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 Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 12:52 pm
Rory was confused. And just a little annoyed, really. His computer had crashed, and there was only one real explanation after doing everything and anything short of rebooting the whole system: He had a virus. Which was frustrating, because it likely meant the loss of hours of digital work because of a faulty anti-virus. Wasn't that the whole point of those things, anyway? To keep that stuff out? Exasperation gave way to a small, nearly-defeated sigh as Rory rose from his spot. He'd asked for one of the hackers at the .NET Hackers to come to his house, if it wasn't too much trouble. And now, he waited.
In the long run, Rory imagined that he could've brought the laptop in, but he felt more comfortable in his own home. Safer, like nothing could sweep him off his feet. Funny how life plays out that way when it never actually happens like that, innit?
The brunette pulled his hair back out of his face, raking fingers through it a little harder than necessary to relieve a little bit of stress that this whole endeavor had caused him. It was almost over, at any rate, and he'd be able to move on and work on his computer and finish up that stupid file. He rose, and headed to wait in the living room for the person to show up. On his way through, however, he heard a knock. "... Must be them." He said, frowning and walking over to the door. "Comin', comin'." He snorted a little, and opened the door to greet whoever it was who'd come and (hopefully) help him out of this mess.
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Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 1:15 pm
Fiach had given her quite the lecture after the last time she'd been allowed to run the shop by herself. And so, when a call had come in asking for a house visit - he had sent her. With a warning to not fool around while she was there. Business was business, after all, and Fiach had reminded her that when working, she was supposed to be doing just that. Working. Sighing as she finally got to the house, she straightened the jacket over her halter top and her slightly too large cargo pants before knocking. Fiach had even made her leave her plushies at home! All she had brought with her was her blackberry pearl with her Li'tae, and a connector cable, so that he could infiltrate whatever system it was to investigate for hackers.
When the door opened to reveal an agitated looking male, Adalia gave a small sigh before turning it into a friendly, zealous smile. "Hi! My name's Adalia, my brother sent me here to investigate your Hacker problem?" She wasn't very good with computers in general, so if the boy had any problems past a possible Hacker...well. That would require some fast talking to get out of.
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Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 1:27 pm
Rory blinked when he was addressed by a girl, who quickly introduced herself as Adalia. He mustered up a friendly grin, and nodded to her, moving aside so she could come into the house. "It's nice to meet you, Miss Adalia. I'm Rory." He said, holding out his hand to her sheepishly.
"My laptop crashed, and I've done everything I could think of to fix it." He explained, closing the door behind her and then moving to lead her up to his office. "Short of rebooting the whole system, of course." He snorted a little, rubbing the back of his neck. "Lot'a work that I don't want to redo if I can avoid it." He looked back. "D'you think you can figure out what's goin' on?" He asked, sheepish. "I really don't wanna have to do everything again." He sounded desperate, but maybe it was because Rory had a problem with... well.
Most things. Poor thing.
He opened the door to the office, to let her inside. "The laptop's on my desk, already booted up and waiting." He explained, letting her inside first. "I don't know what I could'a done to do this to it, so I think it's gotta be an outside source."
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Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 4:29 pm
Sighing at the way the boy had seemed surprised to find a girl standing at his door, Adalia concluded it had been wise not wear her mini skirt and plushies. For once, Fiach had been right. If only partially. And for the wrong reasons, at that! She was still angry about the fight they'd had, and that showed in the stiffness with which she accepted Rory's hand and gave it a firm shake before deftly scooting around him and into the house.
Nodding as he explained the problem he'd been having, she looked up at boy. He wasn't too much taller than her, but tall enough she'd have to glance upwards at him. Allowing him to lead her to his office, she frowned for just a moment as he asked if she thought she could figure out what was wrong. If it was a hacker, she could. But if it wasn't...
Smiling up at him, she grinned, "Of course I can. I did come over from a computer shop, didn't I?" The fact that the man sounded worried about having to redo everything made her want to feign confidence she didn't have. Glancing around his office after stepping through the opened door, she held up her Blackberry and the connector cord. "Mind if I plug this in to your laptop?"
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Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 4:36 pm
When Adalia saw fit to ease his troubled mind, the sheepish grin seemed a bit more easier when it came to his face. He nodded to her, and smiled. "Do whatever you need to, Miss." He said, waving at the laptop as a sort of open invitation. Rory moved away from the door, and went over to where he had a couple things stacked up. They were extra notebooks and books in case his computer were to crash.
Really, he never thought he'd actually need them. Rory tried to keep himself busy, but he couldn't really contain the curiosity, so every few seconds he'd glance over to see what Adalia was doing to his laptop. Rory didn't give off suspicion or caution in his stance, it was sheer curiosity. He knew how to work it, but he hadn't the first clue about his computer past operating it. As fascinating as it might be... He probably wouldn't have the time nor energy to actually learn about it.
Too much to do, too little time, right? Rory turned to face her after making quick work of organizing himself, and leaned against the shelf. Now he wasn't so much as looking at Adalia, but her working. "Do you get stuck doing house calls often?" He asked idly, tilting his head to one side while watching his laptop. It was hard for him to pick up whether she was used to this or not. Logan was the person-reader, not him.
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Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 6:59 pm
Laughing as the man called her 'miss', she grinned at him, "I doubt I'm old enough to be called 'miss', so just call me Adalia, all right?" Walking over to the laptop, she laid her Blackberry down next to it, before wiggling the connector out of her pocket. Deftly hooking it up to the phone and the laptop, she sent a quick text to her hacker telling him to follow the link. Smiling as he lazily pranced around before finally doing as she'd asked, she glanced back at Rory. He was watching what she was doing, and that made her feel slightly nervous. But, she knew that she couldn't act as if she were - to do so would be like committing career suicide.
With a soft smile for the man's curiosity, she waved a hand towards the laptop. "You can come watch if you want, my Hacker is just going to check out your computer to see if you have one or not." Grinning at the question, she gave a small shake of her head. Just enough to send her hair to flapping about, "Not really. Mostly my brother handles the Hackers. He's busy, though, so I'm afraid you're stuck with me!" Giggling to show she was just joking, though she wasn't entirely, she turned her attention back to the screen, watching Li'tae as he moved about.
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Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 3:31 pm
He grinned and nodded sheepishly, shrugging. "Alright, Adalia." He said, watching from his spot. When she invited him over, he blinked, and grinned a little. "'Kay." He stopped beside her at his laptop, watching the laptop. It was kind of astounding, to have a 'hacker' look around for any other hackers in ]i]his computer.
He laughed a little at Adalia's little not-quite-joke, and grinned. "Hey, any help is good help right now." He said, watching the laptop. Rory looked over at Adalia after a minute, and frowned. "What are hackers, anyway?" He asked. He'd heard the phrase once or twice, but in the context that it was computer nerds breaking into other computers. Not little cyber-zone... creatures.
No sooner than the question had left his lips, really, the monitor of the laptop darkened and grew fuzzy. And like that, it cleared again. Except this time, sitting in one of his documents (Which had prior been lowered down and out of the way) was a distinct outline of an egg. "... Whassat?" Rory blinked owlishly, staring at the egg outlined on his laptop. Was that the cause of all his problems? An egg?
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Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 6:19 pm
Amused by the boy's sheepishness and curiosity...as well as obvious shyness whilst in his own home, Adalia found herself smiling softly at the computer. Maybe Li'tae wouldn't mention her amused grin to the boy, and perhaps he wouldn't notice it either. Though if her smile grew any wider than just that, a soft smile, she knew she'd have some fast thinking to do. It was rude to laugh at customers, though sometimes...she really just couldn't help it.
Watching Li'tae strut about the screen, pretending he was a sleuth in some old detective movie, she rolled her eyes. He just had to ham it up while on someone's computer and working, didn't he? Waving a hand at him, she glanced back at the boy and smiled at his question, "This is a Hacker. They're AI that run around on Cyberspace." Frowning only momentarily as the hacker egg developed on the screen, she grinned as the boy behind her sounded confused at its appearance. And at what it was.
Li'tae smirked towards the egg before grinning at the boy behind her. Opening up a text bubble on his screen, he held his arms out dramatically next to the egg before putting on a grave face.
With a wink, Li'tae disappeared back through the link. His job was done, and he was intent on getting somewhere. Smirking, Adalia figured he was probably off to see Trisste. Those two had been getting really close lately, anyway. Sighing, she glanced back at the boy, "As my Hacker, Li'tae, was saying before he left so rudely...that is a Hacker egg. In a short time it will start to grow. They learn from us, so be careful what you teach it."
Tilting her head slightly as she pondered what else there might be to tell him, she snapped the fingers of one hand before adding, "Oh! And you should create some data files for it to eat...they tend to eat a lot of data while they're growing." Her grin grew larger as she finally took a breath to inquire, "Any other questions?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 7:15 pm
"..." He laughed a little at Li'tae's performance, and when the hacker himself explained what the egg was, he nodded a little. "Okay, so... What kind of data do they feed off of?" He looked up, sheepishly. "Just any files, or something specific?" It was like having a virtual pet. Except they'd learn from you. So he imagined he'd have to keep his laptop off if he were to ever bring Logan into his office, otherwise it'd end up learning Logan's language.
Which would be bad, theoretically speaking.
"And... how long does it take for the egg to grow, generally?" He asked, looking from the egg back to Adalia. "Is there a set time, or is it just like random spontaneity of growth?" He frowned a little, watching her. "And if there's any problem, I can just go right to the shop again with them, right?" Them being the hacker. Because if it was his hacker, then he of all people wasn't going to be rude and call the egg an 'it'.
Even though he wasn't certain hackers could actually have gender. But he'd figure that out on his own. He wasn't that hopeless...
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 7:34 pm
Smiling as she turned the borrowed chair from the computer, Adalia gave a small shrug, "They will eat any data, though some do have more specific tastes. Unfortunately...the only way to find out what they like the most, is to either watch what disappears most often - or ask when they grow old enough to respond." Or, at least, they usually answered. Unless they were troublemakers like her Li'tae...he tended to go elsewhere for his food, so she wasn't even sure what he liked all the time.
Tilting her head slightly as she mulled over the next question, she tried to remember everything Fiach had ever told her about the Hackers. He had told her enough that she could answer basic questions, but nothing too technical. Frowning as she thought, she finally recalled he'd said something about a week, or thereabouts, being how long they took. Her frown quickly flipped into a grin as she happily said, "They usually take about a week to grow, some take less time - others a little longer."
Nodding pleasantly at his second question, she laughed, "Yes, you can come back to the shop if you or your hacker has any problem." Tapping a finger against her chin, her head tilted once more as she inquired, "Any other questions?" Keeping a friendly smile on her face, she hoped her inexperience didn't show through too completely. It'd be bad to lose a customer's trust, after all...
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 7:39 pm
Lucky for her, Rory didn't notice her inexperience. In fact, he was kind of impressed with it, overall. He looked at the egg, and then nodded a little at her answers. "Alright." He muttered, smiling a little. Then he looked at her. "Will it stay in the middle of the screen, or can I move it or something?" He looked sheepish. Because of course he could work around the egg, but it'd be a bit of an inconvenience, y'know?
He reached out curiously, and just gently touched the screen. And the egg wiggled a little. He blinked owlishly, and looked over at Adalia. "Is that normal?"
Of course, if that wasn't normal, what the egg was doing now would certainly be abnormal. The egg actually started to roll about on the screen in circles, bouncing a little as it rolled. "... What's it doing?" Rory looked amused and a little perturbed by it. The egg, meanwhile, just kept on rollin' along.
Fabulous. He'd gotten a bouncing egg. A virus would've been easy to control, he imagined.
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 7:48 pm
With a laugh that had just a tiny bit of nervousness, Adalia shrugged, "The egg'll move if it wants to...but you might be able to move it on your own." Grinning abashedly, she added, "To be honest, I don't think any of us have had to try moving them around before by force!"
Her eyes followed Rory's arm as he reached out to touch the screen, a soft smile on her face. He'd be a good owner for this Hacker, she felt, just by the fact he was willing to interact with it so quickly after its discovery. Grinning as it wiggled and the man sounded confused, she nodded. About to respond before the egg started to roll around on the screen. Giggling at the antics of the egg, she managed to respond, "Its rolling around, trying to interact with you. How cute!" Before bursting into another fit of laughter.
It looked like this egg would be quite an interesting Hacker once it was born, and Adalia was looking forward to meeting it later on.
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 7:56 pm
Rory nodded at her answer, amused by the antics of the egg. He reached out and touched the opposite end of the monitor, to see if the egg would roll to him, and sure enough, it rolled his way. But then it rolled away. And back again, and awaaaay...
He laughed, and withdrew his finger. Then he looked at Adalia, smiling. "Thank you for coming over and finding it, Adalia." He said, grinning at her. "It was nice to meet you." He went over to the office door, to lead her out. The egg kept on rolling on the screen, and when it... well can it technically see if it's still an egg? Well, it seemed to know that Rory was walking away, so it rolled to the corner of the screen and stayed there.
Rory saw it out of the corner of his eye, and smiled a little, amused. Well at least he wouldn't have to work around the egg. Rory led Adalia to the door leading out of his house, and smiled at here. "I'm sure I'll see you around. Thanks again for your help." He said, opening the door and smiling at her sheepishly.
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 8:01 pm
Giggling at the amusing antics of both hacker and human, Adalia started to pout just a little as she realized the appointment was coming to a close. She'd have loved to stay and continue to watch the silly little hacker egg, but knew she should probably head back to the shop, anyway. Smiling up at Rory, she nodded, "Not a problem, its my job, anyway. It was a pleasure to meet you, too!"
Following Rory dutifully back to the front door of his house, she gave him another polite nod at his thanks before grinning, "You likely will - I just have to see that hacker of yours when its grown!" And with that, the silly little girl giggled before turning and running back towards the shop. She had a feeling any time at Rory's house was considered "too much" in Fiach's mind and was doing her best not to upset her brother too much.
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