Leo had been staring at the computer screen, listening to music that he knew stimulated his brain, but was getting frustrated. He hadn't "done anything" in a little while, and he was getting antsy. He had to keep his mind and skills in shape.

But what? What could he do? What was there to do?

He then sighed, and was about to consider logging off, when he noticed that Lunet had messaged him. Twice.

And both her messages caused him to raise an eyebrow.

".........hm." he mumbled.

All right, you've got my attention, AND my interest. he messaged her.

When do you want to talk about this, and where? he asked her further.

Leo read the messages, and leaned back in his chair a little.

".....hmmmm." he mumbled.

It's 7ish there, yeah? he sent, looking at the clock on his computer.

Nakia's sound asleep, and I just got off duty about an hour ago. he sent further.

I can get there now, or we can wait until it's daylight over there. Your choice. he added.

He then paused, and pondered what she had said.

"Wonder what sort of collab she's thinking..."

See you in a few. she received from him.

She then saw his status turn to 'offline', which meant he'd stepped away from the computer.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. She made her way over and opened it, revealing the man in question, with a cloth shopping back in one hand, some things obviously in it.

"Hey." he said.

"I'm here." he announced with a chuckle.

"Where d'you wanna talk?" he asked.

"Ah, not necessary." Leo replied.

"I actually brought drinks." he told her.

"Some of that fizzy juice you liked the last time, and some others things." he went on.

"I know you don't get them often." he chuckled.

"So I thought I'd be nice."

"...hell of a question right off the bat." Leo mumbled.

"Hmmm." he muttered, as they reached the den and sat down on the couch, with Leo putting the bag between them.

"Go ahead and rummage." he told her. "There's drinks, snacks, and sweets in there." he said.

"But the most complex tech I've ever built..." he then said further, thinking about it.

"Ah!" he said, snapping his fingers.

"...oh." he mumbled, seemingly realising something.

"I... well, I can't go into any detail, because... well, it was a government contract... but suffice to say say I built the housing and guts for an advanced AI that was meant to simulate EXTREMELY complex scenarios."

"...an android?" Leo asked after a pause.

"....hmmm." he mumbled.

"I've... never actually tried." he said. "Huh. I have... never actually tried." he realised and vocalised.

"I mean, I've built casings or 'bodies' that stood sill and housed AI's... I've built little robots that could walk and such..." he went on.

"In theory, I should be able to combine those into a fully functioning android shell." he postulated.

"Why?" he asked.

"You want to collab and make one together?"

Leo was silent... but she saw the glint in his eyes.

"Iiiiiiiinteresting." he said, drawing out the word.

"I've never tried something like that before." he told her. "...as I just said." he mumbled.

"Let's give 'er a shot!" he declared.

"If nothing else, this will be one hell of a learning experience." he then reasoned.

"Hmmm, I see." Leo replied.

"That's fair enough, I suppose." he said.

"Where do you want the majority of the work to be done?" he asked her.

"Do you want it done here? Probably not. My place, or one of my work areas in Egypt? Probably won't be good for you to deal with time zones." he mumbled. "Does Cain have the room for it?" he asked her.

"Or should we rent a place to specifically in this city where we can work on it?"

Leo nodded.

"Well, hopefully soon you'll be able to get your own freelance without needing to go through me." he told her. "Or, rather, hopefully my referrals will come to full fruition soon, and your name will spread based on that, but then eventually your work will speak for itself, and the fact that you've been referred by me in the past will turn into the proverbial feather-in-your-cap." he reasoned.

"But anyway, you know this city better than I do." he then said.

"I'll leave it up to you to find a place that you know you'll be able to get to, has enough space, and is somewhere your father won't know about, or don't go near for whatever reason." he told her.

"Price is not a factor, so don't let that colour your judgement." he then insisted. "I'll cover the costs for it." he said.

"If you can't find one, we'll think of something else."

"Email me the deets when you have them." Leo told her.

"Beyond that, I'll start getting some general tools and such together." he went on.

"Make sure I have a 'kit' made up, essentially." he chuckled.

"But yeah, when you find a place, lemme know, and I'll make sure to rent it out." he continued, before pausing.

"This is project that'll probably take a while..." he then mumbled.

"Make sure there's no time limitations for the place you find."