As Adrian got to work reinstalling the apps on Emma's phone, her fingers hovered over the keyboard. After not typing anything for half a minute, she said, “...I don't know what to ask it.”
“Why not continue where you left off?”
“I can't think of anything.”
Adrian hummed. “That's alright. No need to force it.”
A short time later, Emma noticed text appearing on the open document. “I think it wants you.” she said.
When Adrian looked, Raven had asked her if he'd returned. When he texted that he had, Raven replied, “Is Emma Also A Friend Of Adrian Ritter?”
“She's family...but I'd say yes.”
“This One Is Pleased.”
“Why's that?” Emma asked.
Instead of answering Emma directly, Adrian texted to Raven, “Can you tell Emma why that is?”
“This One And Adrian Ritter Were Unsure How Others Would React To Artificial Intelligence Such As This One.”
“And you don't seem concerned so, that's a plus to me.” Adrian added.
“Why would I be concerned?”
Adrian shrugged. “Like Raven said, we weren't sure.” When Emma didn't respond, Adrian got back to work reinstalling the damaged apps. When she attempted to type something up, he glanced over and noticed that the question was something he and Raven had already discussed.
“Can I ask it what it would do if someone tried to take it from you?” Emma then asked.
Adrian, for a moment, considered saying no. That was something he hadn't considered, and when Emma asked, Raven said much the same. “Actually, now that I think about it,” Adrian said a bit later, “given what Raven is, no one can take him from me.”
“Really? Why?”
“Our fourth amendment, in the Bill of Rights. No unlawful searches and seizures of a person or their property, and my phone and computer, the only places Raven can be, are my property.”
“Oh.” Emma then replied to Raven, who asked for a more detailed explanation.
When Adrian noticed, he took over the keyboard and answered in as much detail as he could.
“This One Understands,” Raven texted once he was done.
Adrian nodded in response. “I'm almost done with those apps,” he then said to Emma. To his surprise, she didn't say anything more to Raven, even once her phone was back in her hands. “We need to write these passwords down too, then we'll be done.”
Over the following ten minutes, they did just that, hunting down the e-mail records and any strange words nearby. When everything was done, Adrian urged Raven back into his phone, though not before Emma sent him one more message, saying thanks for the help.
To Adrian's relief, Emma didn't bring Raven up to her father, instead being glad she could watch videos again. A while later, Adrian made his way outside, and a distance away from the house.
“Is Emma the kind of person you were hoping for?” he asked aloud.
“This One Found Her Introduction A Surprise.” Raven replied.
“Yeah. That was her being curious; I told her about you just before she texted you.”
“Her Reaction Before That Was Favorable?”
“I think so.”
“Then This One Is Satisfied.”
Adrian felt the same, and for the next half hour, he spent some time recording video with commentary for Raven. Later that night, he and his brother, father, uncle and grandfather made their plans for the visit to the gun range.
“The range is extremely loud, frequently,” Adrian later texted to Raven. “Will that be an issue?”
“This One Is Not Sure.”
“Then, if it turns out to be, are you able to lower the microphone's sensitivity?”
“Yes. This One Can Do So.”
“Alright. I'll let you know when we're there.”

December 21st, 2016

It was nearing noon the next day when they arrived at the range. Once Raven was informed, Adrian got out of the truck, gathered his gun cases, and followed his father to the sign in building. Already he recognized the sound of several calibers being fired, none yet loud enough to warrant wearing muffs.
Inside the building, Adrian's attention went immediately to the submachinegun he'd told his grandfather about. “That's gonna chew through ammo,” his father said.
“Yeah, but it should have select fire options.” Adrian replied. Shortly after, the rest of his family entered the building, his grandfather the only one who was carrying one weapon.
Before long, they had the SMG registered, along with a few hundred rounds of ammo and two spare magazines. His grandfather handled it first, looking down the sights after a few seconds. He then said “Merry early Christmas” before handing it over. Adrian's uncle grinned widely when it was in his hands, his father not as much. When it was his turn to hold it, all Adrian could think about was how accurate could he be for a full mag on full auto.
The first period of ceasefire came soon after the five of them had picked a pair of ranges to fire from. When Adrian checked his phone, there was a text from Raven stating it had lowered the microphone's intensity.
“Do you want me to get some pictures and video for you?”
“This One Desires To See What Is Making So Much Noise.”
“That's not us, yet.” Adrian then pocketed his phone and helped his brother hang the first pair of paper targets. When they returned, he warned Raven that it was about to get loud again and then got his pistol ready. The ceasefire lifted soon after, and the five of them took turns firing every weapon they brought, aside from the Dragunov and MP5.
“Anyone want to try some best of three with the AR?” Adrian's uncle asked during the next ceasefire. He got unanimous agreement, though Adrian's father was quick to argue that ten yards was too close. “I can tell the twenty-five yards ranges are mostly free. Let's take one.”
“...Let's do fifty,” Ben replied.
“Either one, we'd have to hurry. Let's just wait for the next ceasefire.” Adrian's father said.
Adrian's uncle shrugged. “Alright. Why don't we try out the SMG until then.” He got the same unanimous agreement, and then Adrian and Ben got to work loading the magazines. They finished just as the ceasefire was lifted, and their grandfather had the honors of the first magazine.
He set it to full auto and racked the first round. “This shouldn't be too bad, I don't think,” he said before pulling the trigger and a quarter of the magazine was emptied downrange. Adrian meanwhile chuckled at the noise of surprise and enjoyment his grandfather made, and pulled his phone out to record what was left of the magazine being fired.
“I didn't hit squat, did I.” his grandfather said.
“No, you did. I think. You had to.”
His grandfather chuckled. “Spray and pray never fails.”
By then, the rest of his family were chuckling, and his grandfather soon emptied the magazine. His father was next, then his uncle, both he got on video. At the next ceasefire call, the paper target was recovered and replaced; Adrian got a picture of it while the older adults debated which holes were made by who and by what.
Ben got his chance next, his accuracy being tested by the SMG's recoil, then Adrian had his chance. After handing his phone over to his father to handle the video recording, he examined the weapon for a moment, racked the first round, aimed, then pressed the trigger. He heard four rounds fire, he thought, then lined up for another burst. After four bursts in total, the magazine was empty, leaving the barrel smoking.
“Not bad,” his grandfather said. “I saw at least seven new holes get punched.”
“We've still got over a hundred rounds left. One more for each of us?”
His grandfather nodded. “And as fast as you can dump them this time.”
At that, Adrian ejected the magazine and with his brother and uncle working the other two, got the three magazines refilled quickly. His grandfather went first again, and he scored a lucky clump of rounds that tore off a bottom corner of the paper target. When his father tried again, he kept most of the rounds in the center, his uncle around the bottom right. His brother seemed to want to shoot for the head of the target, but lowered his aim after consideration. He left the target hanging by its right side.
“Think you can finish it off?” his father asked as he moved the phone to get the paper target in the shot.
“Probably.” Adrian said. He had some idea how much the SMG would kick, but there was a lot to punch through. He took a lengthy breath after racking the first round, then aimed and fired. The magazine was spent in seconds, and at least three hit the area he wanted, but in the end, the target survived by the slimmest of threads.
“Aw, so close,” his father said, but as Adrian was ejecting the magazine from the SMG, a gust of wind came along and ripped off the bottom half of the target, sending it sliding along the grass.
“Spoke too soon, son,” his grandfather said.
“Yeah. At least we got it on camera.”
Once Adrian got his phone back in his hands and stopped the recording, a text from Raven popped up. “Is This One Able To Speak?”
“Not just yet.” Adrian replied after making sure none of his family had their attention on him.
While he was wondering why Raven would ask that, the AI followed up with, “This One Desires To Be Part Of Activity Adrian Ritter Is Showing.”
“I don't know how I can make that happen.” Adrian texted after his father asked him what he wanted to do next.
“This One Can Attempt Idea?” Raven replied after Adrian's grandfather said he'd return the SMG.
“What's your idea?”
“This One Discovered Code For Allowance Of Real-Time Use Of Camera. This One Desires To Know If Use Of Code Will Allow This One To See In Real-Time.”
“Through what?”
“This One Requires Use Of Calling System To Attempt Idea.”
Calling system? When he realized what that meant, Adrian thought things through. Allowing Raven to access his phone's calling anytime it wanted...but then, the AI had never shown hints of going behind his back, and he had to approve a call before the face-to-face option would work.
“Adrian, mind walking with me?” his grandfather asked. “I'll let you carry the gun.”
Seeing the opportunity to test Raven's idea with few eyes on them, Adrian agreed to accompany his grandfather, then gave Raven to go ahead, after telling it to update him only by text, and once his ring volume was muted. Shortly after they stepped away from the range, Adrian felt his phone shake; on the caller ID was 'Unknown Caller', which changed to A.I. Raven before he answered the call.
“That was a fun trial I think,” his grandfather said as Adrian moved the phone down to his side.
“Yeah, it was. Thanks Grandpa.”
“Of course. We should do this again next year. Maybe they'll have something in forty-five caliber by then.”
Adrian snuck a glance at the screen of his phone before he replied; he didn't see the usual video feed from a face-to-face call. “Like a Thompson?”
“Oh, yeah. That would be fun.”
Adrian felt his hand shake a few moments later. Raven had texted him. “This One Cannot See But Can Hear.”
With both of his hands full, and his grandfather so close, Adrian waited to reply until the SMG was out of his hands and being inspected by one of the range staff; his grandfather had to handle the return. He quickly spotted the option to turn the face-to-face on, and enabled it.
He was met with a video feed that showed nothing but a black screen. Raven texted him moments later. “This One Can Now See.”
“Are you using the front facing camera?” Adrian replied.
“This One Can Use Any Camera. This One Currently Sees Adrian Ritter's Face.”
“That's the one,” Adrian texted after a quick nod. He then glanced towards his grandfather, who was finishing the paperwork. “We're about to go back to the range. It will get loud again.”
“This One Will Adjust Microphone As Needed.”
Adrian held his phone down as his grandfather walked away from the desk. “Done. Let's get back to things.” On the way back, Adrian asked Raven to switch which camera it was using. Once it confirmed it had, he aimed his phone towards the range, getting a wide sweep of it.
The rest of his family in the meantime had gotten the AR out; since the head of the target was spared, they were taking shots at it. Adrian did his best to get an angle of his father taking some shots, avoiding doing the same with his brother and uncle who went immediately after.
“We've got a lot of rounds left,” his father said when the next ceasefire was called. “Should we move to a fifty yard range?” He got unanimous agreement, and the five moved to another lane, with just enough time to hang a new target.
“We should test something,” Adrian said to Raven as his father loaded a new magazine. When the AI asked what, he answered, “If recording with the camera while using this stops the call, or you from using the camera.”
“This One Believes It Will Not. This One Has Not Observed Device Stopping Functions When Adrian Ritter Is Making A Call.”
“For normal calls, sure. I've never used Face-To-Face before.”
“Then This One Will Inform If Call Is Disconnected Or Camera Use Is Denied.”
At that, Adrian got his camera app open. At first, he didn't notice anything off, but to be certain, he started recording.
“Think you can hit that from here, Dad?” Adrian asked as his father loaded the magazine, his phone's rear camera pointed at his AR.
“Sure. Just need to aim a tad high.”
While he waited for his father to get in his shots, no texts came from Raven. The final video wasn't lacking in quality either. A good sign.
The next half-hour passed with more competition between the five, first with the AR, then the Dragunov on the hundred yard ranges. One by one, they each took five shots down range, the best three hits being their score; Adrian went last, and handed the phone to his uncle to record the attempts.
Kinda wish Ave Maria was playing right now. Adrian remarked to himself as he steadied his aim. By that point, he'd taken two shots, and undershot both. He took a breath, and then glanced at the wind flags in the distance. They were pointing his way, and barely being lifted. He adjusted his aim up a bit, then squeezed the trigger.
“Through the head. Nice shot, son.” his father said. His grandfather patted his shoulder soon after.
Adrian said thanks, then made the same distance checks, waiting for the wind to calm before shooting again. The second time, thanks to a sudden breeze, his shot drifted right, staying just inside the head target.
“One more. You might tie me,” his grandfather said.
Hope so. Adrian took another breath, his pulse racing with the last shot on his mind. He checked the wind sock again. It was blowing the same direction as before. He adjusted his aim slightly to the left, took a breath, then squeezed the trigger.
“Headshot. Dead center.” his father said, lowering his binoculars afterward.
“Since when did you become such a marksman?” his uncle asked.
Adrian shrugged, and ejected the magazine from the rifle. “Good intuition, I guess.”
“No way. That's from practice. Has to be.”
Adrian just gave a chuckle, and took his phone back from his uncle. He stopped the recording, and soon after, the five agreed to wrap things up, get some lunch, and head back home. Before long, Raven texted him, commenting that it was unable to see what was going on in clear detail. Adrian texted back that he was saving the target, and that he could show it what happened.
From then, Adrian kept Raven's call going as long as he could, sneaking looks and texting the AI when he didn't have eyes on him. At one point during lunch, he caught a glimpse of his father with a questioning look, but brushed it aside after thinking about it. Back at home, he arranged the phone to have a good angle on his work cleaning his AR, and later the Dragunov.
“If you can afford some ammo for this,” his grandfather said as the barrel was cleaned, “I'd like to see how well you do at two hundred yards, maybe further.”
“Just because?”
“Mostly. My best was five hundred yards with this. Maybe you can do it too.”
“I'd be surprised if I did.” Adrian said as he ran the last cleaning swab through the barrel. The rifle was put back together shortly after, then returned to its case.

==============================

After helping his cousin get her phone running again, Adrian goes with his family to a local gun range, and assists Raven again.

Raven's Voice Lines / 3 = https://1drv.ms/f/c/0cc1a5ef5f1d85e.....SvPvw?e=EgH1Na