sister vibe, which was hard to replicate outside of family. Something to think on and consider. He nodded absently.
"At any rate, it's a good philosophy to have, at times, if other thoughts or feelings are getting in the way," he experienced a small surge of traitorous guilt for his own struggle with exactly that problem. For a moment his eyes flicked down to where his PET was partially hidden under the strap of his shoulder bag, then back up again. "But just because you can't spare the head space to think about the things you're doing doesn't release you from having done them. The good, and the more questionable both. Other people watch and respond; it's the way things go, after all." The comment came with slightly raised eyebrows and half a grin. somehow he doubted that the boy had ever perpetrated anything truly questionable in his life yet, by realistic standards, but he'd wager just as strong that he probably felt like he had.
"My work, since you asked, is a challenge, and I enjoy a challenge and overcoming it. I go where that work takes me, and I don't think about the physical minutia too much. It works itself out." He shrugged, then chuckled before he could catch the thought. "If Lyntael were out here now, she'd likely complain that I don't get enough sleep, or food, or look after myself properly at all... but that's the difference between neglect and simply being thrifty and efficient." The implication, of course, was that he obviously considered himself to fall on the positive side of that line. He certainly didn't look malnourished or unrested. As he spoke, though, something he'd seen niggled at Rogan's attention. Had the link lights on his PET's probe been active when he'd glanced at it...?
"Hm... I've not seen you assisting your navis for several very long minutes now. Have you decided to see how they fare on their own strength?" It was a test question, before he actually checked his PET to see if something was up... It would be a simple matter just to pick it up and look, but it was more interesting to see how Harke answered.
"I generally prefer to keep my wits in order. Sometimes something is worth celebrating, and I'm not averse to sharing a drink with pleasant company from time to time, but I find it foolish to carry such things too far." His eyes flicked across to Karen again, and he tried to gauge how much of her drinking was actual alcohol, and how much of it was feigned. If it was an act, it was very good, but he didn't want to trust entirely that she was as drunk as she seemed. He focused back on the more talkative one. the boy's description of his outlook was solid, and to a certain extent more mature than some adults he knew... but more interesting was the apparent slip of the tongue there. Watching closely, he began to put the pieces together quickly. If it was the work that 'his family' did, then the 'dad' in the equation could only really be Ezarith himself. The idea that he'd sent his child as his representative put the rest of the situation in an interesting light. Something extra to consider. It also made him wonder who Karen was, in this picture. Not a bodyguard, that much he was sure of now. Not really a minder either. If anything, she gave off the bossy big sister vibe, which was hard to replicate outside of family. Something to think on and consider. He nodded absently.
"At any rate, it's a good philosophy to have, at times, if other thoughts or feelings are getting in the way," he experienced a small surge of traitorous guilt for his own struggle with exactly that problem. For a moment his eyes flicked down to where his PET was partially hidden under the strap of his shoulder bag, then back up again. "But just because you can't spare the head space to think about the things you're doing doesn't release you from having done them. The good, and the more questionable both. Other people watch and respond; it's the way things go, after all." The comment came with slightly raised eyebrows and half a grin. somehow he doubted that the boy had ever perpetrated anything truly questionable in his life yet, by realistic standards, but he'd wager just as strong that he probably felt like he had.
"My work, since you asked, is a challenge, and I enjoy a challenge and overcoming it. I go where that work takes me, and I don't think about the physical minutia too much. It works itself out." He shrugged, then chuckled before he could catch the thought. "If Lyntael were out here now, she'd likely complain that I don't get enough sleep, or food, or look after myself properly at all... but that's the difference between neglect and simply being thrifty and efficient." The implication, of course, was that he obviously considered himself to fall on the positive side of that line. He certainly didn't look malnourished or unrested. As he spoke, though, something he'd seen niggled at Rogan's attention. Had the link lights on his PET's probe been active when he'd glanced at it...?
"Hm... I've not seen you assisting your navis for several very long minutes now. Have you decided to see how they fare on their own strength?" It was a test question, before he actually checked his PET to see if something was up... It would be a simple matter just to pick it up and look, but it was more interesting to see how Harke answered.
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Rogan's response to his question made Harke pause for thought. It was true, that he hadn't really thought about the consequences of his actions. It was harder to think about it when he busied himself with other things, but when directly confronted with the possible negative impact of his actions, the reasoning that was given was always 'for the greater good'. However other people watched and responded, as Rogan had mentioned, never factored into it--there was no gratitude in the field that didn't involve any fighting. Often, only whatever reassurance they gave themselves that they were making things right was present at all.
However, before he could sink himself further into the train of thought, Rogan posed a question towards him, indicating towards his PET. While only half-paying attention, Harke realized that it had indeed been a while since he'd received any request pings from the PET in front of him. Perhaps he was too engrossed in the conversation to do anything about the two Navis. He reached out to check on the PET's screen, which had faded out due to inactivity from the few minutes he had left it unattended.
Before he could do so, he was interrupted by an exceptionally loud burp that almost startled him out of his seat. As he turned to the source of the unexpected noise, the tiny hiccup that followed suit made him sigh with difficulty. In front of him, Karen only giggled with a demeanor that very much clashed with the serious attitude that she had displayed not ten minutes ago. Next to her, the bottle that she had emptied stood silently atop the table, making Harke's face scrunch up even more.
"Scuuuuse me," mumbled Karen, giggling slightly as she put up a hand to her mouth. As much as Harke wanted to reprimand her for getting so thoroughly drunk, he had dealt with her a few times before. All he had to do in the situation was make sure she didn't hurt herself, and drive her home once she inevitably fell asleep on the table. However, his expression turned thoroughly mortified as he recalled that they had a third at the table, whom Karen was all too happy to scoot over to. "Karen--hey!" he called out towards the elder Ezarith, who had rather quickly pushed herself up to Rogan's side, with as sultry of a look as a drunk could manage.
"Sooooo, what'd you say your name was, again? Night--hic--something? Whip? Will? Ah, who cares--hic--what's say you and me get out of here and do some--hic--penetration testing?" she said, giggling as she did so.
However, before he could sink himself further into the train of thought, Rogan posed a question towards him, indicating towards his PET. While only half-paying attention, Harke realized that it had indeed been a while since he'd received any request pings from the PET in front of him. Perhaps he was too engrossed in the conversation to do anything about the two Navis. He reached out to check on the PET's screen, which had faded out due to inactivity from the few minutes he had left it unattended.
Before he could do so, he was interrupted by an exceptionally loud burp that almost startled him out of his seat. As he turned to the source of the unexpected noise, the tiny hiccup that followed suit made him sigh with difficulty. In front of him, Karen only giggled with a demeanor that very much clashed with the serious attitude that she had displayed not ten minutes ago. Next to her, the bottle that she had emptied stood silently atop the table, making Harke's face scrunch up even more.
"Scuuuuse me," mumbled Karen, giggling slightly as she put up a hand to her mouth. As much as Harke wanted to reprimand her for getting so thoroughly drunk, he had dealt with her a few times before. All he had to do in the situation was make sure she didn't hurt herself, and drive her home once she inevitably fell asleep on the table. However, his expression turned thoroughly mortified as he recalled that they had a third at the table, whom Karen was all too happy to scoot over to. "Karen--hey!" he called out towards the elder Ezarith, who had rather quickly pushed herself up to Rogan's side, with as sultry of a look as a drunk could manage.
"Sooooo, what'd you say your name was, again? Night--hic--something? Whip? Will? Ah, who cares--hic--what's say you and me get out of here and do some--hic--penetration testing?" she said, giggling as she did so.
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Waiting to see how Harke responded tot he question of inactivity, Rogan tried not to show his surprise at Karen's sudden interruption. His eyebrows rose, despite himself and he left one of them hanging high as he glanced back to Harke and let the rest of his features relax again. For someone who had seemed quite confident about drinking, she'd gotten shattered very quickly, all things considered. A part of him still wonders if it was a ploy, and at least partially an act, or over-embellished, though he was also entertaining the idea that she may have been putting on a strong front for the sake of meeting an unknown about business, and gone too far.
About to open his mouth to ask a question, Rogan stopped quite suddenly as the drunken rousing became a surprisingly quick sidle around to his side of the table, pushing him in closer to the wall and scrunching up his shoulder back into the space in a way that further buried his PET. Rogan didn't notice this exactly, due to the far more pressing, well, pressure from Karen against his side. He leaned away, wincing slightly, and cast his eyes to Harke again to see if this was, in fact, normal behaviour. There had been a moment of resignation on his face, before Karen's movements had triggered a reaction that looked as startled as he felt. Well that answered that.
He could feel her curling her grip about one of his arms as she pressed in, and, sure enough, the scent of her vodka was light, but quite discernible. Her closeness, and certain pressing motions the woman made sent a dangerous thought through his mind, leaving him wondering again briefly just how long it had been, but he focused a bit more and tried to push the idea away.
"An interesting offer, Karen, but if you're really interested in seeing how long your... facility can hold off my intrusions, I'd much rather conduct that kind of engagement when you are more sober." He tried to keep his voice pleasant and joking, but a slight hint of teasing amusement crept in anyway. "Besides... I'm sure it would be irresponsible of you to leave your brother," he took a measured gamble and guessed at their relationship. "To drive home alone... and I'm even more sure that you wouldn't want to invite him for the testing process either, would you?" Well, this conversation went somewhere strange very suddenly. Rogan's thoughts had completely derailed from his earlier considerations of what was going on with the navis; it wasn't dramatically important anyway, and if anything happened, it wasn't like any damage could actually be done to her that wouldn't be repaired right away once she was out.
"I was going to ask if this was normal, but I can guess from your expression, not quite. However, I appear to be... ensconced for a while at least." He cast his eyes down to the manner that Karen had him clustered between herself, the table and the wall. "Anything else you'd like to ask about as long as you have a captive audience?" Traitorously, his mind wondered if drunk-Karen was the type to try something out of sight with her hands as stubbornness and determination to not getting her way immediately... he'd met one or two women who had the same kind of behaviour while inebriated and he was vaguely worried that she might have similar ideas.
About to open his mouth to ask a question, Rogan stopped quite suddenly as the drunken rousing became a surprisingly quick sidle around to his side of the table, pushing him in closer to the wall and scrunching up his shoulder back into the space in a way that further buried his PET. Rogan didn't notice this exactly, due to the far more pressing, well, pressure from Karen against his side. He leaned away, wincing slightly, and cast his eyes to Harke again to see if this was, in fact, normal behaviour. There had been a moment of resignation on his face, before Karen's movements had triggered a reaction that looked as startled as he felt. Well that answered that.
He could feel her curling her grip about one of his arms as she pressed in, and, sure enough, the scent of her vodka was light, but quite discernible. Her closeness, and certain pressing motions the woman made sent a dangerous thought through his mind, leaving him wondering again briefly just how long it had been, but he focused a bit more and tried to push the idea away.
"An interesting offer, Karen, but if you're really interested in seeing how long your... facility can hold off my intrusions, I'd much rather conduct that kind of engagement when you are more sober." He tried to keep his voice pleasant and joking, but a slight hint of teasing amusement crept in anyway. "Besides... I'm sure it would be irresponsible of you to leave your brother," he took a measured gamble and guessed at their relationship. "To drive home alone... and I'm even more sure that you wouldn't want to invite him for the testing process either, would you?" Well, this conversation went somewhere strange very suddenly. Rogan's thoughts had completely derailed from his earlier considerations of what was going on with the navis; it wasn't dramatically important anyway, and if anything happened, it wasn't like any damage could actually be done to her that wouldn't be repaired right away once she was out.
"I was going to ask if this was normal, but I can guess from your expression, not quite. However, I appear to be... ensconced for a while at least." He cast his eyes down to the manner that Karen had him clustered between herself, the table and the wall. "Anything else you'd like to ask about as long as you have a captive audience?" Traitorously, his mind wondered if drunk-Karen was the type to try something out of sight with her hands as stubbornness and determination to not getting her way immediately... he'd met one or two women who had the same kind of behaviour while inebriated and he was vaguely worried that she might have similar ideas.
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As Harke watched the flirting session, his surprised expression turned into a restrained smile, one that looked about ready to snap. Karen, meanwhile, hazily looked over in his direction with her own bleary-eyed half-lidded expression. Her eyebrows raised for a moment, in a way that almost undoubtedly said, "Oh, I forgot that he was here too." At least, Harke evidently interpreted it that way as he reached over to Karen. "'Scuse me," he said, pulling firmly on her arm to separate her from Rogan.
At least, that was what he attempted at first, but his older sister seemed to be adamant about not leaving her spot. Meanwhile, Harke's smile still persisted on his face, though his facial features surrounding it were a lot more contorted now. Eventually, the quick session of tug-of-war ended, and he released his grip, exhaling in exasperation. Rogan commented on the oddity of the situation, and his expression turned slightly apologetic.
"Yeah, it seems like she's taken a liking to you. Normally I wouldn't really mind, that's all really her own business, but I am kind of responsible for bringing her back home, and I'm... not really into watching people get it on," he said, averting eye contact with an indiscernable grin on his face. Perhaps his mind had actually broken down under the situation. He elected to cough a little to clear the air. "Anyway, I'll leave prying her off you for later. Though I don't really have much to ask, I have been curious--how'd you come across your Navi? Considering your line of work, it would probably make a lot more sense to have a standard model that wouldn't be as easily traced back to you."
His first assumption was that it had been forced on him somehow to take care of, which would make sense in how little he seemed to care about it, despite the custom work. Still, his curiosity drove him to ask anyway, all while giving his sister a subtle stink-eye for the moment.
At least, that was what he attempted at first, but his older sister seemed to be adamant about not leaving her spot. Meanwhile, Harke's smile still persisted on his face, though his facial features surrounding it were a lot more contorted now. Eventually, the quick session of tug-of-war ended, and he released his grip, exhaling in exasperation. Rogan commented on the oddity of the situation, and his expression turned slightly apologetic.
"Yeah, it seems like she's taken a liking to you. Normally I wouldn't really mind, that's all really her own business, but I am kind of responsible for bringing her back home, and I'm... not really into watching people get it on," he said, averting eye contact with an indiscernable grin on his face. Perhaps his mind had actually broken down under the situation. He elected to cough a little to clear the air. "Anyway, I'll leave prying her off you for later. Though I don't really have much to ask, I have been curious--how'd you come across your Navi? Considering your line of work, it would probably make a lot more sense to have a standard model that wouldn't be as easily traced back to you."
His first assumption was that it had been forced on him somehow to take care of, which would make sense in how little he seemed to care about it, despite the custom work. Still, his curiosity drove him to ask anyway, all while giving his sister a subtle stink-eye for the moment.
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As efforts to extract Karen from his personal space proved futile, at least for the time being, Rogan resigned himself to his fate. While she was in this condition, he didn't exactly want to appraise the woman too closely, but despite his best efforts at retaining formality, he did catch himself considering the potential that she'd still feel make making her suggestion when her head cleared. It wasn't like he had nay other pressing plans for the night beyond more research, so... the part of his mind that still remembered eh was male sometimes quickly ducked through his memory of the town's layout for a late night pharmacy.
The train of thought snapped back to the table as Harke switched the rails of the conversation; he could still feel Karen snuggling against him; she'd claimed one of his arms, and letting her have hold of it while still maintaining his own space as best he could had seen it mostly dragged below the edge of the table, so he rested his chin on the other palm instead, one elbow on the table. Because his hand was already there where Karen had more or less dragged it in her efforts, he let his fingers brush back and forth slowly along her thigh. Above board, he nodded more casually.
"It may surprise you, but until recently I didn't keep a navigator at all. My methods tend to pursue more physical routes, and beyond that, I'm accomplished enough at dealing with the technological problems that might impede me personally, on my own. No.... Lyntael was..." He paused, letting his eyes trace over Harke more carefully, then he relented with a small mental shrug. "She was a gift, from someone who thinks I need to remember my humanity once in a while. Mostly she reminds me why programs are, indeed, programs, and not people... since every feature of her that emulates humanity mostly causes further impediment to me in some fashion, if I try to use her for anything." He shook his head, though his other hand continued to stroke idly beneath the table.
"I can't exactly give her back, and I daren't replace her, or the one who gifted her to me would... let us say he would be upset." He paused as a thought came to him, and his brow furrowed. "I must admit... it... concerns me, that he designed and created this program with such a level of excessive and unnecessary detail. There are things that are built into her that it makes no sane sense at all for a program to possess, and which can't possibly be of any use, or function, or benefit at all... yet there they are. It does make me wonder about his stability at times."
"Regardless, I have a masking program that makes her read as a generic, mass-produced navi if she gets scanned or registered or checked by other external systems, when I'm working with her at least. Beyond that, I'm very good at covering tracks when I need to, so she's not endangered myself or my work yet." He shrugged and sat back again, rolling his free shoulder and putting the hand behind his head. His fingers traced idle patterns on Karen's leg, mostly unconscious.
"What would you do, I wonder, Harke, if your navi told you that it didn't want to do the job it was made for, or that it was frightened of getting hurt? what if it insisted that it needed to sleep for more hours a day that you yourself did, or that it was hungry," he hesitated there... Lyntael's usual statistics were all relatively constant most of the time, but he'd noticed that, apparently, she'd been losing 'weight', whatever that meant for a digital program. "Or that it didn't want to leave the PET that day, because it had... women's issues." He shrugged apologetically, then continued. "Some of it just makes no sense whatsoever." Despite the vaguely rhetorical tone, he waited and watched Harke to see if the young man would field an answer; he was curious what it would be.
The train of thought snapped back to the table as Harke switched the rails of the conversation; he could still feel Karen snuggling against him; she'd claimed one of his arms, and letting her have hold of it while still maintaining his own space as best he could had seen it mostly dragged below the edge of the table, so he rested his chin on the other palm instead, one elbow on the table. Because his hand was already there where Karen had more or less dragged it in her efforts, he let his fingers brush back and forth slowly along her thigh. Above board, he nodded more casually.
"It may surprise you, but until recently I didn't keep a navigator at all. My methods tend to pursue more physical routes, and beyond that, I'm accomplished enough at dealing with the technological problems that might impede me personally, on my own. No.... Lyntael was..." He paused, letting his eyes trace over Harke more carefully, then he relented with a small mental shrug. "She was a gift, from someone who thinks I need to remember my humanity once in a while. Mostly she reminds me why programs are, indeed, programs, and not people... since every feature of her that emulates humanity mostly causes further impediment to me in some fashion, if I try to use her for anything." He shook his head, though his other hand continued to stroke idly beneath the table.
"I can't exactly give her back, and I daren't replace her, or the one who gifted her to me would... let us say he would be upset." He paused as a thought came to him, and his brow furrowed. "I must admit... it... concerns me, that he designed and created this program with such a level of excessive and unnecessary detail. There are things that are built into her that it makes no sane sense at all for a program to possess, and which can't possibly be of any use, or function, or benefit at all... yet there they are. It does make me wonder about his stability at times."
"Regardless, I have a masking program that makes her read as a generic, mass-produced navi if she gets scanned or registered or checked by other external systems, when I'm working with her at least. Beyond that, I'm very good at covering tracks when I need to, so she's not endangered myself or my work yet." He shrugged and sat back again, rolling his free shoulder and putting the hand behind his head. His fingers traced idle patterns on Karen's leg, mostly unconscious.
"What would you do, I wonder, Harke, if your navi told you that it didn't want to do the job it was made for, or that it was frightened of getting hurt? what if it insisted that it needed to sleep for more hours a day that you yourself did, or that it was hungry," he hesitated there... Lyntael's usual statistics were all relatively constant most of the time, but he'd noticed that, apparently, she'd been losing 'weight', whatever that meant for a digital program. "Or that it didn't want to leave the PET that day, because it had... women's issues." He shrugged apologetically, then continued. "Some of it just makes no sense whatsoever." Despite the vaguely rhetorical tone, he waited and watched Harke to see if the young man would field an answer; he was curious what it would be.
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"Well, that's a difficult question to answer... Of course, there are a fair number of navigators that have had their battle routines either entirely removed or replaced somehow, as they were meant for specialized purposes," said Harke, glancing over to his PET and Rogan's. However, his focus was stolen by a drunken giggle across the table, causing his expression to turn to flatly shown exasperation. Karen was squirming in her seat as Rogan adjusted his own posture, pulling his arm down to her thigh a little more forcefully. Somewhat surprisingly, however, she was mostly keeping quiet otherwise, save for a wide, dumb-looking smile on her face, and the occasional giggle.
After a few moments, he turned his focus back to Rogan, before raising his finger for a moment. "Uh, what was I saying earlier? Ah, right. It would be odd, to say the least. For the most part, navigators are mostly trusting of humans, save for the odd quirk. You might even say it's to the point of being subservient. It's some function of the Hikari AI model that we don't quite understand, unfortunately. That said, it would be hard-pressed to find a navigator whose system functions didn't match its own AI, as they're very tightly coupled."
"As for the, er, excessive detail in your navigator's functions, I feel like it does make some bit of sense. Most navigators today have a limited set of human simulation, but not to the extent of yours--at least as far as I can tell, female navigators don't have that kind of function. Some might have the simulated parts, but they are, for the most part, vestigial. The only reason I can think of to simulate the human body so closely in a navigator is to create one was created purely for companionship, which seems to be what your navigator's creator intended."
Then, Harke's eyes lowered and he covered his mouth with a hand for a moment in thought. He then directed his narrowed eyes up towards Rogan. "What did you think she was made for? It sounds like you've been using her for things other than what she was intended for, at least."
After a few moments, he turned his focus back to Rogan, before raising his finger for a moment. "Uh, what was I saying earlier? Ah, right. It would be odd, to say the least. For the most part, navigators are mostly trusting of humans, save for the odd quirk. You might even say it's to the point of being subservient. It's some function of the Hikari AI model that we don't quite understand, unfortunately. That said, it would be hard-pressed to find a navigator whose system functions didn't match its own AI, as they're very tightly coupled."
"As for the, er, excessive detail in your navigator's functions, I feel like it does make some bit of sense. Most navigators today have a limited set of human simulation, but not to the extent of yours--at least as far as I can tell, female navigators don't have that kind of function. Some might have the simulated parts, but they are, for the most part, vestigial. The only reason I can think of to simulate the human body so closely in a navigator is to create one was created purely for companionship, which seems to be what your navigator's creator intended."
Then, Harke's eyes lowered and he covered his mouth with a hand for a moment in thought. He then directed his narrowed eyes up towards Rogan. "What did you think she was made for? It sounds like you've been using her for things other than what she was intended for, at least."
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Rogan found himself pausing, under the boy's suddenly thoughtful glare. It wasn't the first time someone had suggested that Lyntael wasn't intended to engage in combat, but the only other person prior to this had been Eric himself. Every other person who had learned of her condition had just tried to encourage him to care for her better, or not to push her too hard. It was strange hearing someone other than Eric flat out suggest that she shouldn't be placed in hostile situations at all. His fingers continued to coast slowly back and forth on Karen's thigh, while, above the table he made a visual point of attempting to ignore her squirming and giggles.
"Lyntael isn't built from the Hikari standard." He shrugged softly. "The one who made her built her... quite meticulously, from the ground up, and if you gave him the chance would probably spend hours enthusing to you about whatever strange blooming seed intelligence something-or-other that she's supposedly his masterwork of." Rogan sighed and shook his head, closing his eyes briefly. "An AI is an AI as far as I'm concerned, personally, and all he really seems to have made is one that suffers all the flaws and detriments that real people do, and few of the perks you'd expect from a properly functional AI." He breathed out a small chuckle, more a single, short exhale than a laugh. "If she was obedient or subservient then she'd do as I instruct her, when I instruct her, instead of melting down, crying, or telling me she's scared." He knew what kind of reaction those comments would usually provoke from people, however, and relented with a sigh.
"But you're right at least in as far as I'm sure her designer intended for her to be a companion more than anything else. Unfortunately, I don't need a companion or a friend, in my line of work. What I need for the jobs that I do, is a navigator that can follow instructions, make reliable decisions, and work in tandem with me while we are separated." He knew, of course, that Eric's intention had been to saddle him with a navi that would 'keep him human' or something asinine and prosaic like that... but he wasn't going to 'be friends' with an inanimate string of code. His eyes darted momentarily across to Karen. And she certainly couldn't provide the kind of 'companionship' that real people could. For the briefest of moments, Rogan felt unfathomably slimy for thinking about Lyntael in that manner, before the sensation vanished.
"But as I said, I can't exactly return her, or get rid of her without incurring her creators very great ire, which I would rather avoid, so I am attempting to train her to fulfil the functions I need, despite her flaws. Would you recommend I do otherwise?" He tilted his head to one side and raised an eyebrow to Harke, letting his fingers circle and tap lightly in unseen silence under the table.
"Lyntael isn't built from the Hikari standard." He shrugged softly. "The one who made her built her... quite meticulously, from the ground up, and if you gave him the chance would probably spend hours enthusing to you about whatever strange blooming seed intelligence something-or-other that she's supposedly his masterwork of." Rogan sighed and shook his head, closing his eyes briefly. "An AI is an AI as far as I'm concerned, personally, and all he really seems to have made is one that suffers all the flaws and detriments that real people do, and few of the perks you'd expect from a properly functional AI." He breathed out a small chuckle, more a single, short exhale than a laugh. "If she was obedient or subservient then she'd do as I instruct her, when I instruct her, instead of melting down, crying, or telling me she's scared." He knew what kind of reaction those comments would usually provoke from people, however, and relented with a sigh.
"But you're right at least in as far as I'm sure her designer intended for her to be a companion more than anything else. Unfortunately, I don't need a companion or a friend, in my line of work. What I need for the jobs that I do, is a navigator that can follow instructions, make reliable decisions, and work in tandem with me while we are separated." He knew, of course, that Eric's intention had been to saddle him with a navi that would 'keep him human' or something asinine and prosaic like that... but he wasn't going to 'be friends' with an inanimate string of code. His eyes darted momentarily across to Karen. And she certainly couldn't provide the kind of 'companionship' that real people could. For the briefest of moments, Rogan felt unfathomably slimy for thinking about Lyntael in that manner, before the sensation vanished.
"But as I said, I can't exactly return her, or get rid of her without incurring her creators very great ire, which I would rather avoid, so I am attempting to train her to fulfil the functions I need, despite her flaws. Would you recommend I do otherwise?" He tilted his head to one side and raised an eyebrow to Harke, letting his fingers circle and tap lightly in unseen silence under the table.
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At Rogan's mention that Lyntael wasn't built to the Hikari standard, Harke's eyes widened slightly. Certainly, there have been many attempts to construct an AI model fit for Navigators that did not utilize the black box that was the Hikari AI model. Many of them were successful to some degree, yet they were not as prevalent as the original model--users often reported them not feeling quite as 'alive'. Experimental models out in the wild was not unheard of, but to construct one all by themselves was another level entirely. "Sounds pretty... impressive," said Harke, with a bit of flair on the last word, subtly indicating that he wasn't thoroughly convinced of the man's words. "If he's the real deal then I'd say I'd have a pretty good time talking with him."
The rest of Rogan's spiel was as he'd expected--he had no use for something akin to a 'companion Navi'. The concept wasn't entirely unheard of, certainly. However, he'd never heard of anyone constructing an entire AI model from the ground up simply to create such a type of Navi--if the man Rogan was talking about actually did do the work he had indirectly boasted about, they would certainly be at least partially insane to undertake such a mammoth task. He stopped himself from wandering down the path his stray thoughts laid out, and posed the obvious question.
"Sure! Sounds perfectly logical to me. If you can't use your current Navi, clearly tailored to be a purely companion-model Navi, can't you just procure a standard, mass-production Navi? You're not exactly married to one. There's no law against owning two personal terminals in any country that I've heard of," he said, raising an eyebrow. "If your companion Navi is so crippled such that they're unable to perform basic Navigator duties, then surely a standard model would do a much better job at it. You don't exactly have to throw her away if you're afraid of your eccentric friend, and another terminal shouldn't be a massive expense for someone who travels across international waters for jobs under the table. Hell, I'd wager they even be grateful to you for keeping her out of harm's way." Harke shrugged slightly.
Next to Rogan, the drunken woman that had locked his arm in her embrace perked up slightly every time he traced his finger on her thigh, but her armlock was growing gradually weaker and weaker. The weight on his shoulder indicated that Karen was clearly getting drowsier by the minute, and soon he would be left with a dead weight.
The rest of Rogan's spiel was as he'd expected--he had no use for something akin to a 'companion Navi'. The concept wasn't entirely unheard of, certainly. However, he'd never heard of anyone constructing an entire AI model from the ground up simply to create such a type of Navi--if the man Rogan was talking about actually did do the work he had indirectly boasted about, they would certainly be at least partially insane to undertake such a mammoth task. He stopped himself from wandering down the path his stray thoughts laid out, and posed the obvious question.
"Sure! Sounds perfectly logical to me. If you can't use your current Navi, clearly tailored to be a purely companion-model Navi, can't you just procure a standard, mass-production Navi? You're not exactly married to one. There's no law against owning two personal terminals in any country that I've heard of," he said, raising an eyebrow. "If your companion Navi is so crippled such that they're unable to perform basic Navigator duties, then surely a standard model would do a much better job at it. You don't exactly have to throw her away if you're afraid of your eccentric friend, and another terminal shouldn't be a massive expense for someone who travels across international waters for jobs under the table. Hell, I'd wager they even be grateful to you for keeping her out of harm's way." Harke shrugged slightly.
Next to Rogan, the drunken woman that had locked his arm in her embrace perked up slightly every time he traced his finger on her thigh, but her armlock was growing gradually weaker and weaker. The weight on his shoulder indicated that Karen was clearly getting drowsier by the minute, and soon he would be left with a dead weight.
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Rogan allowed himself a short, quiet laugh as Harke made his suggestion. He didn't fault him his scepticism, certainly — Eric was mad devoting as much time and effort to the things as he did, after all.
"He would at that... the man seems to half way think of Lyntael as his daughter, more than a program. The way he fusses, I'm more surprised he insisted I look after her, rather than keeping her in his own home." He relented with a shake of his head and sat back again, leaning against the back of the bar room setting with a small shrug. All things said, Hake had a valid enough point, after a fashion.
"I do prefer to keep my traceable evidence to a minimum. I mentioned that before I was saddled with Lyntael, I didn't keep a navigator at all? I use her for the work I have, and to assist me in taking on tasks I would normally not approach, because she is a tool that should be of use, and one I will have to hand regardless. If she cannot be of use, I would prefer to simple return to my usual run of jobs which don't require the extra pair of internal hands." He spoke the words, and kept his features smooth, but even as he answered the young man, Rogan found himself pushing aside the less helpful thoughts: It was too late to go back already; he was in far too deep to just drop easily out of sight again, now, at least where it concerned Varda's Family. Stopping just wasn't a viable option at this point, and more than that, he found he didn't want to let the threads go now that he was pulling on them. There was something very big going on, and he was too curious to leave it be, even if he could have. After a moment of thought, he glanced back towards Harke, a small grin creeping over one corner of his lips.
"Of course, I suppose if that would be your recommendation to me, then attempting to train her to handle herself better in conflict situations would be pointless to continue and I should just extract her now..." He paused, with a slight turn of his head, watching Harke with the corner of an eye rather than straight on and the curl of his smirk growing. "But of course... I suspect she's not been engaged in any kind of fruitful training exercise for many, many long minutes now, if I'm not mistaken... What do you think, Harke?" He'd left alone the idea that the boy hadn't been operating in the normal fashion, but their conversation made it fairly clear that it wasn't to restrict his own navigators. Rogan was beginning to suspect that the navis hadn't been seeking battles at all, during this time, or Lyntael would have certainly made more complaints. He resisted the urge to actually reach over and retrieve his PET from under his shoulder bag, and see for himself immediately, instead quirking an eyebrow at Harke.
Alongside him, Karen was getting decidedly more weighty, and unless she perked up soon, her night was probably finished. A shame; he hadn't actually expected the woman to go down quite so hard, given her earlier confidence. unless she was in the habit of drinking and passing out... a worrisome concept... then it really must have been a case of drinking to impress. Idly, he lifted his free hand to prod gently at her shoulder, and then at her cheek, to see how aware the woman still was, and to gauge whether she was likely to rouse properly and recover her clear head before the night was done.
"He would at that... the man seems to half way think of Lyntael as his daughter, more than a program. The way he fusses, I'm more surprised he insisted I look after her, rather than keeping her in his own home." He relented with a shake of his head and sat back again, leaning against the back of the bar room setting with a small shrug. All things said, Hake had a valid enough point, after a fashion.
"I do prefer to keep my traceable evidence to a minimum. I mentioned that before I was saddled with Lyntael, I didn't keep a navigator at all? I use her for the work I have, and to assist me in taking on tasks I would normally not approach, because she is a tool that should be of use, and one I will have to hand regardless. If she cannot be of use, I would prefer to simple return to my usual run of jobs which don't require the extra pair of internal hands." He spoke the words, and kept his features smooth, but even as he answered the young man, Rogan found himself pushing aside the less helpful thoughts: It was too late to go back already; he was in far too deep to just drop easily out of sight again, now, at least where it concerned Varda's Family. Stopping just wasn't a viable option at this point, and more than that, he found he didn't want to let the threads go now that he was pulling on them. There was something very big going on, and he was too curious to leave it be, even if he could have. After a moment of thought, he glanced back towards Harke, a small grin creeping over one corner of his lips.
"Of course, I suppose if that would be your recommendation to me, then attempting to train her to handle herself better in conflict situations would be pointless to continue and I should just extract her now..." He paused, with a slight turn of his head, watching Harke with the corner of an eye rather than straight on and the curl of his smirk growing. "But of course... I suspect she's not been engaged in any kind of fruitful training exercise for many, many long minutes now, if I'm not mistaken... What do you think, Harke?" He'd left alone the idea that the boy hadn't been operating in the normal fashion, but their conversation made it fairly clear that it wasn't to restrict his own navigators. Rogan was beginning to suspect that the navis hadn't been seeking battles at all, during this time, or Lyntael would have certainly made more complaints. He resisted the urge to actually reach over and retrieve his PET from under his shoulder bag, and see for himself immediately, instead quirking an eyebrow at Harke.
Alongside him, Karen was getting decidedly more weighty, and unless she perked up soon, her night was probably finished. A shame; he hadn't actually expected the woman to go down quite so hard, given her earlier confidence. unless she was in the habit of drinking and passing out... a worrisome concept... then it really must have been a case of drinking to impress. Idly, he lifted his free hand to prod gently at her shoulder, and then at her cheek, to see how aware the woman still was, and to gauge whether she was likely to rouse properly and recover her clear head before the night was done.
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Rogan's comment made Harke start for a bit, realizing that it had entirely slipped his mind. "... Huh, you're right. They haven't sent out anything about being in danger or the like, though," he said, muttering to himself. Perhaps they were blocked by some kind of communications blocker, he wildly theorized as to explain the radio silence, as he flicked open the screen to check on what they had been doing. His off-base worries were quickly proven as such, as an image of a scenery that was distinctly not very reminiscent of Sharo popped up. He was a bit stunned at the scene, where the entire team seemed to be partaking in some barbecued meat skewers on a seaside retreat, rather than beating off polar bears and their ilk.
"Eh... yeah, they're not really that occupied with battling at the moment, seems like. Looks like they picked up on my Navi's earlier suggestion to go to Beach Net instead," he reported, suddenly feeling slightly guilty that he was 'outing' the group as such. Then again, it wasn't like Rogan wasn't catching on to it himself, so it might have been better for him to 'discover' it, as it were. Shrugging, he added, "Guess they're done with the training?"
Meanwhile, Rogan's idle poking on Harke's somewhat incapacitated sister roused her back to being slightly wakeful, as she jerked in her seat at the prodding. "Oh, sorry, heh," she slurred out towards Rogan, a dopey smile still on her face. Looking slightly disoriented, she rose to sit up slightly, unconsciously also extracting herself from the man's side, before catching sight of Harke. "Mm, is it time t'go back now? Think I could, hic, go for a lie-down," said Karen, before laying her head on the table in front of them, preempting any sort of answer by closing her eyes then and there.
Scratching his head, Harke looked slightly puzzled towards his sister, before turning back to Rogan. "Sorry, it's not that this is strange to me or anything--I'm usually the one who has to pull her back home, she just... hasn't passed out straight off the bat like this. She's usually a lot more feisty," said Harke. Then, spotting his PET in front of him, he remembered the point that they were on before. "Oh, right, yeah, the training in conflict situation thing. Um, yeah, my recommendation would be that it'd be best if you called back your Navi and retire her from combat and the like now... though it seems like my Navis have got a head start on that already. Seems like a shame to interrupt them like that. That is, unless you'd like to head off for the night--preferably without my sister in tow," he said, a half-hearted smile on his face.
"Eh... yeah, they're not really that occupied with battling at the moment, seems like. Looks like they picked up on my Navi's earlier suggestion to go to Beach Net instead," he reported, suddenly feeling slightly guilty that he was 'outing' the group as such. Then again, it wasn't like Rogan wasn't catching on to it himself, so it might have been better for him to 'discover' it, as it were. Shrugging, he added, "Guess they're done with the training?"
Meanwhile, Rogan's idle poking on Harke's somewhat incapacitated sister roused her back to being slightly wakeful, as she jerked in her seat at the prodding. "Oh, sorry, heh," she slurred out towards Rogan, a dopey smile still on her face. Looking slightly disoriented, she rose to sit up slightly, unconsciously also extracting herself from the man's side, before catching sight of Harke. "Mm, is it time t'go back now? Think I could, hic, go for a lie-down," said Karen, before laying her head on the table in front of them, preempting any sort of answer by closing her eyes then and there.
Scratching his head, Harke looked slightly puzzled towards his sister, before turning back to Rogan. "Sorry, it's not that this is strange to me or anything--I'm usually the one who has to pull her back home, she just... hasn't passed out straight off the bat like this. She's usually a lot more feisty," said Harke. Then, spotting his PET in front of him, he remembered the point that they were on before. "Oh, right, yeah, the training in conflict situation thing. Um, yeah, my recommendation would be that it'd be best if you called back your Navi and retire her from combat and the like now... though it seems like my Navis have got a head start on that already. Seems like a shame to interrupt them like that. That is, unless you'd like to head off for the night--preferably without my sister in tow," he said, a half-hearted smile on his face.
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While Harke checked his PET, Rogan knocked back the remaining ice cubes in his glass and crunched them between his teeth. He wasn't, in truth, surprised to learn that Lyntael had found an excuse to sneak away again while he wasn't minding her. He might have been surprised that Harke's navis were apparently deeply complicit in the matter, but given how eager they'd seemed about the beach distraction earlier... He set the glass down and arched an eyebrow.
"Finished... if they got any done in the first place." Now that it was out, he reached over to his bag and dug out his own PET, taking a look at the screen. Lyntael was in another outfit he'd never seen before. He wondered how much space things like that took up, but again, the idea that she had designed it by herself, without input, nagged at the back of his mind.
Karen roused under his prodding, but did so only enough to further illustrate that she wouldn't be returning to the land of the clear-headed that evening, and Rogan shrugged softly. Harke's own apology for her didn't really surprise him either, but it wasn't his place to tell people what to do with their lives. Instead, he gradually began the delicate process of untangling himself from the woman, and shifting positions so that she was on the inside of the bench, instead of blocking his exit route.
"Well, since it seems my authority has been undercut by more than my own navi today, I think I'm going to give this session up as a futile endeavour. Regardless, I think it would be better if you took this one home, before she makes any other propositions she could regret." He hid his vague disappointment behind a patient grin and a small shake of his head. "I would be concerned if I had a sibling for whom this behaviour was common, but it isn't my place. I'm hardly a role-model after all. I think we're about done here for tonight, wouldn't you say?" He began packing up his shoulder back again and fastening the clips while Hake returned to his earlier recommendations, and paused while he did so just long enough to cast his eyes across to the boy briefly.
"Understand, I've no intention of making her some kind of virus-destroying dedicate or anything like that. Her purpose is not to fight. I just need her to be able to defend herself when dangerous situations arise, and to be able to carry out my instructions without panic or hysteria. As much as it may not seem so, she is, in fact, very capable of the work I need her to do. That work takes her dangerous places, however, and then she 'panics', and stops obeying. And in some places, that could get me killed. I do not exaggerate. Anyway..." With a small shrug he lifted his PET to examine it briefly again. The emulation was active... So, not only had she dropped his instructions, but she'd returned to the PET, then slipped out of her own accord again. As it was, he couldn't just extract her directly with a button push; she'd either need to return to the emulation point, or he'd have to patch through to her fresh. Irksome.
"Lyntael. Wrap it up, my business is concluded and we're leaving." He sighed, then spoke again. "I'm re-linking to your location now, say your farewells, this will only take a minute." He began to work, the lights on the probe flickering briefly as he did, and cast an occasional eye up to Harke as he did, to see if the boy had anything else to add.
"Finished... if they got any done in the first place." Now that it was out, he reached over to his bag and dug out his own PET, taking a look at the screen. Lyntael was in another outfit he'd never seen before. He wondered how much space things like that took up, but again, the idea that she had designed it by herself, without input, nagged at the back of his mind.
Karen roused under his prodding, but did so only enough to further illustrate that she wouldn't be returning to the land of the clear-headed that evening, and Rogan shrugged softly. Harke's own apology for her didn't really surprise him either, but it wasn't his place to tell people what to do with their lives. Instead, he gradually began the delicate process of untangling himself from the woman, and shifting positions so that she was on the inside of the bench, instead of blocking his exit route.
"Well, since it seems my authority has been undercut by more than my own navi today, I think I'm going to give this session up as a futile endeavour. Regardless, I think it would be better if you took this one home, before she makes any other propositions she could regret." He hid his vague disappointment behind a patient grin and a small shake of his head. "I would be concerned if I had a sibling for whom this behaviour was common, but it isn't my place. I'm hardly a role-model after all. I think we're about done here for tonight, wouldn't you say?" He began packing up his shoulder back again and fastening the clips while Hake returned to his earlier recommendations, and paused while he did so just long enough to cast his eyes across to the boy briefly.
"Understand, I've no intention of making her some kind of virus-destroying dedicate or anything like that. Her purpose is not to fight. I just need her to be able to defend herself when dangerous situations arise, and to be able to carry out my instructions without panic or hysteria. As much as it may not seem so, she is, in fact, very capable of the work I need her to do. That work takes her dangerous places, however, and then she 'panics', and stops obeying. And in some places, that could get me killed. I do not exaggerate. Anyway..." With a small shrug he lifted his PET to examine it briefly again. The emulation was active... So, not only had she dropped his instructions, but she'd returned to the PET, then slipped out of her own accord again. As it was, he couldn't just extract her directly with a button push; she'd either need to return to the emulation point, or he'd have to patch through to her fresh. Irksome.
"Lyntael. Wrap it up, my business is concluded and we're leaving." He sighed, then spoke again. "I'm re-linking to your location now, say your farewells, this will only take a minute." He began to work, the lights on the probe flickering briefly as he did, and cast an occasional eye up to Harke as he did, to see if the boy had anything else to add.
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"Mm, yeah, I understand. It's been a good discussion tonight, at least, and I hope we've helped you a little with what you wanted to know," said Harke. The questions from earlier still lingered in his mind, and he wanted nothing more at the moment than to leave the decidedly uncomfortable situation to go back home. While Rogan voiced out his orders to Lyntael through the PET, he set about roughly shaking Karen's shoulder in order to rouse her. The older woman muttered briefly, before spitting out an annoyed "alright, alright, I'm getting up". Shuffling in her seat, she began stretching out, not noticing that she had been detached from her earlier "target".
Fidgeting with his collar, he opened up his PET's keyboard projection and began to type out a message to Aurora, asking her to jack out as soon as they were able. Surprisingly enough, they responded quite promptly, and he thankfully ejected them from the network. A slight twinge of jealousy came up within him as while he was out in the dimly lit, rather morose bar with some intensely uncomfortable company, they seemed to have gone off to get themselves a fun time. They were in Sharo Net for quite some time, though, he figured, so he shrugged it off as some good time off.
As soon as the disconnection was complete, he rose from his seat, and picked up his PET to store it away in his jacket before offering a hand to shake across the table with a polite smile, though it was all he could do to prevent his mental weariness from showing through.
Fidgeting with his collar, he opened up his PET's keyboard projection and began to type out a message to Aurora, asking her to jack out as soon as they were able. Surprisingly enough, they responded quite promptly, and he thankfully ejected them from the network. A slight twinge of jealousy came up within him as while he was out in the dimly lit, rather morose bar with some intensely uncomfortable company, they seemed to have gone off to get themselves a fun time. They were in Sharo Net for quite some time, though, he figured, so he shrugged it off as some good time off.
As soon as the disconnection was complete, he rose from his seat, and picked up his PET to store it away in his jacket before offering a hand to shake across the table with a polite smile, though it was all he could do to prevent his mental weariness from showing through.
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It only took him a few extra moments to finish forging a fresh emulation link to reacquire Lyntael and pull her back to the PET, but Rogan was still conscious of having to do it, while Harke simply jacked his own two navis out. One by one the lights on the extended probe shut off and he retracted it, then slipped the device into his coat pocket with a small shake of his head.
Rogan stood just after Harke did as well, shouldering his bag and, after a brief moment of putting things away, extended his hand to shake with his new acquaintance as well. He smiled at the last; as much as some of the conversation had been tense or awkward, Harke and Karen had still been helpful to him, and it sounded as though there might even be future work that he could help them with in the future, as other potential job opportunities. Innuendo aside, security testing their operation was certainly a service he could offer, and was actually a legitimate one, that Lyntael would have no call to complain about, if it came to it. He briefly helped the younger man take operational control of piloting Karen, then gave them each a final nod.
"Well, good evening to you both. I imagine we'll be in touch again soon. Until next we meet." He inclined his head, then after a final glance to be sure that Karen was most likely going to be fine under her brother's care, turned and made his way for the door, disappearing out into the snowy night.
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((Lyntael, branch back from => Beach Net))
((Rogan, travelling to => His Sharo Hotel))
Rogan stood just after Harke did as well, shouldering his bag and, after a brief moment of putting things away, extended his hand to shake with his new acquaintance as well. He smiled at the last; as much as some of the conversation had been tense or awkward, Harke and Karen had still been helpful to him, and it sounded as though there might even be future work that he could help them with in the future, as other potential job opportunities. Innuendo aside, security testing their operation was certainly a service he could offer, and was actually a legitimate one, that Lyntael would have no call to complain about, if it came to it. He briefly helped the younger man take operational control of piloting Karen, then gave them each a final nod.
"Well, good evening to you both. I imagine we'll be in touch again soon. Until next we meet." He inclined his head, then after a final glance to be sure that Karen was most likely going to be fine under her brother's care, turned and made his way for the door, disappearing out into the snowy night.
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((Lyntael, branch back from => Beach Net))
((Rogan, travelling to => His Sharo Hotel))
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[LynFXP > 117.]
With final pleasantries out of the way, Harke went over to Karen and took his arm around her to lift her up from the seat. To his surprise, Rogan also assisted him in getting his sister up. Some of his earlier negative feelings washed away--perhaps it was best to let some prejudices drop when it came down to things. The man could have just been misinformed all this time, and people changed. With that in mind, he heaved up Karen, who at least seemed to be halfway lucid enough to walk at a crawl and nodded back to Rogan. "Thanks for the help. See ya," he said, grunting under the weight of his carry as he watched Rogan walk away. "C'mon, ugh, sis, at least make this a little easier on your little brother, will ya."
Walking back to the door, he tried to deflect the glances in his way, so as to not attract any unwanted Casanovas, before exiting the building. Soon, he heaved his sister into the car and drove off into the dark snowy night, retracing his path back home.
[>> Ezarith Research Facility - Sharo.]
With final pleasantries out of the way, Harke went over to Karen and took his arm around her to lift her up from the seat. To his surprise, Rogan also assisted him in getting his sister up. Some of his earlier negative feelings washed away--perhaps it was best to let some prejudices drop when it came down to things. The man could have just been misinformed all this time, and people changed. With that in mind, he heaved up Karen, who at least seemed to be halfway lucid enough to walk at a crawl and nodded back to Rogan. "Thanks for the help. See ya," he said, grunting under the weight of his carry as he watched Rogan walk away. "C'mon, ugh, sis, at least make this a little easier on your little brother, will ya."
Walking back to the door, he tried to deflect the glances in his way, so as to not attract any unwanted Casanovas, before exiting the building. Soon, he heaved his sister into the car and drove off into the dark snowy night, retracing his path back home.
[>> Ezarith Research Facility - Sharo.]
