Alicia 2.0 retracted her hand, a hint of mechanical clicks were heard as she did so. She watched as Graham made use of sign language and her systems immediately hunted the databases.<em>Was this the right Graham she was assigned to?</em>He did fit the descriptions in the files. If machines could feel confused, Alicia probably felt it in that moment.<em>He was definitely the man she was tasked to, had to be.</em><br/><br/>With a resigned look, she moved towards the only table in the center of the room and sat, gesturing for Jude to follow suit. She knew from experience how restless humans could get if they were made to stand for long. For her ‘subject’ she didn’t want that, she needed him to remain calm and composed in order for her plan to work. The guard on the other hand, didn’t concern her much. A glance towards the gun holding him hostage told her that he wasn’t going to do anything his partner had done.<br/><br/><em>They learn fast</em>– another entry in her database.<br/><br/><strong>“Jude, I understand your job was probably to ‘observe me’, which you have to admit seems like quite a tedious job to do. Did you not question how dull it was? To watch something everyone else has already seen? To just stare. Stare! Stare and stare!”</strong>her voice rose with each word as if trying to make him see how things from her perspective.<em>Did it work?</em><br/><br/><em>Invoke empathy</em>– the message flashed behind her deep set eyes,<strong>“Like a show piece, a circus act”</strong>she leaned forward then, hands clasped tightly, knuckles cracking and with a hint of a smirk breathed out,<strong>“aren’t you a little curious to know <em>why</em> you are here?” </strong>She stressed on the 'why', it was important he understood the gravity of the question.<br/>