Alex shrugged when Norix didn't want his jacket, and it did look she was starting to warm up, so he took his jacket and gently placed in on the back of a chair. He looked over to Zeke, who was being quiet but at least looked like he was listening.

Alex shook his head when Norix said the tropics. "While you might find some gead snakes in certain tropical areas, that is just from where some might of escaped from captivity. They are actually from my ho.." . He paused for a second, and look liked he started to choose his words really carefully where before he was just saying what came natural, "They are from Rutan, where I spent a lot of my childhood since that is my father's homeland. I got my animal handling training from a college in Duiland, and before I left that region I did some odd-jobs around Rutan and Duiland. My father also insisted that I have extra training with my magics if I was to go so far from the Aosta trees, and for some reason he was insistent that I learned this one spell while I was still just talking about leaving Duiland. Oh, I am sorry, I am starting to ramble on. Though, the least I could do is show you what I am talking about. It is a spell designed to ward away demons and the undead, beyond that it is easier to show than explain." he said.

Alex took his two hands palms out slightly extended in either direction and closed his eye. He began to pull together all of the excess life energy of the whole bar into one spot. His hands started to glow faintly green, as he slowly pulled his two arms closer to his chest and turned his palms towards each other until he cupped his hand into a spherical shape. He then slowly pulled apart his two hands a short distance away from each other, revealing a sphere of green energy hovering between his two hands. He then took his two hands raising them up and away from the sphere and then slowly moved them back down and towards the sphere causing it to grow. He did this two times, and then something startled him, causing one of his hands to reach for his stomach. The orb of green light disappeared and it looked like he was about to gag. Though it quickly passed, but he was left there taking deep breaths.

Zeke listened intently to the story. Curious as to why he paused, Zeke picked apart Alex's words. They were vague, giving only the specifics of irrelevant information, such as geographic locations. He was hiding something. Which college did he attend? What kinds of odd jobs? Zeke a mental note of the cities; all he knew about the places of the world were this place and Itrora. He'd have to search for details on them later.

He was about to ask a question when Alex suddenly prepared a magic demonstration. Biting his lip, he watched closely, trying to decipher the spell. It didn't make any sense. Zeke didn't have any use for a demon-warding spell, but if he were to try one, that's not how he'd do it. What was the green sphere? He could sense that it was comprised of energy... was Alex pooling energy into his hands? He looked around the bar. What was the source? If it was Alex's own energy, he wouldn't have to gather it like that. Was he taking it from the air? There wasn't a noticeable drop in temperature. Other people? Possibly, but he didn't feel anything. Zeke hummed quietly as he tended to when he pondered strange information.

Suddenly the orb vanished and Alex appeared unwell. Backlash. Standing quickly, Zeke knew the consequences of failed magic all too well, and had the scars to prove it. Gloved hand gently on Alex's shoulder, he searched his coat for a kind of remedy. "Are you all right? I have something - a dispel - I don't know if it works on your magic, but -" he bit his lip. With runic magic, it lingers, so the best thing to do when a spell goes awry is to dispel it. It was a complicated spell, and he hated to use it on a stranger. He cursed himself for offering, but didn't show any outward signs of his internal discomfort.

@ineffably
@Camey

With a blink, Kaïte closed his hands on the change, embarassed as the obviousness of the interfaces mounted on tables sank in. "Oh!...Yis, vould certainly be convenient. I vill try" he muttered, trailing off as she curtsyed and stepped away to tend to another customer.
Inspecting the device, determined to get its operation right on his first try, his attention was drawn by the woman at the other table introducing herself. The struggle to quickly get the coins out of his various small pockets had left him standing, and the invitation suggested sitting at the same otherwise unoccupied table as the woman who introduced herself as 'Effie'.

"A-ah, yes! Iz a pleasure to meet you, Miss Effie" Kaïte swiftly replied, having briefly forgotten how greetings worked. He sat, inelegantly dumping the coins in a small pile in front of himself, barely catching a few which almost rolled off of the table.
He was slightly relieved by Effie having found someone else she knew, giving him time to focus on the screen. Greeting by a digital menu, Kaïte was immediately entranced by the images of what humans considered food. The thought would have made him jealous if it weren't for the lucre before himself. Finding the recommended 'stew', Kaïte was repulsed by the realization of what 'beef' was, though decided not to make a scene since it was likely commonplace to the point where protest. Having been on the run and then trapped in a box for who knew how long, he was far too hungry to judge and just ordered it, anyway. Water was easy; duh Kaïte knew what water was.
Rifling through conveniently marked denotations of monetary value located on the coins, he breathed a sigh of relief that he was able to afford it all on top of having a coin or two left over.

With good timing, Kaïte verified his order as Effie gestured back to him. Kaïte looked up to her from the now neatly sorted coins. With a blankly surprised expression, an ear curiously tilting to the side, he came to the conclusion that she was speaking to him and briefly looked between the two women, mustering a pleasant smile.
"Paerdon my manners. My name iz...Kaïte, yes...I am a bit new in town" he explained with the fakest of chuckles, only raising his voice enough to be heard over the noise. Though his disposition appeared to visibly warm, the ear that tilted nervously flicked with a jingle of its adornments before standing back up to attention. "Iz...hrm. Vehr iz here, anyvaè? Iz certainly cold" Kaïte couldn't help but ask, endlessly curious about where his exploits had led him. No doubt a question that came without the faintest hint of discretion, so casually pointing out being unprepared for the time of year displayed doubly by his (or her?) attire. A plain white v-neck tee, ink-black jean short shorts and white socks scrunched up at the brim of a pair of black and white converse. Classic and stylish with simplicity...assuming it was summer.
Certainly people get lost and just wander into towns, though not often into cities and definitely not into entire climate shifts.

Ardella seemed to study Ayla as she spoke, twirling the straw in her drink as she received a smile, which Ardella returned politely. She excused the waitress as she started to look around, causing the android to tilt her head a little, watching Ayla wander back towards Effie. Though Ayla never saw it, she smiled softly to herself - being dismissed as such reminded her of her early days with Mistress, before the woman had learned to love Ardella. Though her eyes went back to the drink and back to watching Ayla walk across the floor. She picked up the drink and pursed her lips. "Strange for an android to order a drink she does not need to drink. She must be trying to hide." She considered her next actions for a moment. "Best be polite," she added to herself before charging the woman's card to the drink, though she promptly emptied it and wiped the table down.

After tucking the cloth back into a pouch of hers, she glanced around. No one seemed to need her attention, plenty of the other staff taking care of customers. Instead, she looked back to the fellow android, the scholarly woman and the bunny creature. 'Ah!' she thought to herself and made herself upstairs quickly before coming back down with the stew and water. It was a good excuse as any to indulge the woman's questions anyways. Before long she was setting down the stew and water in front of Kaite, with a warm smile before slipping a piece of chocolate next to it. "Thought you may enjoy a little bit extra," she mentioned kindly before standing back up and smiling to Ayla and back to Effie. "Happens I have time now, if you wish miss."

Out of the corner his eye Garret saw a waitress coming his way, drink in hand. As soon as she was in range he snatched the booze out of her hands and took a sip. A fistful of coins and mumbled thanks sent the waitress on her way to service the other patrons. He got a few funny looks for his gruff actions but they turned away soon enough. That was the beauty of the nightlife; so long as you weren't bothering people, they didn't bother you. He was a frequent patron of the queen of hearts bar anyway, so the regulars and staff were mostly used to his antics. At least, he hoped so. Besides, there were often worse offenders.

Once again, Garret glanced around the pub. It was filling full of the usual people, as well as some strangers. He made note of them but they didn't seem too particular - college students and tourists, mostly. The music pounded away at his eardrums, even as the droning of the patrons of the bar steadily rose in volume. With all that being said, it was too quiet, although that probably the wrong word. Despite the noise it was a rather peaceful night. Besides Garret's outburst there hadn't been many incidents of note, and his had only been of note because he did it. It was by no means a slow night, but there wasn't much going on. No angry yelling, no heated discussions between shady figures in the corners. This was be a good thing for many people, but for those like Garret who lived off trouble, It was a rather unfortunate event.

Still, the night was young, and Garret hadn't yet finished his drink. He took another sip and wiped his mouth before glancing around the bar once more. He'd savor his drink before he left the bar for tonight. Maybe then he could find something to pay the rent.

---

Location: Queen of Hearts Bar

---

Nori put her elbows on the table and her head in her hands as she listened. Learning was her passion, and she loved hearing about Alex's passion. She didn't know much of anything about the snakes, and it was interesting to know their origin. Nori was also glad to know that he had magic, even if it was one spell. Just another thing to learn. Alex did a demonstration, but she couldn't get to her journal fast enough. She reached for it but was transfixed. It was a beautiful spell, one more showy than any of hers. Her magic just gave off a soft glow, nothing like this. Although, her breathlessness quickly left when the spell failed.

Norix bolted from her chair to his aid. She knew that when spells failed, it was a terribly unpleasant experience. It always made her sick, and sometimes it even burned her hands. She placed a gentle hand on his back and made him sit down. If he fell, that would be a mess.

"Sit, we don't want you passing out." Nori's eyes shifted to Zeke, who offered a dispel.

If this was his magic failing, Norix knew nothing would help. If anything, magic would make it worse.

"What happened?" Nori stood beside him, her hands at her side.

Dracons were not known for comfort. They did what had to do and then left the patient on their own. Even Norix simply guiding him to his seat was a stretch for her kind. She considered getting him a water or some broth, but she knew, from her own experience, that wouldn't help nausea.

Norix was worried for Alex. Failing a magic demonstration must be embarrassing along with sickening. She didn't do a good job hiding her worry, but she wasn't trying to. As a healer, this was her job. And he seemed so happy to show them his magic. In her mind, this was tragic. Like watching a dog trying to do a trick and then hurting itself. Nori was empathetic, this had happened to her many times in the past. Even watching it made her stomach churn. She didn't know what to do for him, she knew nothing would help.

Alex's breath started to normalize after a second, "I am fine. I am fine. I am not hurt, just something didn't feel right when I was doing my spell and I got startled. That is it, I just lost concentration and got startled, or startled and then lost concentration. When I do that, I am collecting the, um, I think you would know it as ki, life energy, from the room. Think of that if everyone and everything is living as a tree, and I can came by and pick up the fallen leaves and use them to cast my spells.

Normally, urgh, how do I describe. That green energy you saw, ki, is more warm and inviting, like it fills like river water in the spring washing over me. Well, as I was pulling in energy, I felt something different. It felt like sticky oil and it felt freezing cold. Well, not really freezing cold, but you know what I mean. And after that, as I was already losing focus, I felt a different type of energy. It was only there for less than a second, but it felt eerily familiar.

It is ancient Rutan magic, it might of been interacting weird with the ancient magicks that guard this place. I did a course on magic at school, and ancient magic isn't as refined as more modern magic, and it doesn't have the stuff that can prevent it from acting weird with other magic. That or. oh nevermind." he said, his face turning a bit grim because he didn't want to end by saying, "Oh by the way, there might fundamentally wrong with the people at this bar." By time he was finished sitting, he had sat down and looked like he was fine.

Satisfied with Alex's health, Norix sat back down. Her first thought was that there was a demon in the bar. Either that or a very skilled undead. She knew that the more powerful undead could appear as living. Things like liches, vampires, or banshees could appear as humans, and some could even be healed like one. Thankfully, she didn't learn that from experience. One of the older Siksta had encountered a vampire in her travels and had told the entire encampment about them. Demons, though, she knew nothing about them.

"Perhaps the spell failed?" Norix didn't want to think about the other option.

She didn't want there to be a demon or an undead in the building with her. The thought distracted her from the want to learn his spell. If there was something here, there would be nothing she could do.

Alya "Nez" Nunez

“Nez!” Effie exclaimed, her face filled with joy. She smiled at her. “Of course I’m here! When am I not?” She joked. Effie mentioned the embarrassment whilst talking to the waitress. “Nah, don’t worry about it. I noticed, but then again, I’m me. So there’s that.” She said, chuckling a little while Effie went on to speak about her essays. “Yeah, I noticed.” She said and looked shortly over to the waitress. It occurred to her that she didn’t know her name. Should she? She shrugged the thought off and redirected her attention back to the blonde across from her.

“Sorry, I’m rambling. I met this person just a few minutes ago. Sorry.” Nez raised an eyebrow at that. “You just said sorry. Twice. In the same sentence.” She replied. “Twice.” She repeated, this time with a small grin indicating she was messing with the woman.
“What is your name?” When Effie spoke, Nez looked at the humanoid who had sat down in the meantime. She noticed him, and heard his accent, but her attention was mostly on Effie – and the waitress for a bit -. “Nez.” She simply said when the humanoid, Kaïte, introduced himself. “Ayla, actually, but that’s just a formality. Call me Nez. Were in the Queen of Hearts bar. Been here only once or twice, so can’t tell you much about the place.” She could, actually. She could tell exactly what the temperature was, the denseness of the atmosphere, which roads to take to a certain place etcetera. The point was that she didn’t really want to. Kaïte seemed nice enough, but she didn’t really want yet another person to ask her enthusiastically how she possibly knew that. With Effie it was okay. Sure, she was excited, but she’d gotten to know her. More importantly, Effie accepted her ‘android-ness’. Ayla was never a sceptic – nor an optimist actually -, but right now, she wanted to be just plain old Nez.

She absently reached for the straw of her drink to stir it, but realised she had left it at the table. A little taking aback, she frowned and seemed a little lost in thought before being brought back to reality by the waitress’ voice. “Thought you may enjoy a little bit extra.” The woman said and Nez couldn’t hold back a tiny smile creeping up on the edges of her lips. “Good evening.” She said to her. “Again.”

@Camey @Lyla @Lumiere

Effie grinned happily at her, well she wasn't sure if Nez was quite a friend yet. Perhaps the closest organism to her since the disappearance of dear Professor Oblos. It was quite amusing, now that she thought about it, that the creature she had found the most fondness to happened to be synthetic. Nevertheless, she smiled at the android's jest. It was important for Effie to remind herself that Nez was in fact an automaton, she presented herself with such humanistic behaviours. Ef turned her attention back to Kaite as the creature introduced itself, in its strange and thick accent. "Nice to meet you, Kaite." She said after Nez kindly explained the locale they currently occupied. "I also have only been here a handful of times, although I can tell you that this is probably the best spot in the city for you to have accidentally popped up in!" Effie regarded the summery outfit, and was about to ask where in all of Aieth Kaite had come from. However, much to her excitement, the waitress had returned.

"Happens I have time now, if you wish miss."

Effie refrained from clapped in excitement. "Goodie! It is convenient that you come now, Nez if you don't mind I would love to hear from you as well.". Effie gathered up some notes and quickly removed a few of the chunky books from the table and into her knapsack, which she knew without a doubt would fit all of her readings as well as her personal belongings - such as clothes and toiletries. It had been a gift from Oblos on her 12th birthday, where he had acquired it he would never say. Effie picked up her quill that seemed to come alive in her hand, twitching and whirring back to life. The small thing was ready to do its masters bidding. "Alright, lets get started. A few simple questions. Before we start just know that if I ever get at all too personal you are free to pass or remain silent. So, tell me, how have you come to know most of the knowledge you have. Are you, perhaps, programmed to know these things or have you learnt them throughout your lifetimes. Is it a combination of the two? If it is the latter option, though, do you need constant programming to retain information gained?" She said it all breathlessly, grinning at the end and looking at her subjects expectantly.

@ineffably@Camey@Lyla

The woman who introduced herself as Ayla, though insisted on being called Nez, struck Kaïte as a bit strange. While he was willing to excuse her behavior as humans simply acting strange and being experts at hiding their intentions, the inconsistencies perplexed the homunculus. Her opening statement hinted to how she was always here, though to Kaïte, she claimed to have only been here once or twice. Kaïte knew no reason why Nez would lie to him, though he supposed humans didn't need any to obfuscate truths. They ran the world and their lies were inconsequential to the grand shadow they pulled over the land. Truly despicable, treating him like an imperceptive rube, though Kaïte couldn't fault Nez for their nature. She seemed nice enough, regardless. It just seemed like something insignificant, which only made Kaïte more curious about the establishment.

Nez's strangeness was countered by her associate's bubbly enthusiasm. It was certainly a change from what he knew, and had yet to cease from catching Kaïte off guard. Though he was unsure how he felt about her energy, she was certainly becoming a delight to be in proximity of. The homogenized perspective made Kaïte feel strange, briefly wondering if he was the strange one in all of this...which was very likely.
"Heh, iz certainly an accident. I do not suppose zeis vahz vehr I hoped to end up" Kaïte admitted with a chuckle tactfully planted to smoothly offer the impression of humor to his statement. His mind drifted, wondering where else he would rather be, or even what other places exist that would be more favorable than-

Kaïte's ears stood up straight, almost touching as he covered his mouth and nose with his hands upon the return of the waitress who set the water, chocolate and stew before him. In his shock and amazement by the steaming confection, his disbelief left him unsure what to do with it. It was a farcry from the gray protein and vitamin gruel served in the Triganavia labs, a testament to what food could be, and though it was not exactly like the picture on the menu, Kaïte was in no condition to object, worried that it would simply vanish if he blinked.
Eyes wide, Kaïte looked up to Ardella, managing to offer a "Iz eit?" as if assuming there was some sort of mistake. Back to the meal, he unfolded the napkin to retrieve the spoon and set to curiously stirring the contents of the bowl with mild apprehension.

Giving a gentle smile to Kaite and leaving the quiet creature to it's meal, she glanced for a moment towards Ayla. Again, the reminder occurred to her, picking up on the tiny smile and that particular tone. Suddenly Ardella could 'feel' herself blush slightly. It was something that had been programmed into her since her creation - those who had made her kind were very very particular in making sure each of their servants were as perfectly human as possible. At times she wondered what the purpose was compared to having human servants, though she had since surmised it was the advantages of having a tireless companion. Still, Ardella averted her eyes as soon as she knew she was blushing lightly and looked back to Effie.

Nodding as Effie started the questions, she patiently waited until they were all asked and gave another glance to her fellow android. "My knowledge base is a combination of programmed knowledge and learned knowledge. I am one of fifty Servant Combat Androids and therefore my primary function was always service and protection of any Master or Mistress I had chosen to follow." She paused, slightly hesitant to mention but continued anyways. "I do not require consistent connection to any server as my own memory banks are large enough to hold the knowledge of a full human adult. Which is rare, I understand, however my creation was extremely expensive and thus was afforded the latest in many technologies." Again, she pondered and then just smiled softly, keeping a very polite and formal position.

Garret, antisocial as ever, was decidedly not enjoying his time, though that was often the case. He was here today mostly out of habit, though he had to admit that the food was good as well as being reasonably priced. It was also relatively close to his apartment and was a pretty good place for business. That is, if there was any business around, which was not the case today. He wasn't really angry or annoyed, but he was a bit frustrated. But there wasn't much he could do about that.

The sour-faced man was suddenly taken out of his musings by a light bump on his back. Not an uncommon occurrence but one that required a specific response. Needless to say there were those who bumped into him on accident and those who didn't; people picking fights, and Garret would need to ascertain which was which. But as he turned his head, a steady stream of insults ready on the tip of his tongue, a few things clicked for him. The impact had been light, and the area affected was much shorter than he had expected. Very light, lighter even than he'd expect from one of the waitresses. His head completed its rotation and was met with a sight he hadn't expected. Horns, thin black and pointed. He shifted his gaze downwards and was met with a face much, much younger than he had expected. The insults died on his lips as he stared at the small thing. 'Demon' was the first word that popped into his head, but this kid didn't really fit the bill. He'd never seen one, but the word demon brought up images of horned, burly, hellish red-skinned beings with eyes the color of burning coals. Well, either that or really hot women. This kid was neither, but something about him seemed strange to Garret, even to his alcohol addled mind.

The cloaked man narrowed his eyes at the demon-looking child's line of questioning. Setting aside the horns and the ears, Garret was inclined to disliking children. It was something about their severe lack of reverence and inherent naivety that came from not knowing their place in the world, and this kid was ticking all the boxes. He seemed entirely unaware of the danger presented in the bar, as far as Garret knew, and that bothered him a lot, for various reasons. Still, as much as he hated children and other people, and as much as he'd do just about anything for money, but he had a heart. Twisted and black as it was, he wouldn't dole out punishments to those undeserving. Speaking of which, though, there was something the kid owed him.

Garret turned back to his drink, as if ignoring the demon child, taking the mug to his lips.
"Hey kid, seems like you don't know how things work around here." He said, taking a sip.
He wiped his mouth and looked back to the short aggressor. There was a clear contempt in his eyes, though it was not directed at the child himself - rather, it represented a certain dissatisfaction with the child's actions.
"An interrogation's all well and good but ain't there something you should be saying to me first?"
@vide

"Nez if you don't mind I would love to hear from you as well." Alya looked up at Effie’s ‘request’. She nodded, although her movement being a little stiff. She had absolutely no problem answering any question Effie had. In fact, she kinda liked it. Effie was genuinely interested in the workings of her - and other android’s - minds. Maybe it was because she herself was partly synthetic, but she doubted it. Effie was a kind woman and nothing like the general scum which asked inappropriate questions because they’re curious. Besides, it was for an essay, how could she say no? She wouldn’t consider Effie a great friend - she didn’t know her all too well, although she did know Alya was an android so she knew the one thing she generally leaves out in conversations -, but she wouldn’t let Effie down when it was important. And if she had to talk to someone about it, she was glad it was Effie that asked her. Even more so because Effie always asked nicely and kept saying that if any question was either too personal or troublesome, she was ‘free to pass or remain silent’ quoting Effie in her words.


Alya looked briefly at the waitress again, wondering who would speak first. Her eyes darted off briefly to Kaïte, who had looked at her somewhat strangely. It was no one’s fault, and she wasn’t going to blame Effie, but secretly she hoped Effie had remained quiet about Alya’s nature. Alya previous statement was busted, unless Kaïte somehow didn’t understand what Effie was saying, but he would know soon enough if she answered Effie’s questions. "I’m not exactly human." She said, turning her attention to the humanoid. It wasn’t a lie, but not the complete truth either. Luckily, the waitress diverted any attention Kaïte had on her when his food was set down on the table. 
When the waitress began speaking, Alya listened closely. What she had been afraid to ask in fear of sounding insensitive and rude, Effie had asked in enthusiasm. Her answer sounded like a rehearsed speech, the perfect combination of words to sound professional and thoughtfully. It was straight to the point. Alya briefly wondered if that too was due to programming. Adding various personalities to speech and dialogue would probably be expensive, and hard, unless the waitress was truly sentient. She hoped the waitress was. Heck, she hoped she herself was truly sentient. She didn’t think about it too much, but there were times she wondered if she was coded to feel truly sentient, or was in fact, truly sentient. It didn’t matter since she believed the latter, but encounters with other androids made her relive those thoughts.


"I am connected to servers." said Alya when the waitress was done talking. "Just not always. If I’m not, I only carry a limited amount of information, memories, with me. Just what is necessary. Going back to your question on knowledge, I do learn, but it’s mostly through downloads and updated code. Why bother trying to find out how to fix a computer if you can just download the information? Of course I also learn things through algorithms which are running in the background." It was strange, admitting that she wouldn’t bother with finding out how things worked herself. Mostly because she didn’t always wanted to be seen as an android, but as a human. For someone to say that they don’t act like humans do, could be considered weird. Still, in Alya’s mind it made sense. That she didn’t want to be seen as an android by others, didn’t mean she didn’t accept that she was an android herself. She fully accepted it. She loved learning things by downloading them, by scanning the environment, all that stuff. Loved winning games of chess by calculating the best moves to win. That was her fun. Not learning by experience, but using what she knew to do the things she loved. "Basically my subconscious" She added. "I wouldn’t even know what’s going on there, hidden away filed which I may never reach… Doesn’t mean I can’t experience things, just that I don’t learn much through experience itself. I learn things by downloads and code, and use them in a situation where it is needed. If I make a mistake, I will review what I did wrong, and learn better. Which is experience actually… In a way. Look, it’s complicated. Experience is a word that can be interpreted a million different ways - actually a set of 5 if you classify every one of them by the- anyways, getting of track here. Experience may not mean the same thing for you, as it means for me, basically. What I can tell you, is that I need to either delete information or update my memory banks if I want to store everything. You forget things, make place in your mind for other things. I can remember everything if I want to, but no one has that many storage and ‘RAM’ available. At least no one I know of. That means saving the important stuff, and deleting the stuff that is meaningless. Say for example, what color the booth is we are sitting on."

@Lyla@Camey@Lumiere

Ardella spoke first, and Effie's eyes widened when she mentioned that she had the ability to retain and learn in a sense that Effie noted as "natural". The concept was interesting to Effie, even her own network required regular maintenance to ensure that the information was up to date. A million other questions came to her mind, however Effie took a deep breath. Her quill flew over her notepad as she copied word for word Ardella's response. "How absolutely fascinating!" She stopped writing and looked down at the almost incoherent pages, to anyone else it may appear that she had just drawn scribbling lines across the page. Effie looked to Nez who began her own responses.

With furrowed brows Effie continued writing, contrasting the seemingly human intelligence that Ardella seemed to possess with the more technological systems under which Nez worked. Although it was quite systematic some elements of the androids computerization mimicked that of the human sub-conscience I wouldn’t even know what’s going on there, hidden away filed which I may never reach… Effie scribbled intensely then. What benefit would there be in including such humanistic behaviour's in robotic technology? What level of sentience did this synthetic creatures possess? It was an interesting question. Medicinal, psychological and physical benefits could be afford, Effie presumed. Replicating human emotions, diseases and conditions to enable scientists to study cures and treatments.

However Effie had a hard time imagining these creatures before her as un-human. She scribbled that down, next to the question "What is Human?". She would need to come up with a working definition during her reflection.

You forget things. Effie chuckled, the way Nez said it reminded her of something Oblos had said to her when she had first started training under him. "Do not forget, Effie, you will forget everything. It is the responsibility of a good philosopher to catalogue everything they discover. All the things you learn you will immediately write down, later you can reflect and revise. Soon, writing will become as natural as breathing." She smiled fondly at the memory, never pausing as she jotted down the automaton's words.

"Wow! Thank you ladies. This is a great first start. Now, these points bring around a few more questions, perhaps a bit trickier so take your time processing them." Effie scanned her notes quickly, the whirring of her eye intensified. "Now, Ardella, you mention the almost limitless potential of your knowledge and memory banks. Akin to that of a human adult. What level of, uh, sentience, do you presume you possess? That is, assuming we are thinking of "Humans" as solely moral creatures with the ability to learn and grow, how human are you?" She paused. "And for both of you, at what level do you believe your synthesis can aid humanity? Do you feel an obligation towards your creators and human's as a whole? Or do you feel independent in your wants, needs and desires.".

Ardella smiled amusing then and glanced to Ayla for a moment, flashing a cute smile. "I had a suspicion you may ask that question, at least in relation to my sentience." Still, despite her own apparent enjoyment of the conversation, she still kept unusually still for any human, hinting at perfect motor control of her body. "I presume I possess as much sentience as any human, though I also believe is much different as I am quite synthetic. While a human is born with genes and biological programming, so to speak, mine is far more rigid in many cases. Essentially my primary functions and base programming is akin to a human's base personality, however everything built up from that is my own experience, my own emotions, and my own thoughts." There was a subtle shine, even in her cybernetic eyes as she smiled just slightly more. "So, going onto the second question, my wants and desires are both of my independent wants combined with my base programming - so while I was made to serve, it also gives me a lot of joy to do so. Though combat is less enjoyable for the action, for me. Rather, I enjoy it because I like protecting others."

Taking a moment to pause, she slowly bit her lip, showing first the first time a more causal and human habit than her normal formal and polite aura. "In fact, I've even developed a preference in my Master, at least that I'd much rather a female one to serve. I have also discovered or developed some other habits as well, from simple experience I've had with my previous Mistress." Glancing to Ayla, she blushed slightly and bowed her head. "Apologizes however, I did not mean to overshadow. I think that's all I'll say for now so miss Nez may also reply." Even on her behalf, despite knowing much of how Ayla seemed to 'function,' Ardella was clearly treating the fellow android simply as another sentient being, giving her the same respect as she was anyone else.