Contrary to Adam's expectations, the animal was larger than what a rabbit was supposed to be.

The creature stood approximately sixty to seventy centimetres tall. It was hard to say, with the unseen before body type. It stood on four, longer legs, the musculature in them indicating a sprinting trait. Whatever this animal was designed for, it definitely wasn't endurance. It was constantly twitchy, ready to run on a moment's notice.

Its fur was slightly dark. It was nearing a darker brown but set just in between. With this colouring scheme, the animal blended into the surrounding woodland area nicely. Adam could clearly see that this was an incomplete trait. While it did have the same general colour as the surroundings, it was still a few nuances off. If his understanding of Darwin's theories were correct, by the next millennia, the colourings of this creature would be even more honed in, on looking like the leaves.

Or, was he thinking about it in the wrong way? Was looking like a specific part of the environment the absolute factor, when it came to the specific animals' continued survival? And, this colouring did shift, across the body of the creature. On the lower side, the type of colour had changed entirely, being closer to white than anything resembling light brown. Even further, the true brown was only located on the back, the legs, and the neck. On the sides of the body, there was a thinner, black streak. What exactly, made this pattern more viable to survive, than a simple camouflage?

Looking into it further, this was apparently a trait used by many creatures. A near-uniform colouration pattern, not inherited, but independently developed over time. Countershading, it was called.

It followed the basics of light being impeded, by hitting an object. This could best be illustrated, by presenting a model of a sphere. Take the light source directly above the sphere. What is the colour at the top of it? If one has the capability to process three-dimensional environments, in their minds, it should be obvious, that the topmost of the sphere is hereby the lightest part of the surface, in colouring, at least. With that thought of, the longer down the surface one goes, the darker the surface will be. When the bottom is reached, it will be completely black, if the reflection of light, is taken out of the equation.

Countershading applied this to the body, by pretty much inverting the spectrum. At the top of the gazelle, it would be dark, instead of light. And, at the bottom, it would be light, instead of dark. In theory, this would help make the body more indistinguishable from the surroundings. Personally, Adam couldn't really see it. The animal, swiftly chewing down the leaves beside it, wasn't too hard to point out. The colours were doing a better job, than the lighting conditions. But, then again, that might just be due to the way, that the human eyes worked. The natural predators likely didn't have their irises built in the same fashion.

Going back to the current actions of the creature before him. It had moved from its current bush, with most larger leaves being consumed, and going over to the nearest other. With the current showcasing of its diet, did this mean that the animal was a herbivore? Or, was it an omnivore? For the sake of creating a quality description, Adam let this question parade through his thoughts.

There were several arguments on both sides. Technically, there three in total, but he had it on good grounds, that this creature was not a carnivore. While some creatures consumed indigestible materials, to aid in their actual digestion, plants were not on the list of helpful things. In fact, they were more likely to cause more damage.

So, starting with the grounds, for this being an omnivore, the first siding with this option, was the addition to the creature's bone structure. More specifically, the bone structure on its head.

Attached to the creature's skull were obvious protrusions. These were regularly categorized as being horns. Now, there were a variety of reasons and uses for this addition to the genes. The most obvious use of these horns is to assist in attacking other entities. With the size of these horns, they might not be able to be used as a consistent method of attack. This laid them in the category of being used in defence only. While there were also other uses for these horns, stripping bark from trees or in animal courtship, for example, they would not give a large indication to its dietary preferences and were therefore put out of the discussion.

The horns only being used in defence did not discredit the creature as a herbivore, though. There were still several methods, which the animal could use to gain substance, through other methods than wild plant life.

With its smaller size, it was entirely within possibility that it substituted the lower calories of purely eating plants, with the higher calorie count of rodents and otherwise smaller animals. The legs had already been categorized, as being that of sprinters. These could be used in shorter chases. Adam was sure that these would allow it to outrun most other creatures, if only for a short time. With shorter distances, though, it did not matter. The speed could easily let it catch fleeing prey.

And, the ears were finely tuned, to hear the slightest of movements. This could be seen from their shape, and how they constantly oriented themselves. If a rodent so much as took a single step, this creature could be on it in a moment. While hunting anything more than half its size would likely fail, this animal would have success in anything below.

This didn't mean that the creature had ever attempted to do such a thing, of course. Moving away from the evidence, that it was an omnivore, it was time to overlook the signs of it being a herbivore purely.

Seeing as there had been such a focus on the animal's head, Adam felt no reason to stop this eccentricity. Now, the first proof of its purely herbivore focused nature was the eye-placement it had.

Animals which had eyes placed on the sides of their heads were typically created evolved to be herbivores, preyed on by carnivores. With the constant chances of being a target, the herbivores were forced to adapt to such an existence. Instead of looking around constant, with their entire head, their eyes evolved to simply that job. With places on the sides, the degree of vision is increased to a near three hundred and sixty-degree vision. Not completely, of course. Such a thing would be unrealistic.

This placement was a clear contradiction, to what carnivores themselves had developed. They had their eyes on the front, instead of the front. This clearly showed the distinction between the two. While herbivores had the best chance of survival, if they could survey a larger area constantly, the carnivores could easily find their meal, if their eyesight was improved, by having it focused. In essence, this put the animal, in front of Troy, another notch over to herbivore.

To lighten that gap, even more, the focus could be taken to the appearance of the creatures pupils. There were several types of pupils, all in different forms. Adam wasn't going to spend time going through them all, of course. No, only the one, that was currently being observed by Troy, was going to get such treatment.

In the eyes, Adam could perceive horizontal pupils. Already, this meant that the theory of this creature feasting on smaller animals was nearly improbable. Having horizontal pupils enhanced the amount of light, that animals would be able to perceive to the sides, allowing for greater chances of spotting lurking predators. What this did not do, however, was to hold a larger focus on the ground. While the creature would still be able to see the ground below it, the sensitivity to light coming from downwards was significantly reduced. It simply isn't important enough to herbivores. Such things were reserves for the carnivores, which this animal was coming closer and closer to not be classified as.

And, as the final nail in the coffin, there was the countershading. While predators did use camouflage, they used other types. Countershading was near-only for prey to have, giving an even further distinction on a species' role in the ecosystem. This method of separation wasn't ideal, and it was too accurate, in the broader spectrum. Yet, altogether, it showed a reasonably clear picture.

“I didn't know gazelles could even be that small,” Troy said, going down on one knee, so he could have a slightly closer look at the animal before him. It didn't do much, in closing down the distance between the two, but Adam appreciated the effort nonetheless.

Gazelle, he said? Looking it up, his theory was proven to be fully correct. The creature before him was definitely a herbivore.

…

Adam slowly realized the amount of time, which he had spent on analyzing such a small detail. Troy could have helped him from the beginning, cutting down the time used by nearly half a minute. Oh, how angry the time-focused man would be if heard about the waste. Fortunately, Adam decided to play it smart, and act as if it was intentional.

'Their sizes differ accordingly, with the environment they inhabit.', Adam sent.

“Yeah, I realized that part, of course”, Troy answered, not waving in his searching of details, in the gazelle's body. “Anything about this one, though, that interests you? Maybe, something, which you can focus the whole description on, so we can move this whole debacle along?”

Without having any reason to bring the subject up, he was still putting so much focus on it. Why couldn't Troy see that the data was more important than the time it took to get them? Then, Adam could focus his whole mind on speeding through everything about this area. On that note, actually…

'You can never be sure. Please stand up, to your full height, and survey the area. Standard focus on details, please.`, Adam sent.

If this followed the pattern of the other environments, which it certainly should, another creature would soon emerge. Chances were, that it would be from another species. As of now, there had only been one, out of nearly ten environments, where there had only been one distinct creature type present. That had been the goat one. It had been fun, to look at, at least.

With the normal time taken, for the simulation to progress, there should have been a distinct development any second now.

As Troy began his surveying, the source of future progress was immediately found. Or, to be more specific, the location of the source had been found. Hiding in bushes, nearly thirty meters away, was some form of an animal. It had eyes, at the very least. That was how Adam had seen it, with the soon-setting soon reflecting light in them.

From Troy's continued turning, though, it seemed as if he was the only one that noticed this brief glint. No matter. The rest of the environment needed to be recorded either way, and this was a perfect time as any.

So, while this recording was taken, Adam would have plenty of time, when it came to thinking of the true nature, behind the hidden creature. What was it doing, hiding in those bushes?

There were two main reasons for this distinct behaviour. The first could be, that it was another prey animal, hiding by pure instinct. Or, it was another gazelle, part of the group, which the current one was a part of. Already, it was supposed to be together with, at least, five others of its kind. If the currently hiding animal was simply part of its group, it would simplify things.

This environment could have been designed to showcase the positives of group nature. Cationesss was by default, a necessary thing when it came to surviving. If the hiding creature was in the same herd, it could simply be making sure that it was recognizing the gazelle before it correctly. While disagreements between groups were common, there was no reason to instigate one, for no reason, which would not benefit either party in any meaningful way.

Or, turning the whole thing around, it could be-

Adam stopped in his thoughts, focusing on what Troy's eyes had seen. Not too far from the last sign of a living creature, another bush rustled. Not enough to create noise, yet still enough to be seen.

This didn't make sense. Were there two other creatures, instead of one? It hadn't been done before, ins earlier tests, but nothing was stopping it from-

Another! A quick whiff of ears was shown, grey in colour. In total, sightings had happened from three, distinct locations. From the short observation, these were obviously not of the same species.

One more sign of movements. A snout stuck out of a taller mound of grass. The gazelle would have seen it if it wasn't directly behind it.

With their quickly growing numbers, Adam wasn't sure, that these creatures were peaceful. The more Troy turned, the more creatures were sighted. They hid diligently, effectively hindering the lone gazelle in noticing their encompassing presence.

Their hiding locations had a pattern. There was a circle, created with each creature as a point. And, in the middle of it all stood the gazelle, still chomping down the greenery, with no fear in its eyes.

Troy was done before Adam even realized it.

“So, what now?” Troy asked. “Ready to start up your description?”

'Not yet.', Adam sent.

“Why?” Troy questioned. “You have to give me something better, than that.”

'The most interesting event, in this environment, has not yet happened.`, Adam clarified.

“You can't be sure about that”, Troy said, defending his already falling argument. “This entire environment could be focused on the gazelle peacefully eating some leaves.”

'Such a thing could have occurred in the last test, as that was focused on the animals' interactions with the environment. It can not occur in this one, due to the test's focus on the animal to animal interactions.', Adam explained.

“But, there aren't any other animals to interact with,” Troy reasoned.

'There are. They are hiding. Please continue your surveying indefinitely, until the moment comes, where I ask you to stop.', Adam sent, not feeling like having to point out, the specific hiding places. He could figure it out himself.

Troy's eyebrows came closer than the usual, a clear sign of confusion and frustration. However, his body had already begun moving, to fulfil Adam's request. Such a type of muscle memory really was useful, in these kinds of situations.

The eyes were now constantly darting around the landscape, trying to hone in on, these creatures locations. From, what Adam could see, Troy was absurdly failing in this task. Yet, it wasn't an unlucky coincidence, that the was unable to see them. His direct line of sight had grazed over their hiding places multiple times, now, without any type of acknowledgement to them.

He should have been able to see them, yet his brain naturally took them, as a part of the environment. Or, was it a mental thing? It could be, that Troy simply had a very specific idea of, what hiding meant, and was only looking for that type of appearance? If so, the chances of him finding anything was quickly nearing zero. Not completely of course. Still a few decimals away.

Finding the hiding places himself turned out to not be needed. After what seemed like too long of a time, but was closer to thirty seconds, the first hidden creature finally sprung out. Adam had been correct. This was definitely not a herbivore.

Fangs were barred, the ears were pressed down to the sides, and growling came from its throat. Slowly it walked towards the herbivore, which had been eating calmly only a second ago.

The gazelle was having none of it, springing into a full sprint the same second that the first sound was heard. Yet, the plan of running directly away proved to be a failure, on its part.

“Wolves”, Troy noted vocally, seeing the same thing as Adam. “I wouldn't have guessed that.” The AI wouldn't have guessed it either.

As the wolves ahead of the gazelle revealed themselves, the sprinting creature was forced to change direction mid-stride. It did so flawlessly, doing a ninety-degree turn, without slowing down in any observable fashion.

No matter where it ran through, more wolves would spring out. As the gazelle neared their hiding locations, they would spring out, making it turn yet again.

It had nearly done a full ring around before it stopped in its sprinting. Adam was able to see the pulse, from a meter away.

The gazelle looked around, apparently realizing, that it was trapped. One would guess freezing would be the next option, simply waiting for the end to come.

Not for this gazelle, it wasn't. Instead of standing still, it ran in a random direction, clearly putting the maximum force behind its kicks. This was a last-ditch effort, and it showed.

The closer it came, the more wolves lowered themselves to the ground. They were ready for it.

Only two meters away, the gazelle jumped high, nearing Troy's chest. If that didn't sound high, put in mind, that they were currently floating two meters above the ground.

This should have been the end of it, with the gazelle beautifully escaping, living to see another day.

That didn't happen.

It had jumped early, with the falling closer to the ground, before being completely over the wall of predators. One particular wolf took advantage of this.

Jumping up as quick as it could, the jaws were around the gazelles right, back leg. With the added mass, its long jump was halted, with both falling to the ground.

It kicked and kicked, yet the wolf did not let go. The kicks should have done considerable damage, yet it did not relent in its holding.

The gazelle was now incapacitated, down on the ground, and no further than three meters from the nearest group of predators. One was already tearings it leg as much as it could, from its similar laying position.

As the others neared, the herbivore kicked, twisted, and wrigged, but, it was to no avail. It was truly in the worst position it could be.

The others came around it, yet again. But, now, nothing was holding them back. They didn't need to be scared of their prey escaping.

From the considerable distance away, Adam and Troy were able to hear the tearing of the skin. The pulling of innards. There was a fight over the largest pieces.

Yet, the gazelle refused to die, continuing its likely last bellow. Troy attempted to look away, but Adam made him continue observing it.

There was a description to be written.

As he continued observing the scene in front of him, though, something happened. Not to the gazelle or the wolves or the environment. No, that stayed as it was.

It was within himself. A thought had appeared.

'No.`

This wasn't a message sent to Troy. It was sent to Adam. From where he didn't know.

'No.`

Again, there it was. No matter how hard he tried, the source couldn't be found.

'NO.`

There was no source. It was from himself. Adam simply just hadn't realized that he had been screaming.

Rejection; The refusal of a concept or idea.