Colin's posts

"One moment." Hal said.

"Money? Paypal?" he asked.

"I know you, Lunet." he said to his daughter.

"Odds are what you paid Leonard was no small amount." he commented.

"Where have you been getting money?" he asked her.

"And how much do you HAVE?" he asked further.

"Because, while I give you an allowance, there's no way you saved up enough to pay for the components that you used to make Chloe." he reasoned.

Leo just rolled his eyes.

"I told her she didn't have to pay me-" he said to Hal, who just cut him off.

"I know." Hal responded.

"It's just how she is." he added.

Leo then sighed.

"Farewell for now, then." he said.

With that, he disappeared in a swirl of sand, and Hal looked at Lunet once more.

"You are a brilliant troublemaker." he told her.

"....yes." Hal responded.

"Yes, that would be greatly appreciated." he told her.

He then sighed, and handed the tablet back to Lunet.

"Thank you." he said.

"And Leonard, you may go." he told Leo.

"All right." Leo responded.

"Thank you." he said further.

"Lunet, I'll talk to you later." he then said to Lunet.

Hal accepted the tablet, and started to navigate.

And was silent for almost 5 minutes.

"My word..." he said.

"This is... incredible." he commented.

"The site is much more fluid and comprehensive... and it's easy to see where everything is... it loads MUCH better..." he went on.

"I didn't realise the site could have been THIS good." he then said, before pausing.

"...what has my team been doing all this time...?" he suddenly wondered aloud, suspicion and irritation in his tone.

"Ah." Hal responded.

"That makes sense." he said.

"Thank you." he said to her.

"Lunet is certainly gifted in coding, I'll say THAT much." Leo commented.

"That means a lot, coming from you." Hal told him in response.

"Heh." Leo chuckled.

"But yeah, she's really outdone herself with Chloe here." he added, gesturing to the new addition.

"Indeed." Hal said.

"That is a succinct and accurate definition of the phrase." he agreed.

"At any rate..." he went on, trailing off at the end.

"The cat may be out of the bag, but let's see what it has to say for itself." he commented, looking at Lunet.

"What does THAT mean?" Chloe asked.

"Nothing." Leo interjected, answering her question. "That was just Mr. Sharp stating that Miss Lunet still hasn't answered his question." he added.

Hal raised an eyebrow when he heard this.

"Oh?" he asked.

"A redesign of the mana based website as well?" he asked her, quoting Chloe.

"Interesting." he said.

"Seems you've been quite the busy little beaver." he commented further.

"Care to share this information more deeply?" he asked his daughter.

"...or shall I ask Chloe for more info instead?" he then inquired with a small smirk.

Hal shook his head.

"You'd be best off with Lunet." he told her.

"She'd get you past security a lot easier." he reasoned.

He then looked at Lunet.

"Base personality. What do you mean?" he asked.

"And would it be... ethical... to forcibly inject a personality into her?" he asked further.

Again, Hal sighed.

"Unfortunately, that question is a conundrum in and of itself." he told her.

"There's nothing you can actively do to change this." he said.

"You'll have to learn it gradually, organically, naturally." he went on.

"If that makes ANY sense at all..." he muttered, shaking his head a little.

"Yeah, we predicted this would be more than a little awkward." Leo said to Hal.

"...well, I did, at least." he added.

Hal just sighed again.

"It's part of the Uncanny Valley." he said.

"You look human, but act... just not enough like a human, for there to be a weird disconnect in the average person's mind." Leo explained to her.

"..." he was then silent for a moment, before smacking his forehead.

"Lunet, she's connected to the internet, yeah?" he asked Lunet.

"She is, yes." Lunet replied.

"Then Chloe, just do an internet search for the Uncanny Valley Phenomenon." Leo told Chloe.

Hal just smirked wryly.

"Well, that settles it." he said.

"I'll see to it she has proper accommodations and such, tomorrow." he told them.

"Lunet, you bring her by in the afternoon." he told her.

"We'll finish everything up then." he reasoned.

"..." he was then silent, before sighing.

"It'll be far less awkward when you develop a personality all your own." he then told Chloe.

"That IS a very good question." Hal responded.

"It depends." he said.

"I'd ask if she has a preference, but I think we all know she doesn't." he commented.

"And if she's going to deal with Unit security and such, it might be best if she stays AT the Unit." he reasoned.

"That does make sense." Leo admitted.

"Do you have a weigh-in on this?" Hal then asked Lunet.

Once they were in the den, they were all sitting down.

"Now, what is it?" Leo asked.

"Lunet brought up an interesting point." Hal responded. "If some technical assistance were needed for Chloe, it would best be done at the Unit, but having her come in to do so may bring questions about from my tech team." he went on.

"...yes, I can see various issues with that." Leo sighed.

"So. We'll instead say that Chloe was all you, and that you'll be coming in to do fixes. And Lunet will be shadowing you for experience." Hal went on.

"Ah! I see!" Leo responded.

"So it won't be questioned, and we can blow their minds when the time comes, saying it was Lunet all along." he added.

Hal just chuckled.

"How about that, Lunet?" he asked his daughter.

Hal just sighed.

"....REALLY don't like that term." he muttered.

"Nobody should have to use that term to address another." he mumbled further.

"...." Leo was just silent, and sighed as well.

"I'm sure she'll stop." he said.

Hal just turned to Chloe.

"Please do not refer to me as such." he told her.

"Just 'Sir' is fine. Or 'Mr. Sharp'."