"Can we talk about something else?" Throughout their conversation the robot had begun pacing more and more, agitation prominent in his gait. Light had been pestering him about the intricacies of his programming for the past twenty minutes and he was losing patience. Being prodded like a circus animal didn't seem to amuse the AI very much, especially since Light was asking the most bare bones questions he could come up with. The final straw had been when Light had jokingly asked if his interface was programmed using Unity 3D.
"Do you have any other interests beside my programming?" The mechanical voice questioned, raising slightly with annoyance. Light had ceased speaking when he heard the sharp intake of breath coming from L, his mouth closed as he realized he had gone on another tangent. This was at least the third time this week that L had his patience spent by the human. He also didn't find Light's jokes very funny.
"I apologize, I got caught up in my thoughts. I hope I didn't offend you." Light conceded, slightly embarrassed.
L stopped pacing, nodding curtly and turning his attention to the window. Through the glass a small ecosystem of evergreen wildlife was visible, the light from above tinted green as it bathed the room. L rolled his head to gaze back at the man across the room, eyes blank and body relaxed. "Do you enjoy the outdoors?"
Light thought for a moment letting his eyes wander in the same direction as Ls. He never had fond memories of camping or hiking. He never had time for those activities when he was younger, so he never bothered. Forests and parks were always too dirty and held too many bugs for his liking anyways.
"No, not particularly. I played sports in school, but that's about it." If sports were all the android wanted to know about then he would gladly teach him tennis or fencing, but he honestly couldn't tell him much about hunting or camping. He could probably grab some pictures off the internet of some forests though, if that would entertain him. "I mean I went hiking once for a class field trip, but that's it."
L seemed genuinely interested, nodding curtly. "Did you like it?"
Light laughed, remembering that he was covered in bug bites by the time he got back. His legs had been sore for a few days and he had ruined his good tennis shoes by stepping in some puddles. "It was alright."
"You are lying again, was it really that bad?" Light scoffed and nodded, wondering how he knew he was lying. He would ask but L would probably snap at him again. "It wasn't a pleasurable experience, too many mosquitos."
L nodded, not fully understanding why he disliked bugs, L himself found them interesting and not in the least bit annoying. Then again he had never seen one in real life before. He knew the facility was engulfed in some kind of forest, which one he was unsure. Aiber had been smart enough not to give him the ability to connect to the internet, he was blacked out from any kind of information not given to him through the books Aiber brought him.
"If I succeed, will you take me to a forest?" Light was taken aback, but smiled and replied.
"Of course."
"Is there any chance of this being the final model?" Light asked over lunch, he wasn't big on pasta, but the soup Wedy had served tasted alright. They were seated on the balcony overlooking the expanse of trees that covered the grounds. It was chilly out, the sky a pale grey as the temperature steadily dropped, the soup was the only thing keeping Light from complaining about the cold.
"Don't tell me you care about this? I thought you were just here to do your security fixes?" Aiber laughed, looking up from his glass. He had noticed over the past week that Light had stopped drinking, it would be laughable for him to act like he wasn't invested.
"For a matter of fact, yes, I do. I came here to do my work but then you gave me something interesting. So, is this the last model?"
Aiber set down his glass and leaned forward. "Well, kid, it depends. Do you think this is the last model?"
Light glared at the man, how could he possibly know whether or not this was the last model? He had been thrust into this project with little to no information on the other prototypes. Aiber had been keeping as much about this projects past hidden as he could.
"You're kidding me right?" Aiber shook his head, continuing as he shoved a spoonful of soup into his mouth.
"You're the one talking to that thing, kid. It won't so much as look at me when I go in there. Think it resents me, don't really blame it for that. But it likes you, so you have to make that call. Is it worthy enough to pass?"
"I don't know, you've told me nothing about the past models or what this thing is even for. I doubt that you just want to make some cute little test tube AI that can pass for a real person. Why did you really make him?" Light had abandoned his food at this point, crossing his arms as the wind picked up. This was an awful place for outdoor meals, he couldn't understand how Aiber could stand this weather. Aiber grinned, obviously amused with where this was going.
"See I knew you weren't a complete idiot, you have some analytics in you. But that really is what I have going on here. I want to create life out of steel, is that so hard to believe?" Light shook his head furiously.
"Yeah, it kind of is!" Aiber let out a breathy sigh and leaned back, relaxing in his chair.
"Your involvement in this is temporary as it stands, I would like to offer you a permanent position. You're an interesting kid, I like you. But I won't have you questioning my motives without good reason. I have been honest with you from day one, this is nothing more than my own pet project to keep me occupied, Light. I have nothing else to do with my time that's worth my while, you know? So why don't you accept my honesty for what it is?" Light continued to glare uneasily at Aiber, he didn't believe him for one minute. There was no way that this was some low key pet project.
"Why then? Why not donate your time and intellect to something that matters?" Light questioned, desperately trying to poke holes in Aiber's story. He would take any kind of slip up he could get.
"Because why would I waste my time with some big suit fuckers who probably have my criminal record. They'd turn me in, and to think about it they'd probably do it with pleasure." Light nodded, remembering that Aiber had a shady past, something involving con jobs.
"What kind of record? You mentioned meeting Wedy because of them, tell me more."
Aiber let out a hearty laugh and grinned. "Sure kid, if it'll ease your conscious and stop this bullshit." He took a swig and continued, wiping his palm over his mouth.
"I told you that I understood the whole stress drinking thing, I know I did. I only know because I spent my childhood with an alcoholic father and a missing mother. I didn't go to college, my dad was too poor to fund my education, I also couldn't land a steady job because in my little town no one wanted the oddball slacker who could work a computer but didn't know a thing about cars or machinery. They wanted manual laborers, and when I finally caved in and took a shitty construction position, well it didn't really put a meal on the table, let alone a college education.
"So, I bailed, left town with four hundred euros and moved to Luxembourg, some nice little country outside of France. Didn't mention it to my dad, just left and didn't look back. I tried to find better work there, no luck, all I found was a low paying bartender position. But little did I know that was the best job of my life. I learned a lot, how to mix drinks, how to talk to a lady, how to hold my liquor, and most importantly, how to scam shitbags out of their wallets.
"It was great, believe me, it lasted about nine months too, just enough time to build up a reputation and some dough. I was doing great, making bank by breaking into suburbs on the weekends and serving martinis during the week. I fucked up though, I had built up a reasonable amount of money from pickpocketing, low key robberies and genuine barkeeping, but I was sloppy on a home invasion, the family was supposed to be out of town for a few weeks but they came back for some reason. They saw me bolt and called the police, gave them my description and suddenly I was a wanted man. I was never arrested, the police never did much there anyways, but they had my face plastered on the news for a while, so I ran away from Luxembourg too. I hit Belgium next, and that's where I stayed for a while. It's another odd country, right on the ocean. It always smelled like smoke and I hated it, that place was too quiet so I knew I had to get out sooner or later, I guess I was just-."
"Jesus Christ, Aiber, just give me a lay down of your record, not your fucking memoir!" Light snapped, his eyes narrowed with annoyance. Listening to this drunk go on for the next three hours was not his plan for the night. He just wanted answers, he needed to know whether L was the last model or not, he could care less about Aiber's shitty childhood.
"Alright kid, calm it." Aiber sighed and twirled his had in a circular fashion while resuming. "Yada-yada-yada I got out, okay. I was stressed and pissed and poor. I didn't know shit about where I was going so I drank hard, did some drugs I shouldn't have, and stole a lot more than you'd think I could get away with. For such a peaceful country it sure as hell hid some nice underground action. I got caught up with some drug dealers and they threatened to blow my brains out if I didn't pay them. So Wedy and I bailed, moved out here, made some nice investment with the money we saved. I'd probably be arrested or killed if anyone knew where I was, so hiding seemed like the only option." Light scoffed and stood, setting down his glass and pushing in his chair. "But the best part of it was when my investments paid off, I made some deals with some local contractors, real hush hush business. Now I got this beauty of a place and I can pursue my real hobby while the stocks pay the bills."
"We both know I don't believe a single word that just came out of your mouth."
"Of course you don't."
And as the wind picked up Light realized that nothing he had been told since he got here was true.