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 Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 7:28 pm
Adalia frowned as she stared at the blinking cursor on the monitor of Fiach's computer. He had shown up at the house looking ragged and worn, before telling her that she was working the shop today. Realizing she'd be late to the appointment he said he'd schedule if she didn't hurry, she had thrown on some baggy cargo pants and a simple shirt with Fiach's jacket before running out the door. Not really wanting to upset her brother after the fight they'd had the night before, she'd agreed quickly to help out.
Sitting at his desk now, she was curious as to what had him so on edge recently. And why he was acting so bizarrely. It looked like he wasn't taking care of himself, and that bothered her. Fingers tapping away idly at the desk as she attempted to figure out what the password was to his journal, her eyes repeatedly traveled up towards the clock. Checking to ensure her appointment wasn't due to arrive just yet.
Worried that the customer would come in expecting Fiach, as he'd not told her a thing except to go to work, Adalia sat awaiting the customer's arrival with great trepidation. Her talent was handling customers and not computers, so she was worried he'd come in with massive technical questions. While she could sometimes fake an answer...she also didn't want to lose Fiach any customers.
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Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 2:09 pm
Tama lay in bed when suddenly the alarm went off. His hand shot out, trying to find the snooze button. After a few minutes of no success, he groaned and rolled out of bed and onto the floor, hoping the shock would wake him up. He then got up, the slight smarting in his side keeping him awake. He quickly got dressed, wearing his grey-star t-shirt and his ripped blue jeans. As he put his socks and shoes on, he looked towards the clock. Realising he was late, he quickly grabbed his grey jacket and his lap-top, then ran out to the bus stop. He quickly hopped on the bus, which he had almost missed. He sat down on the bus, panting slightly.
As he pulled up to the Net Hackers building, he squinted slightly at the sheer size of it. After getting off the bus, he looked up at the building, trying to see the top. When he couldn't see it, he let out a low whistle. He walked into the building.
What he saw shocked him. He squinted at the robot like things, almost afraid they'd suddenly attack him. He stared at the floor for a moment, before reaching down onto the ground to make sure it wasn't wet. After a moment, he simply shook his head and walked over towards the counter, clearing his throat for a moment.
"Um I'm here for an appointment... Are you the person I need to see or?"
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Friendly Conversationalist
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Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:56 pm
Adalia's frown deepened as password after password again proved to not work. She hadn't realized her brother thought up such tricky passwords, or she might have swallowed her pride long enough to ask Li'tae to tell her how to access the journal. Hearing the door open and shut, she glanced up to see a customer walk in. Closing out of the window to Fiach's journal, she made sure she didn't look like she'd been doing anything wrong before smiling over at him.
Watching the boy check the floor to see if it was wet, Adalia's eyebrow raised yet another notch. Had Fiach sent her to meet with someone who was crazy? Checking to ensure that her phone was both on and within easy reach, she stood up to greet him. Putting a friendly smile on her face, she extended one hand as she confirmed that she worked here, "My name is Adalia, and yes, I am the one you're here to see about your computer problem."
She was going to have a bone to pick with Fiach later at this rate, she was sure of it.
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Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 5:55 pm
Tama smiled, and shook her hand for a moment before letting go. "Ah okay. Um this may not be of any revelence, but how in the world do you get the floor that shiny without it getting wet, and what's with the robot thingies? What the heck is this place?" He asked with a slightly confused look on his face. He was starting to wonder where exactly did his friend sent him. "I mean I haven't seen this level of technology before."
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Friendly Conversationalist
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Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 11:20 pm
Adalia groaned inwardly as the boy plastered her with questions. Amazed that he'd even found the place, with the confusion he showed at what their shop was for. Taking a small, but deep breath, she prepared herself for a further onslaught of questions as she reminded herself that she was supposed to be friendly, and amazing at customer service.
Smiling, Adalia giggled as she answered about the floor, "It gets waxed and buffed regularly, and mopped every night by our custodial staff!" How else would you make a floor shiny, but with constant care? Shrugging, she moved on to the next question, "This shop is called .NET Hackers. Though we handle mostly computer problems, and most specifically Hackers, we also do minor technological repairs." At the last of that, she waved her hand around nonchalantly at the robots. They weren't really her thing, so she didn't know much about them.
Tilting her head curiously, she finally smiled, "So what can I help you with today?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 1:46 pm
Tama simply shook his head, shrugging off the whole 'Hacker' part, believing it to be some sort of net jargin. "Sorry. Guess I shouldn't waste your time with such stupid questions. I only came here 'cause a friend told me to with this issue with my computer." He pulled his lap top from his bag, and quickly brought up his music files. "I first noticed this when I found out my music was completely wiped out. I tried checking the bin, trying to find any error reports, you know anything that could take it out. But for some reason, the data was wiped clean, and whatever did it left no trace. I thought at first it may have been a hacker, but why would anyone take music? But just in case, I checked for any data that I did not authorize. But, nothing was there. That is until last night. As I was trying to figure out what was going on, this wierd item popped up. I don't know what it is, but it looked like an....Well this may sound crazy, but it looked like an egg." Suddenly, almost as coming to his call, the egg popped up, bouncing around on his screen. "See! That's it! I don't know what in the world it is, but it seems to be immune to any removal or deletion. I don't know what connection it has to my music data, but it seems to have appeared after my music data was deleted. You have any idea what it is?"
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Friendly Conversationalist
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Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 10:28 pm
Forcing her lips to stay neatly arranged in a polite smile as the boy launched into a long mini ramble, Adalia fought the urge to tap her fingers impatiently. Looking as intently as she could at his laptop screen, as he indicated that his music had been going missing. Nodding her head along at all the 'right' times during his speech, she giggled when he mentioned that he might sound crazy, but that he thought there was an egg on his laptop. As the Hacker bounded about his screen, Adalia grinned at the boy, "Yeah, you have a Hacker. You can't delete it, its a superior AI that learns from humans as it grows. Soon it'll be a child, and that's when you can really start to communicate with it."
Pausing, she nodded towards the screen, "It probably ate your music files so that it could grow. If you want to save your files...create a folder for it to eat from and when it grows to a child, let it know that those are the only files it is permitted to eat. Usually if you ask politely, Hackers are fairly willing to oblige."
Tilting her head with an amused smile at the egg's antics, she politely asked, "Any other questions?"
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Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 8:33 am
"Wait so this is a Net Hacker that you were mentioning earlier?"
Tama stared intently at the egg as it rolled around on the screen, before shaking his head. "So a superior AI huh? I dunno, sounds like a video game to me. And you mean this thing will grow? Like a pet? You sure this isn't some ill advised event or something?"
Tama scratched the back of his head, still confused as to what was hapening. "So basically you're saying I'm stuck with it huh? And it eats data?" He sighed, before looking at the egg again, "Sounds like it might be a pain. I mean, I've never been to good with pets." Tama groaned inwardly, disliking the thought that he'd be forced to take care of some wierd internet creature.
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Friendly Conversationalist
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Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 12:46 pm
A small, soft sigh escaped from Adalia's lips as the man before her finally clicked on what the shop was all about. Nodding, she politely corrected with a smile, "Yes, that is a Hacker." Fingers again twitching slightly as if they wanted to tap at the counter before her, she listened patiently to the man's doubts, slowly forming her own responses as he went. She found herself wondering if this was why Fiach was occasionally so twitchy after work, difficult customers, perhaps?
With a small raise of her shoulders, she gave an affirming nod, "Yes, its an AI. Scientists created it a while back, part of an experiment, I think it was." Waving her hand slightly to dismiss the topic, she continued her response to his questions, "It will grow, but it is not like a pet. Hackers learn from us, and grow through that. If anything, I would say they're more like a companion, than anything else. One that will communicate with you and learn at a rate much faster than we do."
Sighing once more, she shook her head, "You're not "stuck" with anything. They do eat data, but for the most part, they frequent areas of their own choosing. Hackers appear to have a will of their own, using us to learn from, and to pick up human habits, more than anything else. You don't have to do anything but communicate with your Hacker and ensure you keep a folder of data for it to eat on your computer." Giving another small shrug, Adalia wondered if everyone really did think Hackers were 'simple pets'. They weren't - or they wouldn't be able to communicate as readily as the Hackers did. Reflecting on Li'tae and Trisste's growing relationship, she also realized that...if they were just pets, they would be incapable of emotions such as that. Hackers were truly more than just pets, but sentient beings capable of love and hate, just like humans.
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Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 7:21 pm
Tama laughed for a moment, before simply stating, "I didn't understand a single word you just said." He laughed again, and started scratching the back of his head as the egg started to bounce up and down on his screen.
"So basically it's the closest thing to an artificial life right? Like in science fiction novel?" The egg seemed to bounce around even more energeticaly at this, and Tama simply stared at it.
"I guess it sounds kinda fun... Is there anything I need to know about this thing though? I mean besides what you just told me?"
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Friendly Conversationalist
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Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:17 pm
Adalia blinked in confusion as the boy before her started to laugh, before he explained it away. She didn't think she'd said anything too confusing, and so his confusion merely perplexed her. Doing her best not to let any of this show, she smiled and shrugged, "Sorry..."
Tilting her head as he continued, she nearly sighed before catching herself, and instead going for the simple nod and smile. An excellent tactic she thought everyone should master. Done properly, you had the appearance of paying the utmost attention to someone, when in fact...you simply weren't. "Yes, AIs are Artificial Intelligence - so they're very much like you or I, just simply on a computer, as data." With a small shake of her head, she smiled, "Nope, nothing that I can think of. Though if you wind up with any questions later...You know where to find us, right?"
Vaguely, she hoped that the next time this guy came around, she was able to make herself scarce. It wasn't that he was annoying or rude, but that he seemed so...confused and lost about the entire concept. Which struck her as a bit odd, though she was sure Fiach would likely have had several similar experiences. As soon as Fiach calmed down, she'd have to ask him about it.
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Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 6:57 am
Tama nodded his head, "Course I know where this is. I'm here, aint I?"
He turned his laptop off, and put it into its case. "Thank you very much for your time. Oh I guess I forgot to even make a mention of my name. My name is Tamamo Debito, but everywhere I go, people call me Tama. Anyway, I guess I have to get outta here. I mean, I've taken enough of your time, and if these Net Hackers are commonplace, then you must have a ton of appointments left." Tama quickly slung the laptop case onto his right shoulder, and walked towards the door, stopping at the entrance for a moment to look around the interior again, simply shaking his head as he couldn't believe the floor wasn't wet. He then left, hopped on the bus, and headed home.
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Friendly Conversationalist
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