Growing AI (Coffee-Tastic and ZXMetalMonster)

[ZX-MetalMonster]

Walter waited for an answer and willed himself to stop analyzing the machines expression, his movements and the silence that settled between them and seemed to stretch on. He tried not to, but began to worry. He didn't understand what could possibly make the android so reluctant to speak. His own features formed a more serious expression, making it clear that he was now trying to act as a programmer, a professional and not someone who was personally invested in this. It would be better for both of them if he could study the problem at hand.

 

-"It doesn't seem like anything harmful..." Walter answered, trying to reassure both himself and the machine that this was no big issue even though he was fairly confused by what Sky described. "I can try to fix it, but I don't know how your sleep mode is suppose to behave now that the chip was added. I'm not sure if what you've experienced is a glitch at all..." He explained, a bit embarrassed to admit there were parts of his own project that were a mystery to him. "Did you dislike it... did it make you uncomfortable, afraid...?" Walter asked finally though he was sure the other man wouldn't reply very simply to being questioned about his feelings. It was most likely the android would tell him he was being ridiculous.

[Coffee-Tastic]

"No." He answered back surprisingly quickly. He could not be afraid or uncomfortable, but he knew what those words meant. Standing there in complete darkness with nothing but a balloon and himself would sound distressing. It was originally, worried that it might be some kind of disfunction. It might not be one, after all, there was no negative aspect to what he went through. Actually, somehow it felt as if the blank surroundings he was in was meant to be filled. "My only concern was malfunction, though you are correct. There has been no harm done. So for now, there is no threatening problem... It just isn't ordinary for implants and extra data to tamper with the stasis function. I can't understand such a thing."

 

He smiled and took one of Walter's hand holding it with both of his hands, "That is all. And if there's no answers, then we can let it be can't we? You're worrying aren't you? There is no need." He tried to reassure the man and himself, "It might be possible that it is a small bug from your chip and it takes more adjustment to work them out."

 

So Walter didn't think it was harmful either... Doesn't change the fact that it's not supposed to happen. There were no answers here or solid solutions. Should he just have held back giving the information then? If there was no solution now, what would happen if real problems arose from this? Was it possible that he could become stuck in stasis? Then what would Walter to? What if Walter was thinking the same possibility as him and was worrying more? Then should he just have not said anything then?

 

A buzz noise came from the android, a glitch, and then there was a tiny clicking noise, his system fixing said glitch immediately. In that time, his face seemed frozen, but with it fixed quickly, he was brought back to life again. He overthought. "What shall we do now that you're work is done and that I am awake, Walter?" He giggled, patting Walter's hand as if nothing had just happened.

[ZX-MetalMonster]

Walters concerns were not yet cleared but he was glad to at least know the other man wasn't in distress because of what had happened. He placed his hand over the android's and considered ignoring all of this for now just as Sky was suggesting, but then there was another glitch and he couldn't in any way convince himself to continue with his day without resolving, or at least looking into this first.

 

-"I didn't just add data or an upgrade, there's a bit more to it than that... There's no code that's suppose to specifically modify stasis but it's possible that commands I've put in for something else are affecting it." Walter explained and didn't hesitate to look directly at the machine, he wasn't feeling very shy now that he had an error to tackle and was explaining part of his program.

 

-"I know you prefer not to sit around with nothing to do but I would like to take a look at a few things, so it would be good if I could connect you to the computer I used before, when I made the chip." What Walter was really trying to do was ask the other man for permission to toy around with his circuitry again. However, he was trying to do so in a way that left little chance for the android to decline. He was still very worried and determined to monitor a number of functions for some time if nothing else.

[Coffee-Tastic]

"Oh... I see," he kept on smiling, but wasn't happy to have worried Walter, "If that's what must be done, then alright. I simply cannot complain." It was noted that Walter did not give him any options here like he normally did. The man must be just trying to be discrete about instructing him to do as he says. Catching Water on that, Sky felt inclined to say something that he wouldn't like to hear, a small for, of revenge for not asking if he'd like to take part of more tinkering now. But really, even if he was given the choice, he'd say yes to Walter. "And I never will either, because you're the owner of me. Not myself." His grin brighter as he got up, fixing the back of the shirt he wore as he lead himself to the computer.

 

Not getting answers for the experiences he's had in sleep mode did make him a bit frustrated. His curiosity wanted to know, but was unable to be satisfied, even after speaking with the tech scientist. It wasn't either of their faults to be fair. This was also new stuff for the both of them... And there was a chance things could be answered if Walter did go back in his system.

[ZX-MetalMonster]

For a moment Walter suspected the android was intentionally trying to make him angry again, and while that would be a sign of independent character he wouldn't be too happy about it. While he was eager to grant the android a mind equal to that of a human he sincerely hoped the machine would turn out a good person at the end of the process.

 

-"Please at least try to be more positive and not go against everything I trying to convince you of." He requested as he followed after the other man but didn't manage to keep his temper from subtly morphing his tone.

 

Once they were both beside the computer he motioned for the machine to sit and searched through a mess in the corner for a few cables. As he didn't know what kind would suit the purpose he gathered many and placed them on the table, ready for use if needed. Returning to the computer he brought up what he had of the instructions available for the androids model and started reading through the section of the text that concerned him.

[Coffee-Tastic]

He made a noise to show he listened but after sitting there, watching what Walter was doing, he was quieter. He should have anticipated a reaction to his words, but still, he didn't like it when Walter showed a single ounce of anger because of him. Normally Sky would be watching Walter and the screen to idle, but he wasn't going to because of the tone he was given, instead he looked at the cable cords and poked around at all the different sizes of inputs. It looked like a big clump of snakes, none of them properly wrapped up in a roll.

 

Now he wouldn't clean anything or reorganize his things without being told to, but he took one of the cords to play around with on his lap, circling up the cord and keeping to himself until Walter was ready. He knew the bad behavior wasn't likable, it was obviously bad, but he felt better doing it. Walter did something he didn't quite like, so it was fair to do the same. Made it equal... As long as the man didn't make him do things without being polite about it, then it won't happen again. Sky would have approved him normally if he put it as a question. Having the illusion of having a choice was better than being coaxed into something he might not want to do.

[ZX-MetalMonster]

Walter didn't mind that one cable was taken, he didn't even pay much attention or recognize that this was a sort of rebellious act meant to upset him the way he'd upset the android by being harsh. He was preoccupied with the manuals, trying to memorize as much as possible even though it would be possible for him to come back to them and take a second look if needed.

 

He looked through the cables and took the one that fit the port he believed would be the easiest to get to. Most of what he was looking for was concealed somewhere along the machines neck. With a gentle touch he searched and found the first one, he only needed to know the method to reveal it, using force was unnecessary.

 

-"Would you like it if we talk, to pass the time." Walter offered, the other man's silence reminded him too much of what he'd been like before the chip was added and of course, the human disliked it.Sensing that there was something off between them and knowing that he'd been somewhat mean to Sky he lightly placed a hand on his shoulder while he worked on attaching the first few cables.

[Coffee-Tastic]

Sky didn't move while the cables were being attached, he wouldn't do that and risk any kind of possible damage to himself. With Walter's offer, he actually seemed to ignore it. He continued playing with the cord and did not acknowledge that the man had spoken. It might come across that he didn't even hear Walter, though after several long, silent seconds, Sky felt like he might be acting too out of line. Walter's hand on his shoulder was his usher in loosening up, "... Your friends said that they would be coming for a proper birthday celebration soon after I was delivered. It is possible that they'll come tomorrow."

 

He stopped playing around with the cable and stared at nothing, "They did mention cake... Are you excited? Celebrating birth is something you should be excited about, is it not?" Sky obviously didn't have the same kind of "birth" as a human did, but to say he could hold some pride over having been created... No. The purpose and expectations of a machine needed not a special day to celebrate when they were first created. Expected to work from day one and work forever, if all robots did have a conscious, they'd probably celebrate their death, the ending to their meaningless lives. Sky was lucky ending up with Walter, don't get him wrong. It's just that his existence wasn't special enough to receive a special day of his own.

[ZX-MetalMonster]

(don't know if you've noticed, your inbox is full)

 

Walter was relieved to receive an answer from the android after a moment of heavy silence, however he was still too worried and preoccupied with making sure the machine was functioning properly to fully stop in order to speak with him. With all of the necessary cables in place, connecting the androids circuitry with the much larger computer, Walter returned beside the screen and his hand slipped along the other man's shoulders with a light touch. Now he had to power up various programs, run multiple tests and intended to do what Sky could not and see how much of the chip was loaded.

 

-"I'm excited to see my friends more than anything. I hope they do come by tomorrow." He answered with a soft smile, though he didn't mention how long he hadn't seen them he was sure the machine would understand, he'd already figured out he spent all of his time alone in his apartment.

-"Birthdays are mostly an excuse to have some fun, in my opinion." Walter added as the first of the tests began. None of what he was doing on the computer now would bother or affect the android, which made it possible for them to chat casually in the meanwhile.

[Coffee-Tastic]

(I had not, sorry x3 )

 

Sky could imagine how Walter could become joyous over the fact his friends would come over. He rarely left his apartment and was so focused on his work that the friends themselves knew that if they had tried to stay over when they brought him at the door, Walter wouldn't pay them much or any attention. But don't his friends feel a certain way about that? Human's are social beings, usually the ones that are like Walter, staying inside all the time, are thought less of. Walter lived in this messy place, rarely coming out or talking to friends. If he wasn't smart, Sky would think that his owner would be nothing but a useless outcast. And exactly what good was he doing in here all the time? Making the perfect AI? For what? Why?

 

"Fun." He muttered then looked astray from Walter, "Will a birthday celebration be fun for you? I'd think you would have more fun on the computer, working yourself with codes and numbers than being with other people... In my opinion." He repeated Walter's last phrase, copying the casual kind of statement. "How did you manage to make friends that are willing to purchase expensive machinery and celebrate your birth if you are always inside your apartment? What do you do for them?"

[ZX-MetalMonster]

The questions caught Walter off guard and he glanced back at the android, he seemed curious more than anything even though he didn't appreciate the way the machine spoke. Normally he would at least be annoyed by something like this but he knew the other man 's motives were much different when he brought it up than an average human's would be.

 

-"I use to go outside more often, for classes, that's where I met them. We've all known each other for years and though I've never done something as great as buying an android for them, we often do things for each other." He explained and his gaze returned to the monitor to keep track of how it was working.

 

-"You're right that I like to work on my projects but it is fun to do other things from time to time and just having some company sounds great. " Walter added and his smile returned, soft and subtle as it had been before.

[Coffee-Tastic]

"I see." He muttered and leaned back a little, feeling somehow accomplished for seeing Walter's face that showed he was caught off guard. The reaction he got from asking the question in a certain way got something entertaining from it, even though he could also see how his wording made Walter not happy at first. Sky guessed his free pass was the fact that he was simply curious and was asking a legitimate question. So he tried it again.

 

"You say it's fun to do other things from time to time," he pointed to the nape of his neck, "Does that mean that if my original functions were never erased, you would be willing to use those functions?" He looked at Walter's face this time, wanting to see what reaction he could get out of him from a question like that, wearing a straight face that became a small, innocent smile. Sky could not actually imagine this man knowing what to if he was willing to use him the way he was made for. He bet Walter was a recluse far before now, so he probably would never have found someone to perform intercourse with, or anything like that.

[ZX-MetalMonster]

Unlike with the previous question, Walter couldn't forgive the android fully for this one. He suspected he was being teased from how carefully the machine was watching him, making him more nervous to answer. However, Sky's small smile was convincing him otherwise, making the human doubt that he might just be paranoid.

 

-"You should know by now you mean the world to me but don't push it, I can get angry with you the same as anyone else." Walter warned the other man but kept his gaze on the monitor to make sure there was no chance for their eyes to lock on each other and make him even more uncomfortable. A light blush lingered on his cheeks for a while afterwards.

-"It's pointless to ask about that anyway, those functions are gone now." He added after some time, once he'd calmed himself enough to be more reasonable and answer in another way than by threatening the android.

 

Walter was eager to return his focus on the task at hand but looking at the progress bar of the ongoing test he saw it would be a while before he could do that.

[Coffee-Tastic]

"...It is not pointless, Walter," he retorted after some silence, h had been busy observing and admiring the redness he made the man produce on his face in those seconds of silence, "I'm curious, that's all. No need to get angry over a simple question... It's only a yes or no kind of question. Though maybe if you say no, that might be false. You might ask me for permission first like every little thing you do except plug in a wire into the back of my neck." His voice was slightly stale and also slightly attacking, that being a motive of his own. Sky did want to know how far he was able to push before actually making his owner upset.

 

Sky also wanted to know why a question made Walter warn him of boundaries. It really was just a yes or no question. What was the problem with using him? If he had those old functions now, it would be a waste wouldn't it? If Sky was a human and was in Walter's shoes, he would. There was little wrong with using a machine for its original purpose... Sky wouldn't prefer either or, being used or not, because it didn't matter. It was just something that people did together. A whole line of androids were even created to fill in the gaps of lonely people. Like Walter actually.

[ZX-MetalMonster]

Walter sighed heavily seeing that the android didn't pay attention to his warning and wouldn't let go of the topic. Discussing this, and more importantly failing to make himself understood caused him to grow more frustrated, irritated with the machine for not knowing enough and himself for failing to find words to explain to him why it was not fair of him to question him in such a way.

 

-"Is that why you're so set on asking me about things I would rather avoid? You're angry with me for doing these tests?" Walter questioned the android directly in stead on continuing to wonder if his suspicions were right or unrealistic.

 

-"Also, if it's a yes and no question and you've already decided that one of the answers would be false then why are you even asking me. You've already made up your mind, what I really think and what I would really do doesn't matter." The human explained, anger now clear in his tone.

 

-"But no, no I would not use your original functions and I would have removed them personalty if they hadn't been gone already. I wouldn't like something like that to coexist with the chip I've put in you." Walter added in the end, hoping this would satisfy the other man.

[Coffee-Tastic]

Walter sounding genuinely angry did actually give him a level of satisfaction. Limits and boundaries could not be identified unless they were pushed to a certain point. And just because he found a boundary didn't mean Sky wouldn't dance on the border again for any reason he saw fit... But he wouldn't intentionally aggravate his owner for no reason. After all, his main purpose was to make him happy and that never changed.

 

"I understand," he smiled again, tilting his head with some of his hair falling off on the side lightly, "Its only a question, Walter. And yes in fact, what you think does matter to me, so don't say that it doesn't. Your words are important to me, your opinions as well... I'm not angry over anything, Walter. Why would I be? These tests are necessary." he added, "And it's not bothering me either. All this is, is me and you having a chat, is it not?"

 

Angry wasn't something he could be. Slightly annoyed? Possibly... Sky continued to reject the idea that he was not internally behaving like an ordinary, blank android.

[ZX-MetalMonster]

Walter had turned his full attention to the computer and made up a task for himself so he could begin typing and seem like he was busy with something even while he waited for the first of the tests to be completed. He wasn't sure if the android would grow quiet or ask him about something else now, he wasn't expecting as friendly a response as he received and it encouraged him to return beside the other man.

 

-"I'm starting to worry I'm not the best person to be monitoring how this program works... you're already becoming complex enough to know what to say to both make me angry and calm me down... though I'm not sure that's what you're trying to do, it might just be that I'm too easy to toy around with." He thought out loud and offered the machine an odd, awkward smile in the end.

[Coffee-Tastic]

Sky frowned like a sad cat, "I apologize for asking a question that made you upset and uncomfortable. I was not certain that you would react in the way you did, and so I would not go as far as to call myself complex for it... You are not a person I would toy with ever, Walter. I believe maybe you are mistaking my actions too closely to one of a human right now." He leaned closer and rubbed the man on his head, being fond of his sheepish smile, giggling while ogling Walter's green eyes, "Also. Walter, my owner, is the only one who could ever be suit for monitoring me." What he had already with the human male was an attachment. It didn't happen just because he had been around him and only him for the past two whole days, which Sky only believed was the reason for it, it was also for these little things he was beginning to like.

 

He was fond of having his full attention, seeing him smile and also when the human would touch him in little ways, such as touching his hand and having Walter's hand on his shoulder. Interaction. In the factory, he was left alone for a long time. With Walter's friends, he was kept in one room for a long time, only interacting with them when they came in to check on him and to chat around him. Walter pitifully wanted Sky to be a human, speaking to him, letting him sleep in his bed and treating him like a weird new friend.

[ZX-MetalMonster]

Having the android reach out and touch him again so freely didn't help Walter become any less flustered, to the contrary, it summoned a blush to his face and he looked away, though without turning his head or moving away from the touch.

-"Thank you for reassuring me." He spoke softly and smiled more genuinely at the other man, hoping that he'd learned enough to know from expression how happy this small gesture had made him. "You're being really... sweet." He tried to say something different but fumbled with his words and ended up with this, though it wasn't quite to his liking.

 

Now that they had started a more likeable conversation, Walter wouldn't have moved away from the android but a small sound from the computer signalled that it had finished all of it's tasks. He gave the device a glare as though it was intelligent as well and could make out his irritation. He was annoyed that the computer had given him nothing to distract himself before but interrupted him now. He slowly took a step away from the other man and returned to the screen to study the results that were now displayed there.

[Coffee-Tastic]

Sweet. Walter had called him. How sweet of him... Sky smiled and placed both of his hands politely on his lap after the man's words to him. To be aware that he made Walter happy, the android forgot about the satisfaction of making him upset and focused on this positive reaction instead. The man blushing and adverting his eyes was a special thing not many others saw. He didn't know that for sure, but assuming he's been a recluse for a while, he couldn't imagine him blushing around everyone who spoke with him... Though Sky was special to Walter. Even he knew that.

 

It was a darn shame that the computer took away his owner's attention again. Just when he was getting the man to blush too. "..." he looked at the computer with blank eyes, his form of a glare at the moment, just as Walter looked at it with displeasure, but then shifted his pale colored optics to the human once more, asking, "What do you see, Walter? Anything to your liking?" He looked away, not because he was feeling a certain way, Sky simply was just looking around the room again because he wasn't exactly interested in whatever the attention stealing computer had to say about his systems, "All you told me before was that you were going to look at some things. You did not specify what you would be looking at."

 

The virtual hallucination maybe? But Sky could not find any answers to that himself, how could a computer do something that he can't? Could Walter see what happened with the chip's data? But Sky couldn't find it either. How could an unattractive looking computer like that observe the data he was unable to find?

[ZX-MetalMonster]

Walter still frowned from the results bad timing though his expression grew more neutral as he studied the information that was now available to him. The computer he'd connected Sky to, despite having no sense of anything and especially when it should and shouldn't call for its owners attention, was powerful enough to easily interact with and be used to monitor an androids functions, of course with the appropriate software that Walter did have. It's own construction was not compatible with the his program but it was good enough to build it and also write it onto a chip.

 

Figuring out what it was that caused the android to conjure up images in his sleep mode still wasn't a simple task though. Walter couldn't just play back what had gone through the machines mind as any one of his thoughts were a combination of countless functions and other portions of the program running simultaneously. While Walter knew when certain parts of the program should be in effect and had the rest defined and writen down, whatever happened in the androids sleep mode was completely unplanned and couldn't have been found on any of the enormous 'notes' he had written. This made the situation that much more difficult.

 

-"Actually, it seems like the chip hasn't even fully loaded yet..." Walter answered and a soft frown was re-established on his lips. He had no definitive way of saying how much of the program was active at that moment but by monitoring the communication between the chip and the rest of the android's circuitry he could make a reliable guess. There was an amount of information that the android would always draw from the chip itself and the human was even somewhat unsatisfied with the amount of data that could be transferred between the two exactly for this reason, he was afraid the machine wouldn't be able to take what he needed from the chip quickly enough while he functioned.

Besides this though, there was a large portion of the program that was meant to be extracted from the chip and added to other parts of the androids 'brain' permanently and it seemed as though that part was still being transferred as well. The connection between the android and the chip was simply not 'wide' enough to handle all of that being done simultaneously.

 

-"This explains why you're still having glitches..." Walter mumbled as he continued to study the results of the test, by now he'd already read through it and was in stead trying to draw more conclusions from it. "They should be gone once everything loads, just as we'd predicted." He added in a more enthusiastic tone though he was at that moment suspicious of something very problematic and moved the results to the side so he could search through the android's manuals, hoping to find out more about his hardware. Already now he was afraid that the machines model might not be able to support the complete program because of its size.

[Coffee-Tastic]

"The glitches aren't that bad," he smiled again, distracted away from the computer completely for now, "But that'll be good. It will be less awkward, haha~" because when he glitched, he knew he was doing it most of the time, so it was weird for him to suddenly repeat words or have those other minor malfunctions happen in front of Walter. He spoke well and made sure the words coming out of his mouth were what he wanted, a glitch messed up his pace of speaking.

 

He knew the load wouldn't be done yet. When he observed it before, it was loading at a ridiculously slow pace and he wouldn't be surprised if it took periods of time where it halted to buffer. But he didn't know how long those were for since he couldn't see it at all. Still he expected that the next time he was put into sleep mode, it would be found... That expectation was not likely though, not when these disturbances in his sleep mode were not dealt with, nor could even be explained...

 

Sky's model, a lesser male android, was not actually meant for complex programs like this at all. The data that was coded within him from the beginning was meant for slight tweaks and upgrades every now and then. He was just an expensive sex toy, he wasn't made for the subject of an actual AI system. It was practically a miracle that it had worked in the beginning... It was a miracle that it had actually was still loading at all actually.

 

"Walter? What's the worst that can happen to me as a failure of your project?" He asked another bold question, staring at the man expectedly, wanting an answer as he always did when he asked something. Would he fry and be broken? Would nothing happen? Sky simply wanted to know.

[ZX-MetalMonster]

Walter's answer came with a delay and not because he hadn't thought of this before or was reluctant to inform the android of what might happen to him, he only couldn't find the right words or decide between using terms that would apply for a machine and those that would fit a human being.

 

-"You could overheat and some components could be damaged, or you could simply shut down... in some less severe cases you might freeze or stop functioning without powering down." He explained but was unsure if he should continue as he wasn't certain the other man would understand him fully. "I think I would be able to fix you if most of those happened but in case I couldn't I'm certain I would be able to salvage you from the damaged circuitry." He said in the end but then turned to the android with a small smile. "Don't worry though, I would do anything to make sure you're alright." Walter promised, though he already now had issues that he would have to struggle with. He found out from the manuals that not everything was compatible with his program though the only thing that posed a serious problem was the lack of space for it to be set up properly. It was possible to fix this though, by putting part of the program on components that were made for other functions. He would only have to determine how much he could take from them without disrupting what these components were already doing.

 

-"I'm going to make a few changes now, just tell me if you begin to have trouble remembering things while I work or if it feels like you're not thinking as quickly." He asked of the machine just as he started to edit things. "Of course, tell me if anything else feels wrong as well."

[Coffee-Tastic]

None of what Walter said sounded like it would be nice at all, though he also wasn't sure if it would exactly be that bad. Overheating, freezing and a stopped function didn't give him the same reaction as to a human being told that they may have cancer or that they've possibly got only a few years left. And Walter said it himself, Sky could be repaired or salvaged, however that part was supposed to work. A machine can't actually feel fear for anything. Death? Sky was never alive in the first place...

 

But to say that this android wouldn't care if something wrong happened would be wrong. He couldn't explain it. Sky would just not rather have those things happen to him.

 

"Yes, Walter, I will do that," he responded to him, becoming mute silent again. Walter was going to make changes? What kind of changes? With the man being vague about what he was doing, Sky faced forward and let him do what he wanted on the computer. It made him question what kinds of things were on that screen that he could possibly change... What if he changed his personality setting? What if he changed how much knowledge he knew about the world? Because both of those were things that an owner of his kind could do. There was a chance that Walter had the same freedom of customization as a developer had from the company. It probably was the same and more. Sky did not like the idea of having anything about him changed. That would mean that Walter was not happy with him... Walter having all that data he could edit might be giving over too much freedom.

 

Walter wouldn't do that though right? Not even if he was annoyed by the things he says? It was something to think about. Knowing him so far and understanding the man, Sky can conclude that Walter would not do it. That didn't mean he still liked having so many things changeable on that computer screen.

[ZX-MetalMonster]

The concept of what he was about to do was simple but once he started to make the changes he'd planed, Walter found himself going through many more steps than he'd hoped for. The task still wasn't an overly complex one but a long time passed while he worked and along the way he became fully focused on the computer and forgot to speak and or even interact with the android besides plugging and unplugging some of the cables. At one point he left the room and returned with a chair for himself, already growing tired of standing, and that was a clear sign he wouldn't be done very soon.

 

More than an hour later he believed he'd done what he'd intended, though he'd been forced to make other changes along the way as well. With their conversation of worse case scenarios and burnt circuitry still at the back of his mind, he commanded the computer to display the readings from all of the androids internal thermometers, just to make sure nothing was being strained and heating up more than it was normal.

 

-"I'm sorry for being so silent. You must be bored." Walter spoke to the machine and turned his chair so he could watch him while the computer gathered the data he'd requested.

-"Well, probably not bored... but something similar. Wishing you could be doing something else?"