12-07-2025, 04:50 PM
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.”
“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.”