Paris moved through the hall of the second floor with carefully placed, quiet footsteps, and an inherent fear of what was probably in every room of the mansion.  Machinery.  Computers, air conditioners, TVs, you name it!  She was certain no one else shared her wisdom of the dangers of technology, and as such, she was going to have to put up with being wary around a few rooms.  And god forbid anyone had a phone, but she shook that thought away.  It lingered, but she ignored it.

The study.  It had to be safe, right?  No one had technology in a study.  Maybe a computer, but...she could just unplug it.  Even if someone was using it, better to be safe than sorry.  She would be sure to lecture them on what she learned in her books.  Then they would understand, and maybe they would thank her...As she pushed the door open though, she found something arguably just as concerning.  Two others, speaking to each other in the room.  Something in her head flashed warning signs and told her to leave, go back to the Library or somewhere quiet, but...She had to face this fear head on if she wanted to make friends.


"A-ah, you two...Hitoshi...and, um, Leo.  Right?" she asked, peeking her head in just a bit.  The study was, to her liking, devoid of anything dangerous.  Like the library, it was just books and chairs.  The chandelier...well, it wasn't dangerous.  The mansion definitely didn't have a lawsuit in mind, so they probably took measures to make everything safe.  She shrunk into her hoodie a bit more, looked toward the window, and continued.  "May I, um...come in?"

Leo quickly looked up when he heard the door open. The therapist, if he remembered correctly, which was probably the only one out of everyone he actually paid attention to. He wasn't good with names anyways, it wasn't like he would remember the names so why waste time listening when he could be studying that delicious piece of programming. Oh right, because of friends. He needed those. And that why he signed up for this thing in the first place.

"Oh yeah, I'm... I'm totally fine." Leo outright lied, but then again, he was never okay. Get rid of the therapist.  He'll try to get rid of me, like the rest of 'em.  Leo bit his lower lip and silently disagreed. It was going to be alright. They just met, he didn't know what was going on anyways. It wasn't long before a second person came in and Leonardo took in a deep breath. Three wasn't a crowd, so it was alright. Three was cozy.

"Yeah, my name is Leonardo DeLuca. I hack things." As not quite the smooth talker as Nolen was, he sounded much less confident than he had during the introductions. "Paris and... Hitoshi. Forgive me if I get your names wrong. I'm not good with names." It was easier as the seconds ticked by to speak, it just took a bit of time for him to get used to situations. Social was not his strong suit. "It's nice to meet... both of you. Uhm... what are you doing here.... if you don't mind me asking?" Leo was the nicer of the two people in his brain, and while he was not confident in many areas, he tried at least, and that was what counted.  Right?

The two seemed quite different yet similar at the same time. Both seemed shy at least a little, yet one hated technology and the others talent revolved around it. "It's nice to meet you two as well" He smiled, obviously the confident one out of the three of them. "I was just looking around, for a quiet - ish place to work...You know, for relaxing a such. Studies always have a strange appeal too. Like...In a lot of stories they hide some kinda secret! I guess curiousity is the answer!"

Why did he come here, he had to think a while. "Well...I came here because helping people is what I love to do. In anyway possible...Though my talent may make that obvious. Ah ha..." He paused in thought, smiling softly as he followed the gaze out the window. "Helping people makes me feel accomplished...Plus, it's great to experience new things right? But...I'd consider the view a pleasant bonus" Her sudden change to look at a book made him chuckle lightly under his breath, mentally commenting on how cute it seemed. Not that he'd say it out loud.

"I, actually...came for the same reason, Leo." she admitted, lowering her head even further. Was that too much to say? Too little? Either way, she had to think for a moment. Leo didn't seem bad, and he was quiet enough where they could stay at a friendly, yet unassuming distance...but she couldn't trust him for his title. Hackers played with fire, and she couldn't condone that. Computers were serious business, and all they could bring was trouble. She shook the thought away, once more. It seemed she had to do that a lot more, recently.

The Therapist, Hitoshi, was a different story. She had to say, he seemed friendly. Kind. The kind of person who wouldn't be inclined to attack her. He wasn't supposed to tell anyone anything about others, right? That's not quite how therapists worked with friends, but...Perhaps they could become good friends. It certainly helped that he seemed interested in stories. A kindred spirit was always welcome in the Wonderful World of Paris. As she daydreamed, she didn't notice as she subconsciously picked up the book, and began to flip through it. The Divine Comedy. She frowned at it as her mental fog cleared and she saw what it was. Yes, maybe trusting someone was...the biggest joke of them all. Maybe her whole reason for coming was. But she knew she had to at least try.

Turning her head, she caught Hitoshi staring at her with a smile on his face. Her face lit up red, and she found something else to look at quickly. Leo. Looking perturbed. Well, maybe he was a bit unwell. Anyone who messed with those demon machines had to have a death wish or a degree of insanity. She made a mental note to ask him about it later.

"Ah, Hitoshi...that's a noble reason. You...seem like a very good person." she said simply. "And Leo, I guess...maybe a lot of people came here for that reason.

The last time you had friends, Leo, they wanted to get rid of me.  You don't want that, do you?  Really?  You want me, right?  To help you when you can't deal anymore?  Why do you need anyone else besides me?  I'm here to protect you.  I've done things for you.  I will never stop protecting you from other people.  Do you not appreciate me?

It was incredibly hard to simply focus on the task at hand while Nolen gave him the same lecture he had many times before.  Anyone who wanted to be his friend had ended up trying to change him, trying to help him, when he was perfectly fine the way he was, even if he had a problem with Nolen sometimes, like now.  But he was right, Leo knew Nolen was right, friends never worked out in the past.  He'd grown up with a man who claimed he was helping him by taking him away from his home.  By insisting on compliance.  But he couldn't blame the man for everything, Leo told himself.  Yes you can.  Otherwise he wouldn't have started hacking in the first place.  Well, that's true.  And it was during that time Nolen first came about.  True too.  Hacking was the only thing that took his mind off of life, built a bridge between him and Nolen, almost as if while hacking they were working as one mind, it was so refreshing, so nice, so... amazing. 

But no, Nolen wasn't enough.  Well, thanks for that vote of confidence.  Leo wanted more.  He wanted to be kind.  He wanted to help people.  He wanted to see people smile.  Why?  He wanted to... be somebody important, truly important, not because of his talent.  But because of who he was.  He didn't want hacking to define who he was.  I still don't see why.  Hacking is power.  If you wanted, you could launch nuclear missiles to anywhere you wanted, hack into the defenses to make sure they hit.  Any time.  Why wouldn't you want people to fear you for the power.  Leo ignored Nolen when he got like that.  As much as he could at least.

"Yeah," Leo said nervously looking up at the books.  He wondered if there really could be as secret passage behind the bookcases.  "Do you... want to check?"  They could just pull every book from the shelf, or look for books that were different. 

His head was pounding, and his hands felt clammy, but he couldn't show that.  He just needed to find a computer.  That's all.  Then he'd be fine.  Or even just a panel, he could use that.  His mind was stuck on the AI, wondering what sort of protection it had to his programming, what he could do.  Whether or not it would be a good puzzle to solve or not.  But he could tell, from the way at least Hitoshi was looking at him, he might not be doing a great job at hiding it.  "Maybe... we could be friends?"  Leo winced at his own question.  Oh look at the genius, making friends with another therapist and a pipsqueak librarian.  "I mean... er..."  He stumbled over his words, trying to find the right ones and not sound like a complete moron.  You always do, Leo.  Well, that as nice.  "I-I dunno, I mean... get to know each other... and uh..." Use your words.  Right.  "We could hang out sometime.  The three of us."  No more than three, Leo told himself.  Four was a crowd. 

Glancing the bookshelf up and down, he analysed it slightly. There seemed to be quite a few books and files, surely it'd cause a huge pile if they emptied out the entire thing, but it seemed pretty tempting to do regardless. He considered what Paris had said, thinking it shouldn't be against the rules exactly if they moved the books...So long as they put them back afterwards. Maybe there would be a laptop there, who knows, there was most likely one somewhere is they bothered to go hunt down AI again...Maybe that was better saved for an adventure for just himself and Leo to do, it was obviously too much for Paris to do. He had a fond smile as he thought of it, then looking back to the shelf. "It's worth a look, huh? I mean...If anything, we mind find a few interesting new titles to read!" He chuckled a bit.

The idea of hanging out with these two seemed appealing, he was slightly relieved that Leo of all of them had suggested it, having assumed he'd be the most uncomfortable. Both of these two were here to make friends, he was glad they were starting with him. "I think hanging out together would be pretty cool! Just us three for now...Then yeah, add more people later on, once we're well acquainted...? It'd be a good plan I think...If that's okay with you two that is" He smiles nervously at his own suggestion, looking in-between them, swapping his gaze between each person before going to pick up a few books from the bookshelf. He could read how comfortable both seemed to be, but the opportunity to form a little group was something he couldn't quickly turn down.