For a while after realizing both AIs had left, Adrian stayed in his room, keeping quiet while doing whatever he could think of to pick his mood back up. A few videos, and some more of the book he'd started, did most of the work, the rest he handled by reminding himself of everything he and Raven and Grey had discussed. Allthewhile, he never unplugged the ethernet cable from his desktop, allowing it instead to go into Sleep mode.
Seven p.m. had passed by the time he left his room. Though he wasn't looking forward to the questions he felt his family would ask him when he made himself visible, the skipping of dinner was catching up to him.
After another check of his face in the bathroom, he let in and out one more breath, then headed for the kitchen. In the living room, his grandparents saw him first, then his father; since dinner, the rest of his family had begun watching a movie, the dialogue from which he recognized.
“What happened son?” his father asked.
Adrian exhaled before answering. “They're both gone.”
“You're sure?” his grandfather asked.
“Yeah.”
“...Might be for the best. Given how that other AI was talking.”
It sounded justified to me.
“I'm guessing Raven at least thanked you for keeping an eye on it.” Adrian's father then said.
A touch of surprise welled in Adrian's chest at that question. “He did, yeah. The other one too.”
His father nodded. “Then, that sounds like a fair parting statement.”
“Your food is in the fridge, if you're still hungry,” his mother said.
“Alright. Thanks.” The movie resumed playing as he found his plate, and set it up for reheating. The first pop from the ham heating up made him stop the microwave, and his first bite of the warm meat worked to open up his still tight stomach.
As the movie continued playing, Adrian began to imagine his phone, with Raven still inside, set up nearby, the device angled just so to allow the AI to view the TV. Like they had done days ago with his aunt, uncle and Emma around. The mental image made him pause eating to hold back the feelings in his throat.
Once he finished, he took a minute to glance outside. When his attention fell on one of the external security cameras, he was again reminded of Raven. Of what the AI had done, and prevented that night. The memory drew a small smile before Adrian retired to his room again.
He spent the rest of his awake time reading, and wondering what the AI was up to, wherever it had gone. Imagining Raven discovering who created it, how it would react to the knowledge, stayed in his mind the longest. The opposite, imagining Raven being trapped by someone who just wanted to use it...
Even though his doubts were still there, Adrian forced himself to stop thinking about that.

December 29th, 2016

He woke the next morning to a much calmer mind, though one still with lingering questions. When his phone was in his hands a minute later, he avoided looking at the text messages, and watched another gaming video to ensure his mood stayed high.
It held through breakfast, which he was thankful wasn't full of questions from his family about the AIs.
“So, aside from the New Years Eve fireworks, does anyone have ideas for things we can do?” his mother asked.
No one answered, and Adrian shrugged. “I think we've done quite a lot in one week.”
“Then, how about we spend today and get the decorations down? Shouldn't take more than...two hours.” The suggestion won out, and plans were set for noon.
His grandparents got the job of taking the ornaments off the tree; the last time Adrian counted, there were over seventy, most of them his grandparents had made themselves. He and Ben meanwhile got two different sets of jobs. He would help with the outside lights and decorations, while Ben helped with everything else inside.
A part of him suspected his old man was trying to keep him and Ben apart for a while. If it was true, he was thankful for it.
“I'll spot you while you pull the other lights down,” his father said as he got the tools they needed from the garage.
The first set of lights to come down were the ones stapled above the porch. After getting the ladder into position, Adrian adjusted his sunglasses and climbed up a few rungs. The first staple came out after a bit of tugging, his arm needing a sudden stop right after. One by one, he got the rest out, letting the magnet on the ladder hold them instead of his father.
The pillars on the porch were next to have lights removed. As he and his father worked, Adrian spotted and pulled a few that were burnt out. Before long, the coil of lights was eight thick, and along with the extension cords, ready to be put up.
It was as they did so that, for some reason, Adrian pictured Raven flying around, free from the desktop and his phone, and the drone as well. He made sure his father wasn't looking before making any gestures that indicated his mind was briefly on something else.
The outside decorations, most of which were painted signs or figures held in place with wooden stakes, were easier to take care of. A single good pull got most of them out of the ground, the stiff, cold dirt helping a bit. The last parts to get put up were the remaining spotlights and extension cords running through the yard and flowerbeds.
“Done. And in just over an hour,” his father said as they laid the painted signs and figures in a corner of the garage.
“Think Mom and Ben are done?”
“Maybe, but we can relax for a minute.”
Adrian nodded in agreement, though now with a free minute, he imagined flying the drone some more. Flying it into the garage, out again, above the house and around the area. The most they'd had so far today was a light northern breeze.
“I'll help get the tubs into the attic once they're done,” Adrian said, as if to distract himself. The two that had been filled, he and his father carried into the house a short while later. By then, the rest of the family were on the last legs of their respective jobs.
Adrian joined his grandparents for a minute, as they were putting up the last five ornaments. One of them was a painted wooden figure, one of a pair. As his mother had told him, one was him and the other his brother, both painted shortly after they were born.
“Checking on us?” his grandmother asked.
“Kinda...you need the angel down?”
“If you can reach it.”
“One second.” Adrian then got the short ladder from the utility room, and slipped the final ornament off the tree's tip.
As he handed it over to his grandmother, his grandfather said, “This is holding up really nicely.”
“Yeah. Mom takes good care of it.”
“...I should make another one of these someday.”
“If we can find the right pieces,” Adrian's grandmother replied. “The mail ordering took quite some time.”
“They have to still exist, somewhere.”
“Maybe,” Adrian said. “Or, would an existing doll work?”
His grandfather chuckled. “If the plastic is good. The new stuff these dolls would be made out of? Junk. Barely last ten years, if that.”
“And this is over fifty,” his grandmother added.
At that, Adrian once again imagined Raven nearby, possibly on the couch nearby, ready to chime in with a comment or similar remark. The idea didn't poke him as much as before, though he still faked a yawn to hide the signs of distraction.
Once all the holiday decorations were in their bins, four of them were hauled into the attic. Adrian took the middle rung, putting him between his father at the top, and his brother on the ground. “Last one,” he said before his father took it.
“Until Easter that is,” his father remarked as he found the spot for the last bin. As he came down, he noticed the clock in the room, the hands pointing to 1:37. “Let's get some lunch.”
Before he did so, Adrian made sure the batteries for the drone were charged, then plugged in his phone to charge for a while. Lunch passed with suggestions going around for what to do that night, Adrian mentioning he was going to get in as much time with the drone as he could before nightfall.
“Mind if we watch for a few minutes?” his grandfather asked. “We haven't seen it in action yet.”
“Yeah, sure.”
Minutes later, Adrian had the drone ready to take off from the patio table. As it started up, the whirring of the blades became a nice hum against how quiet it was otherwise.
“Oh, it hovers in place?” his grandfather asked.
“Yep, so long as I keep the left stick steady.”
“How fast can it climb, do you think?”
“I dunno.” Adrian then inched the stick upwards, speeding up the rotors until the stick was all the way up. “A few feet a second, looks like.”
From there, his grandparents asked a handful more questions, with Adrian showing them how fast the drone could fly before they made their way back inside. Now by himself, and with 83% battery left already, he made his way down the driveway before resuming the flight. He kept the drone up high, and steered left and right to follow a made-up racetrack with the throttle stick a good ways forward. Only once did he have to pull up higher to avoid something, the realization that he almost trashed his tech that easily causing a sudden shot of adrenaline.
As it wore off, Adrian piloted the drone back towards the house at half speed, then lowered the drone until it was at chest level. When his attention moved to the controller, to the view from the drone, Raven's 'voice' played in his head.
This One Desired To Imitate Adrian Ritter's Technique.
The feeling Adrian got from that was the opposite of what it had been up to now. How did you do that, Raven? I should've asked...oh well. I'll figure it out.
He thought back to how he'd done the circle strafe maneuver in first-person shooters, then moved each stick one at a time. If the left stick rotates the drone... Adrian lowered the drone to knee height, then nudged the right stick forward. As it inched ahead, he added a leftward nudge on the stick, and the drone began to drift that direction.
He then nudged the left stick to the right, and the drone began to rotate. Despite how slow the rotation was, and how wide the turn was, how the drone moved was Adrian's proof that he'd figured out the basics. A smile emerged on his face as he again thought of Raven, and how fast of a learner it had been. Shame you're not here to see this, buddy. Or as a teacher.
For a while after, Adrian made attempts at improving the maneuver with the drone at waist height. Having the controls that he knew from a mouse and keyboard reversed on the controller made attempting the maneuver on a dime feel like suddenly flying left-handed.
Eventually, the battery was below 10%, and began automatically flying back to the table where it took off from. Adrian stopped it before the house got in the way and landed it, shutting it off shortly afterwards to switch the battery.
Once the drone was high up again, and Adrian made sure he was clear in all directions, he faced the camera halfway downward, and began his next attempt with the left stick first. The drone drifted right for a few seconds before he nudged the right stick up and then left again. At such a height, he couldn't clearly tell how sharp of a turn he was taking, though as he paid attention to the street and trees below, he started to notice what would tighten or widen the turn. When he felt satisfied, Adrian got the drone back to ground level. The battery charge had fallen to 53% by then.
Inside, the rest of his family were doing their own things, leaving him to return to his room. Once the batteries were in the charging stand, he woke up his desktop, intent on playing something for a while.
The desktop screen was the same as he left it the night before; no changes to the open text document had been made. And as he began to pick out a game, some of Raven's words came back to mind. How unwelcoming one of the digital worlds felt, its statements about making a “face” for itself, and others.
I shared a lot with him while he was here... Again Adrian fought back what the memories were pulling up. For all he knew, Raven had long since learned who made it, and was enjoying the knowledge and its new environment.
Eventually, he settled on the first game he played with Raven present, but didn't start it right away. Instead, he gave the text document Raven had opened to inform him about Grey, the same one that had concluded with his words to the AI before it left, one more look.
When he felt satisfied, Adrian navigated the mouse to the Save icon, and saved the document in his desktop's C: root as “A.I. Raven and Grey”. He then closed the page, let out a small exhale, and got back to booting up the game.