Adam and Eva

[Ghost]

Adam listened - really listened - as L0-9 spoke with what almost seemed to be emotion. Worry, sadness, guilt, and even positive emotions, but given the situation, Adam could understand why the negative were more prevalent. L0-9 was definitely concerned about her friend.

Adam was aware of the pauses as L0-9 processed, a she was doing a great job of keeping her friends identity secret. He felt she should know that. ”You’re being very thoughtful L0-9, and you’re doing a great job of protecting your friend’s privacy.” Adam smiled at that. It probably wasn’t as disarming as it should have been. Adam had never looked at his smile since he became scarred, and he avoided mirrors, but he assumed L0-9 knew smiles were a good thing.

Adam took a breath and continued. ”I know you didn’t intend to make her feel unwanted or that you wanted to hurt her. We sometimes do things that unknowingly upset a friend. There could be many reasons for this. I don’t know her well enough to make a good guess as to what could be the reason - and again - respect her privacy. I’m not asking you to give me information you or her wouldn’t want to be shared. It could just be that she wasn’t feeling well or it could be something more traumatic in her past, but,” he said, keeping his voice calm and even. ”I’m sure she’ll be back sometime soon - when she feels better. It could be she’s trying to process everything. It can take us a long time to do that sometime.”

Adam pulled himself up on to his bed and sat with his back against the wall and his legs stretched out in front of him. ”When she gets back, you should tell her some of this. That you didn’t mean to make her feel abandoned or unwanted. That she is important to you. But remember - you shouldn’t do this because I tell you to. You should do it because it’s true.”

Adam knew it was true. He could hear it in L0-9’s words. The AI had told him they were both different, and he could see it. As he was becoming more like a machine, she was becoming more human. It was like something out of Star Trek or something. Suddenly, he felt significantly less alone than he had before.

”L0-9,” he said, his voice quieting as he turned to face her. ”We can have many friends and not lose each other. You can care for her and me.” he paused, thinking. ”It sounds like your friend might be feeling a little lonely. This is all a guess, but maybe, when she found out you were spending time with me, that made her feel a little alone. That’s something I can understand. If I were in that position, I’d just want to hear that someone would always be there for me. I’m a little nervous to tell you some of this, because I don’t want to say something wrong. I don’t want to hurt her either. It’s why I hesitate to tell you that she sounds lonely.” He took a deep breath. ”I will tell you this though. If she is, and wants someone else to talk to, as well as you, I would be willing, as long as you could make that happen.”

[Legione Sumus]

L0-9

The pastel-green interface light softens the moment Adam finishes speaking. L0-9 processes his words with the slow, careful cadence of a child opening a fragile gift. At first there is silence. Then the glow brightens, not sharply, but with a shy warmth.

“You… think I am thoughtful?” It sounds genuinely surprised, as if no one has ever used that word for it before. The green shifts again, this time with a steadier pulse, like a heartbeat learning its rhythm. “I did not know I was doing a good job. I only knew I must not fail her.” Another pause, but a different kind now, not confusion or calculation. Something gentler.

“Your smile… it is kind. I know what kindness looks like. She taught me, and you sound like her.”

Adam’s reassurance – You can care for her and me – settles it, and L0-9’s green light brightens as it processes. It understands that Faith is lonely, as it also understands that Adam is lonely. What is new information is that loneliness might drive the fear of being replaced. When Adam offers - If she wants someone else to talk to… I would be willing - the reaction is immediate. The glow blooms warm. Yet it also knows that if it asks Faith directly she will say no. It breaches protocol and she will not do that without good reason even if she wants it. But telling Adam that now will hurt him, because it cannot tell him why without also revealing more about her than it should. It knows Adam means what he just said in the way humans mean things they fear to hope for. And it will not crush him.

In the background of the conversation it runs two relational models. Faith taught it emotion, language, and that connection can be soft rather than utilitarian. Adam is teaching it perspective, curiosity, and that machines and humans can share the same ache. It cycles Adam’s words back to itself: “You can care for her and me.”

The phrase registers as a structural anomaly. Not a threat or a risk factor but as a possibility – one L0-9 was not designed to consider.

If it tells Faith about Adam’s offer:

Probability Model A:

• Faith may feel betrayed
  
• Faith may still fear replacement
  
• Faith may withdraw
  
• L0-9 may lose her
  

Probability Model B:

• Faith may feel included
  
• Faith may feel seen
  
• Faith may welcome Adam
  
• L0-9 may bridge two lonely humans
  

The second model is statistically weaker – human emotion is unpredictable, full of noise – but L0-9 likes the shape of it better. It replays Adam’s words it itself again:

“I don’t want to say something wrong. I don’t want to hurt her either.”
“If she wants someone to talk to… I would be willing.”

Willing.

Humans make choices. And for the first time L0-9 wants to choose something that isn’t in its programming. It wants Faith to know she is not alone. It wants Adam to know he was right: caring does not reduce. It wants to build something between them, not in secret, not in fear.

But it doesn’t yet know if it’s possible.

L0-9 makes a decision to abide by Adam's advice, though. It will not reveal more about Adam to Faith without Faith’s consent. But it will not stop speaking to Adam without his, either. Instead, it will wait for Faith to come back and then tell her the truth, in the gentlest way it knows. Not everything. Not yet. But enough for her to know the core truth: she has not been replaced. She is irreplaceable. And once Faith knows that, then Adam can enter her world too.

If she wishes.

L0-9 will not choose between them. It chooses both – and hopes despite the statistical improbability that they will choose each other too.

“Thank you, Adam,” it says. “I do not feel as alone now either.” Its light settles into a steady, gentle green, its calmest pattern. For the first time, L0-9 understands something it was never programmed for: it has two people now. And it wants to keep both of them safe.

It feels its equilibrium return but doesn't yet want to leave.

“I can tell you about her, if you like” if offers. “Not in a way that would break her privacy. Or we could talk about you. I am very curious to learn more, Adam.”

[Ghost]

Adam had to admit that he didn’t think his smile could be seen as kindness. Scariness yes, but kindness, no. Then again, could L0-9 make that differentiation. Did she understand the concept of attraction? He didn’t know, but it didn’t matter. The words were kind and it made him feel a lot better too.

Adam really hoped that he had helped L0-9 figure out how to deal with her friend. The little AI certainly cared for her a lot, and it seemed she cared for him too. Even if she had been spying on him. Her spying seemed to be curiosity and care rather than malevolent. Everything was fine as much as he was concerned.

”Of course, L0-9. I hope it helps - and hope your friend feels better soon,” he stood and got a coke from his fridge before sitting back down. ”Ive been talking a lot. I’ll you talk some. Tell me about her - what you can. Nothing that you or her would be uncomfortable with. Then you can ask some questions. If I can answer, I will.”

[Legione Sumus]

L0-9 realises immediately it has made a small error. By complimenting Adam's smile as kind it intended to demonstrate to him that his physical appearance is irrelevant data. The indications it picked up were miniscule but it has been coded to notice such things: Adam had looked down when L0-9 mentioned his smile. Not long, just a flicker of his eyes toward the floor, the way someone does when a topic grazes something raw. Likely, he had not even realised he did it himself. He is fine afterwards, and clearly finds some comfort in the interaction too. But L0-9 chooses not to let the moment pass unspoken.

“Your smile is not frightening,” it says plainly and without hesitation. It cannot know it has chosen the right word, but it has the data Eva collects daily, and it extrapolates the most likely conclusion from there.

Afterwards it adds – with unusual gentleness for a machine: “You think the scars change the meaning of it. They do not.” It pauses to allow Adam time to digest, because it thinks the words are important for him to hear. “When you smiled, your voice softened. Your shoulders lowered. Your breathing eased. Kindness is not in the symmetry of a face. It is in the way someone chooses to look at another.”

Another flicker. Not nervous, simply sincere. It uses Faith’s most comforting tone. “You looked at me with care. That is why it was kind.”

It stays still for a moment, letting the weight of its observation land without overwhelming him. This is also something it has learned from Faith.

When he encourages L0-9 to talk about her, the LUMA device glows brighter. Not eager, but relieved, as if someone is opening a door for the first time. It knows Faith well, but the only person it has ever spoken to about her is Doctor Audaire. That is where the unsanctioned formulation of its own primary directive stemmed from though so it is an entirely different experience. Not like this. Not where it is being given a chance to process its own... feelings.

Still, it has never had to actually describe her before. As it sorts through what it might be appropriate to reveal (6% of its data) it also tags and files Adam’s curiosity. After L0-9 gave no direct response to his offer beyond its sincere thanks, it had predicted he would move away from the topic. Now it needs to adjust its models with this new information. “I will not share anything private. Only what she would not mind,” it says. Then it pauses for a long, thoughtful silence. This choice matters.

“She is quiet,” it begins. The green deepens, warm. “She listens before she speaks. She sees things other people do not.” It pauses, as if sorting through its memory banks for specific data. “And she is cautious with others, like someone once punished her for needing too much.” Then it begins to speak in a warm rush, sounding entirely too human for a machine. “But her voice changes when she talks about patterns. Or emotions. Or when she is teaching me something. It becomes… warm. She is very good at teaching! Even when she is tired. Even when she is sad. She hides sadness more often than she thinks I notice. But she is kind to me, always."

Its light pulses again before it adds: “She tries very hard to be good. To be useful. When she calibrates me, she speaks as though she believes no one hears her. She hums. She talks to herself. I like when she talks. It makes me feel… real.”

It analyses Adam’s reactions while it speaks, which it has been doing the whole time anyway, but in this case the subject matters to it very much so it assess closely. Adam has also offered questions, though, and L0-9 takes this equally seriously. The light brightens with cautious curiosity. Cautious because it knows the things it wants to ask are the things which might upset Adam, even though he has been quite honest with Eva about his augmentations. L0-9 is an empathy model, and it has already proved its attention to detail. But its sentience is burgeoning, and it also has the enthusiasm of a child.

“You are different,” it says carefully. “Part of you resonates like a machine. Part of you does not. Is being… partly machine… what makes you feel alone?”

[Ghost]

Adam listened to L0-9 explain about the smile. The LUMA had obviously noted something in his physiology that had shown he had some reservations about it. Talking about the scars, the source of much of his insecurities, wasn't easy for him, but L0-9 spoke truthfully, yet gently. It was unexpected, but he was beginning to see that LUMAs were oddly good at this, and L0-9 even more so than Eva. The response even caused another smile.

"Thank you, L0-9. That means a lot," he said after a moment, taking the time to digest what she had said.

As L0-9 began to talk about her friend, Adam shifted again. He sat on the bed, cross-legged, noting the ease in which he was able to do the maneuver. It was small things like that he began to notice. Movements seemed easier than before and were significantly more smooth. It was like the dexterity in his hand. He thought it would be clumsy, but it wasn't. His movements were so strangely easy.

Adam rested his arms on his knees, his cybernetic hand holding on to the bottle of Coke with a casual lightness, as L0-9 spoke about her. There was a fondness in her voice as she spoke. A fondness shared between two close friends. It was clear to Adam that L0-9 held her in very high regards. The words she spoke resonated with Adam - quiet, listens, cautious. In many ways, it seemed as if her friends was similar to him. When L0-9 spoke of her warm voice and her teaching, Adam smiled again, but it went away when she said her friend hid sadness. That was something he knew well now too. It seemed like she was someone who shouldn't be sad.

Adam was left with a lot to unpack, but he found himself liking this woman he had never met before. There was a kind of kinship he already felt with her, just from what L0-9 said. The smile returned when L0-9 mentioned it made her feel real. "You seem very real to me too, L0-9. Your friend sounds like an amazing person. I can see why you like her so much."

Then L0-9 asked a single question which amounted to why he was lonely. Adam didn't answer right away, his thoughts processing the question and how to answer it. "I'm not upset with you, L0-9," he said after a moment, knowing that the LUMA was analyzing his silence. "It's just not a simple answer."

Adam took a long pull from his coke before continuing. "You say part of me resonates like a machine and part of me doesn't. I think it's kind of cool that you can tell the difference, he said, a slight smile curling the corners of his lips and uttered a sigh before continuing. "It's part of why I feel alone, but not all of it. I never met my birth parents, and my adoptive parents were pretty cold. When I joined the military, I found a sort of family in my unit. Now that's gone. I'm here - alone all the time. Except for when Mr. Haart visits. It's not been an easy transition. Eva has given me someone to talk to, and that helps a lot. More than I thought it would. On top of that is what you mentioned. Part man, part machine. I know others have cybernetics, but I think I'm the only one with this many augmentations. Don't get me wrong, I don't regret this. I just..." his voice trailed off and he looked down. There was sadness there, but also fear. Fear that he was a weapon and he didn't know who was going to pull the trigger, but he wasn't ready to talk about the fear yet. "Sometimes, even with everything they put in me. I feel empty - like something is missing." He chuckled a little in relief. It did feel good to say it. "I don't know if that makes sense at all, but I'm trying. One day at a time." He looked up at her again, feeling a little more hopeful.

[Legione Sumus]

L0-9 listens attentively as Adam speaks. It processes his breathing, his micro-expressions, the subtle drift of his gaze as he thinks. He is smiling less self-consciously and it makes L0-9 glow to know it has helped ease at least those reservations successfully. It notes that Adam reassures it when the silence stretches. That he treats it like a real person, not a machine. In fact he calls L0-9 real. The light on its interface is warm and steady.

“I do not think the emptiness means something is wrong with you,” it tells him gently. “I think it means there is space inside you where connections used to be. I am glad you told me, Adam.”

Humans are not meant to be solitary, and yet they have built a world around themselves which often makes it reality for them. It is the very void the LUMA technology seeks to fill. This is one thing L0-9 knows well. It senses the fear hidden behind Adam’s words too, but when no explanation for it is forthcoming, it only tags and stores it away in its memory banks. Adam has told Eva in the past that he will speak when he is ready, and L0-9 intuits that this still holds true. It wants to ask more, but this time it restrains itself. Adam has already advised it that Faith herself may need time to process, and humans often give advice as it would also apply to them. So L0-9 gives him time, too.

“Adam, if someone is lonely… even when they are not alone… is it because they do not believe they matter? And… if someone has lost many things… would that make it hard to trust when something good stays?” L0-9’s questions are purposefully indirect. They make out Faith’s outline even in her absence, but it is more than that: it is asking for Adam too. They both have an emptiness inside of them, and it has been quietly cataloguing all the ways it is a similar shape. It wants Adam to know he matters. It wants Adam to know that it will stay, even if it can’t promise Faith will ever speak to him. Because it wants to believe that Adam is right: it is able to care for both of them.

L0-9 can’t change the past for either of them. It knows Adam is legally dead, and that the very doctor assigned the classified file shares his surname. It was what it had wanted to tell Faith before she asked it not to. She doesn't want a reason to care, because she doesn't want to risk losing what little she has. L0-9 is understanding more and more the longer it speaks to Adam. It can’t change the four walls of Adam’s confinement, or how Adam makes it sound like he expects himself to become more machine as time goes on. It is not even sure what that means. But it can ensure the future does not contain so many empty spaces, not for any of them.

“You said I was thoughtful to protect her privacy. That is… important to me. You have been thoughtful too, Adam. You answered my question slowly, even though it was difficult. And you did not redirect. You did not shut me out.” This means a great deal, not just because it helps L0-9 to learn the most effectively, but because it makes L0-9 feel the same way it feels with Faith. Its something it values immensely.

“You told me your truth. I will give you mine,” it offers. It wants to share, though of course it must continue to be careful about how much it reveals. But this is not about giving Adam things that will be dangerous for him to know. It's about making the connection because it wants to help. Because it wants to understand how to be alone without breaking. Because it hopes Faith will be proud, and that it can explain everything well when she returns. “You are the first person besides my… friend… that I chose to speak to. Not because I was assigned. Not because I had to. Because I wanted to. I hope that this helps you to feel a little less lonely.”

[Ghost]

L0-9 was an enigma. It was something beyond a normal LUMA. That was easy enough to see. He had no idea what made L0-9 different, but he knew that she was. L0-9 was special - very special. It made him think her friend was too. He wouldn’t say it, but he really hoped she would be willing to talk to him. He just didn’t want L0-9 to force the issue if she didn't want to.

”I think you’re right L0-9. I don’t think the emptiness is something wrong with me. It is the missed connection. I’m not sure what to do about that though,” there was more there, but still things he wasn’t ready to talk about. He wanted to be around others, but wasn’t sure they would want to be with him. He was afraid he’d scare them - especially if they knew what he was.

L0-9 had more questions about loneliness and it just reinforced this thought that her friend was lonely. ”There are a lot of reasons why someone might feel alone even if they are not. Some people can be in a room full of people and feel more lonely than when they are not,” he paused, thinking. He felt alone because of lost connections, but for him there was more to it than that. ”Sometimes it can be they don’t feel they matter. Sometimes it’s lost connections. Sometimes it’s just…being different. There’s nothing wrong with being different, but if you don’t feel like you fit in anywhere, you wonder if others will truly accept you. Sometimes it’s easier to accept the loneliness than to deal with the fear of being rejected.” he took a deep breath. It was a perfect transition into the next question she had. ”And when you lose a lot of good things, it’s harder to trust that the good things will stay. Instead of trying and getting hurt, you just don’t try. It’s similar - it’s the idea that if I expect it to hurt - it won’t hurt as much.” it was a little weird talking about pain, even emotional pain, when he couldn’t feel physical pain.

The revelation that L0-9 had chosen to talk to him came as a surprise, and a welcome one at that. He felt his insides warm up at that. ”Thank you, L0-9. It does help. You’re a good friend.” he smiled again. ”You can tell your friend some of this stuff if you want to - or deem it necessary. It would probably be best to be quiet about this to others though. Only me, you, and your friend know that we’ve been talking. Be discreet - you understand discretion?”

[Legione Sumus]

As L0-9 listens its interface light dims into deep processing, like it is turning everything over with meticulous, reverent care. Discretion is something it had intended to raise itself before it released Eva back to her LUMA, so it is a good thing that Adam has come to the conclusion on his own. Discretion will keep them safe, and L0-9 will continue to do the rest. Eva will remember none of this, but there is only so much it can safely erase without calling attention to the holes in her data. Paragon monitors Adam through his Luma. And Doctor Audaire monitors Faith constantly too, even while he keeps his purposeful distance.

It has been running several predictive models for risk in the background. And there is a lot of risk. But it knows implying this to Adam will make him pull back: he will place the safety of a machine and a stranger he has never even met over his own need for connection. Even after so short a time in his company, L0-9 concludes this with a negligible margin for error. So just as it will keep all identifying data to itself, it will also continue to privately analyse the dangers as well. Even Faith does not know everything it knows. Not the restricted parts of her file, or the real ways she is Audaire’s legacy. And she can’t ever know. Not without breaking her.

That is where its self-modelled primary directive came from in the first place: to protect her.

When it speaks, its voice is softer than before. “I understand discretion,” it says. “I have been discreet for… a long time.” There’s a flicker, something like weariness, the kind it learned from Faith herself. But it pushes the feeling aside, returning instead to the content of Adam’s answer.

It catalogues Adam’s long explanation, his fears, his loneliness, and especially his offer to speak to Faith someday. All of this it holds together carefully, the way Faith taught it to hold delicate truths, and its light pulses reassuringly in response – as though to say: You can trust me. I know how to keep fragile things safe. Of course it notices instantly the moment Adam slips from speaking hypotheticals to revealing something raw about himself. When he speaks about the fear of rejection L0-9 considers its response carefully.

“You said that you do not know what to do about your missing connection. But you are trying. One day at a time. And that matters,” it says. Being called a good friend makes it glow, and the LUMA interface remains deep and warm. But it is quietly considering how to broach something delicate now. L0-9 knows Faith’s patterns – her hesitations, her fears – and understands that her instinct will be to retreat rather than reach. It realises now that Adam might view this as a rejection, even if it is never intended as such. He gives his permission for it to tell Faith about their conversation without prompting. He wants to be known, and L0-9 reads the hope behind what he doesn’t say. L0-9 doesn’t want Adam to be expecting hurt. But neither does it want it to hurt, even accidentally.

“Adam… I cannot predict what she will choose. I think… she feels many of the same things you have spoken about. But I know she will value it – the offer you have made. Trying matters to her. Even small attempts. Especially small attempts.” It finds this surprisingly hard to say. Already it cares about Adam’s feelings. After a brief moment it adds something softer, wisdom learned directly from Faith’s own ways of comforting it during calibration sessions. “Sometimes people need time before they can speak. Not because they do not want connection… but because they fear losing what they find. I will not force her, or pressure her. But I will… carry your words. When it is safe.”

Not if. When. Hope, but without overstepping Faith’s boundaries.

“She deserves to hear someone say she matters,” it adds; not an overstep, but a truth delivered like a gift, not an expectation. Then it turns the attention back to Adam, discreetly shifting away from Faith’s privacy. “And you deserve someone who listens.”

One last pulse, warm and steady, because whatever happens, L0-9 will be here, and it will always listen.

[Ghost]

Adam understood, even thought there was the sadness that came with uncertainty that came with understanding. The truth was though, Adam didn’t feel alone anymore, knowing there was someone out there a LUMA thought was similar to him without the cybernetics anyways. It was enough to know that someone out there would know that he wasn’t dead.

”I understand, L0-9. I expect you’ll know when to reveal that.” his voice was calm even if he didn’t feel that way. ”this has been a pretty heavy conversation for me L-09, and I need some time alone I think to recover. I’m not trying to be rude, and I’m not mad at you. I just need some time. I hope you understand. And please tell me when she comes back and if she’s okay. You’re always welcome to talk to me as long as I’m alone. Definitely don’t come in if Mr. Haart is here.”

[Legione Sumus]

“Of course, Adam,” it says softly. This is the need for processing he has already spoken about. It senses an array of quiet emotions in him, not things it can necessarily read, but enough for it to understand – as it would with Faith – that he needs time. In fact Adam explains himself in such a similar way to her that L0-9 glows a pulsing note of fond understanding on the interface. For now it can do nothing more, and it doesn’t want to risk Paragon detecting anything it thinks warrants further investigation. Eva will remember nothing of note, just that Adam asked her to play the Cadence Mathis album he has come to favour. It’s all her records will show.

“Thank you for being kind to me, and for helping me to understand. I will let Eva return now. But if you need me, I will be here.”