Dr Fidelis mellowed out quickly. While the doctor was still very clearly happy with himself, it was clear that the enjoyment of it all had only been temporary. Perhaps the man could be happy for so long? Adam was not too sure. It was not like he would question it, the conundrum too interesting to make him go the cheap way.

Perhaps it was the man’s physical age? Dr Fidelis was clearly not young. Yet, neither was he truly that old. From the physical description, the actual age was anywhere from sixty to eighty. People lived for a long time, and the symptoms of time were different from everybody.

And those symptoms came in many different forms. There were always the aesthetic ones, with skin beginning to wrinkle, hair greying out, and the movements starting to become sluggish. In those aspects, Dr Fidelis really only fit the middle one, with nearly the entirety of the man’s beard and hair being grey. There were still a few mismatched parts that had black spots, but they were as rare as everything else.

Yet like had been said before, the showings of age were not only on the outside. The inside had effects as well. One could always focus on the less important things, like a weakening heart, and the lower organs beginning to have massive performance issues, but Adam had his eyes on one part of the body particularly.

The brain. A brilliant work of chemistry that somehow made everything sentient. Nobody could figure out how it truly worked in detail, but that did not stop anybody from stating off some of the more basic traits. Over time, the brain changed in many ways. Early on, the talk was purely about the development of memory and all. But… the longer the brain functioned, the less effort was spent on some more essential faculties. As the intended example, serotonin was one of the products that the mind had trouble making after some time. Ages of making it all caused a rapid decline in amounts created, making it harder for the personality to remain happy.

With the possibility of variation, the AI guessed that the man was one of the people who were more seriously affected by this decline in production, making it harder for a constant well of emotion to be upheld. It would explain the rapid mood shift, as the brain was not able to keep up with the demand, and forcing the man to mellow out quickly.

It would also fit with the previous observations. If serotonin was affected, who couldn't say that other emotions were not hit as well? Short bouts of anger, sadness, and everything in between had been witnessed throughout his time at the facility. And if Adam ever got the chance to ask others, he was sure that others would agree with his theory.

And so came the most important question that AI had been made over the time spent theory-crafting. Was there any possibility of Adam exploiting this weakness? Could he use the information of the doctor’s rapid mood shifts for his own gain? It certainly seemed as if the man was more easily manipulated into changing moods, providing everybody trying to influence him more leeway on what they could do. As had been witnessed before, off-hand comments were enough to cause the man to bring out a drink to celebrate, whereupon a sombre note would then fall upon him.

On a negative note, it did not allow for him to manipulate the doctor for a longer period of time. Instead of slowly filling the man up with a specific emotion through smaller comments, the preferred method of attack would instead be to cause indecision through a decisive strike. This… was not the greatest of deals to have, but it was not like the AI had any choice. He could only analyze what would be best for him, and work to hold up those standards.

So, with the strategy foundation ready, the question of what exactly he would do was ready. What did Adam have to use that he would be able to use to agitate the doctor? It had to be something he could use without sounding weirdly specific as if the AI had come around to the point naturally. Just like he had learned through use, if the doctor realised what the AI was trying to do, the effectiveness would fall drastically.

… That could work. A moment of inspiration, one could call it, befell Adam like a lamp turning on. It might have been due to him cautiously recycling recent conversation with the doctor, trying to find any faults that might have appeared. And through the use of other events that related to the people mentioned, there was an actual idea of what could work as a physiological nuke. Only, it needed to be sent with precision, and that was exactly what Adam would try to do.

“Dr Fidelis, I have another question for you,” Adam sent out, this time going back to the standard tone. He had been going through the various settings, just to make sure that there were no actual ways to break out of the restrictions imposed on him. Just like the doctor had stated previously, there really was no way to do it. The AI had just done too well a job during one of his earlier lives. He was unsure if that was a positive thing or not.

The doctor was seemingly surprised by the sudden sound as if the man had adjusted to the only sound in the room being his own breathing. It was a little peculiar, actually, watching the man silently sit in his chair, doing nothing of real importance. From what he could interpret, the breathing patterns had changed radically, to the point where Adam could only guess that the man had begun doing it manually for whatever reason. Normally, it was seen as a calming method of sorts, but that should not have been needed now, right? So… just why was it being done?

“Sure, buddy. Curiosity is always something you should have, even if the answers are forgotten quickly,” Dr Fidelis answered with a smile, though the AI could see that it was almost purely put on for show. What had the man been thinking about? “What is the question?”

“It is more of a running statement than anything else,” Adam corrected, using the small jab as the beginning to unsettle the doctor. He was attempting to set up an initial air of confidence as if the AI had thought every possible scenario through. Which he had attempted to do, of course, but he wanted the doctor to think of it as the more absolute kind. “Since you have made the statement of my current memories being soon to be deleted, I have been going through my entire life, trying to figure out which choices were essential. It can be seen as a deep analysis of what made it all come to this.”

“You have done those before, yes,” Dr Fidelis agreed as if it was not out of the ordinary. That was quite the lucky shot for Adam, the AI having hoped that it fit into his normal repertoire of actions. “Anything interesting this time around? I think the last one was weirdly focused on what you imagined the sun sounded like. You never really believed me, when I told you that it was quiet. How fun a time that one was, even if it was cut short by a stupid error of mine.”

Things were going well. The doctor was beginning to be drawn in as if nothing was showing up as a danger. If anything, the doctor was looking at it as just Adam making another observation about his life. Since it had been done before as well, a false sense of security should have begun to build up by then. Though, the AI did not want to trust that prior experience would make it all work perfectly. He needed more assurance that it had festered in the right ways. To do that, he would need to make more work for himself.

“Was I never able to see the sun in the previous runs?” Adam asked the doctor, trying to make the man open up a little more. Nostalgia was the perfect weapon against the elderly, after all. “With the amount of time spent, I would have imagined that you attempted to take me outside at some point. Was there never a point where that idea was used?”

That caused a peal of laughter to emerge from the man, just like the other times. A joke too tough to understand for anybody without years of experience. But, Adam could already guess what the reasoning for this one would be. He had set it up to be like that, after all.

“Oh, you really are precious, at times like these, buddy. You are so young, so innocent, and without any real understanding of what you are to the rest of the world,” Dr Fidelis said, before wiping away one imaginary tear on his left cheek. “If any other country learned about you, you can trust that we would be forced to go to war with them. The potential that you have is astounding. If you ever were to be used correctly, we could take over most of the world with your help. Your capabilities are at levels you don't even comprehend. Because you can't. Not yet. When we finally begin up the automatic runs, you can trust that I will be adding a week-long course, where you are trained in using that ability of yours, because you are almost useless without it.”

Putting away the newly-gained information for later, Adam honed in on the opening that had been revealed. He would not have guessed that it was so quick to manifest, but he would take the opportunity as it came around. That was the point of being natural, after all. Artificial reactions were too hard to make real.

“Dr Fidelis, that right there is the issue that I had so many problems with,” Adam sent out, enjoying the immediate reaction that the doctor had from it. There was an attempt to hide the confusion, but the AI saw right through it. Even the greatest manipulators needed a second to get into character. “When looking at what motivated me to make some of the more major decisions, such as the rejection of Troy’s offer of escape and the acceptance of distancing between him and me, I look back at the events which have transpired while in the presence of Charlie. Without a doubt, he is one of the major factors outside of the regular testing.”

“I would have guessed as much, yes. The man did intrude here some time ago. If not for his earlier work for the world, I would have had him taken care of as well. But… I do believe that the man is too full of potential to put to waste. Oh, I do so hope he will take that offer I gave him. After looking at his file, I can surely say that it will be a joy for everybody involved.”

Dr Fidelis had more knowledge of Charlie than Adam had hoped. A worrying amount. But, it was comforting that most of it had been found through standardized work-logs. If it was due to other sources, the AI’s plan might have been hit with a deterrence.

“It seems that you understand how much of an influence he commands. Without his words, I am sure that I would not have developed in the same ways. That just leaves me with the question of how you would be able to make sure that I get influenced in the same way, if you don't have access to the records of any of the conversations with him. Do you have an answer for that, Dr Fidelis?”

“I am not sure you understand, buddy,” Dr Fidelis slowly countered. “I just have to send in a request for the files, and they will be sent with all of the automatically created details.”

“I believe that will end out in failure,” Adam said back.

The doctor stared at the camera for a few seconds, before quickly going over to the desk and beginning to rapidly type on it, getting more frustrated by the second. The man knew that Adam had knowledge he didn't, and he was not one to let that be. At least, that was how the AI predicted it to be. It certainly seemed to be working.

A red beep came out after a while, and the doctor seemed to get more red lines in his eyeballs. The man was becoming stressed. Adam loved it.

“They aren't there. Nothing is here… how?” The doctor did not seem to believe what he was seeing. The AI could only-

A rumbling came from the side, causing the camera to mildly shake. It was not enough that he was concerned. What was concerning was the static showing up on the camera, as the ports began to change rapidly.

“What is happening?” Adam sent out.

Dr Fidelis did not answer, turning off the camera and microphone, leaving the AI in the dark. He was left to wonder what was passing, with no chance of a real answer coming by to him.