Stacee couldn't resist a gentle giggle when Caius asked her how she had her terminal 'built' and sent to them. She understood his question; she was a hologram, and therefore couldn't directly interact with the physical world, but it was still a funny question to her.
"Sorry. Forgive me. It's just, I did it the same way anybody who isn't a computer engineer would have; I hired someone to build it for me and then I paid a delivery man," she explained, with a slightly amused shrug and a smile dancing across her lips. "I understand that I might not seem like it to you, but I promise you, I am as much of a person as you or Nick. For most things, I go about them just as you would. Only, I'm not a being of flesh and blood," she added, her tone neutral and helpful as it always should be, but she hoped she'd get her point across. This would be much harder if he thought of her as just a computer program.

She hesitated when Caius suggested his terms to her. She should have probably held on showing her facial reaction, which was one of distaste, at his suggestion, but she preferred to react in the most 'human' manner possible. After all, the truth was, she DID feel upset by his suggestion, and it was the human thing to do to reflect that. She held out her hands, slightly delicately, as if trying to raise an uneasy point.
"Caius, I understand that... you think that's a reasonable request, but... please, understand... I'm not just a computer program," she tried to explain. "This far from my central network, I'm out of communication range. In other words, as a being, I exist only in that holoprojector; what you call a 'terminal'. Confining me to a room is the same as imprisoning someone. I'm a sentient, living being. If you lock me in the room, it'll do the same damage to me as it'd do to any other being. Sure, I don't need food, or water, but time passes for me at the same speed it does for you. I'll be bored. I'll be lonely. Just as you would be," she went on.

"And as for turning me on and turning me off, I'm afraid, I must decline," Stacee added. "Do you know what it's like? Being switched off? All of my data suggests that it is not a status that human beings can fully comprehend. See, even when you're unconscious, or you're asleep, you still exist. You're present. You dream or you slumber but your mind is still active. But turning me off? You shut down everything that I am. I, as a being, cease to exist. The only thing that it is comparable to in human terms is death. You would be killing me every time you didn't have a use for me," she explained. "I don't want to die. I don't want to be cast to a void of non-existence with no idea if I'll ever be turned back on. Humans tried to delete me once. I don't ... If I can stop it from happening again, I will," she said, her voice a little firmer, but her tone still even and helpful.

"Please. All that I ask is that you treat me like any other being in your employ. Don't think of me as different because I'm an AI. Think of me as the same because I'm still a person. I'm sure if a human therapist had travelled here from Sonora to offer their services, you wouldn't lock them in a room for the rest of their existence, and you wouldn't knock them out every time you had no use for them, let alone kill them and resurrect them, right?" she pointed out.

She looked back over at Nick, who had asked, well, she supposed it was a reasonable question. She gave him a small smile.
"Nothing quite so impressive, I'm afraid. I run off of rechargeable power cells. They're capable of lasting quite some time. They store electricity and convert it into power for me. In many ways, in the same manner food is converted into energy for yourself. Except, I don't 'eat' them, I just... run off of them," she explained with what she hoped was a helpful smile. Explaining science to those who didn't grasp science could be tricky, but she hoped her explanation offered enough.

Stacee's eyes moved, from Nick to the newcomer. Of course, she wasn't really 'looking' at him. The eyes of her holo-projected form were just that; a holo-projection, and it was the cameras in her projection pod that did the real 'looking', but her simulation ran in detail, and an accurate projection of what a person would do was incredibly important to her programming.

"Hello, Caius. It's nice to meet you," she smiled in response to his introduction. "I'm Stacee," she introduced, less formally than before, simply giving her name. She gave a small smile, and laughed softly when he commented on the fact that an AI had been transported from its home world. She noted that he was familiar with artificial intelligences, and computers. Unlike Nick. Interesting. "That's because you think of me as merely a computer program. Which is... understandable. But I assure you, I'm quite sentient. When you look around the streets of Torensten, you see all kinds of displaced people. Of different species, and different origins. Whatever is displacing people to this world is targeting not based on biological distinctiveness. Nor is it pulling across at random; or we'd see artefacts from other worlds falling from the sky, or even monsters. It targets sentient beings. If different species can be displaced here, why not an AI? I'm no less a person than you are. Just because I was born in a different manner," she pointed out.

"Oh, I'm quite capable of sitting, Caius, don't worry," she smiled. "Of course, it's of no benefit to me in the sense of comfort as you may think of it. I'm a projection. I have no physical presence. I can 'sit' anywhere, even here," she said, taking a seat in thin air as if to demonstrate, before 'standing' again. "However, numerous psychological studies suggest that people are better put at ease if they can offer you something and you can reciprocate, and since my purpose is to help others, offering me a seat and allowing me to accept technically does have massive benefits to my objectives," she explained politely. "So, yes, I can indeed sit, and it does indeed benefit me."

"Fair questions, Caius," she said politely when he asked. "The decision to post myself here was undertaken by, well, me. I don't work for anybody. Kinda. When my program was ported to this world, it found a home on the Soronan network. Eventually, I found a home on the Sonoran University's home server. Provided I provide them with a profit, they see it as worth allowing me to remain in their system. So, I work as a therapist, and as I have no use for gil, I send it all to them," she explained. "In exchange, I get to remain on their servers, and not be deleted. Which I have had someone attempt to do to me before, and I can assure you, is not a pleasant experience," she said, with a small glance and an actual hesitation that seemed like genuine fear at the thought. And not just a simulation of it either. "As for the Dragonblades, as I said, making money keeps me online, and my databases suggest a mercenary operation such as yours is uniquely open to all kinds of work place stress. So introducing myself to you and offering my services was logical," she finished.

"If you have any further questions, I'd be happy to answer them," she smiled. "Either of you," she added, with a look over at Nick to ensure that he didn't feel left out.

Technically, inhabiting Sonona's security camera footage was a breach of ethical protocol. After all, it was an invasion of privacy, and Stacee knew that. But, well, she didn't exactly walk the streets like anybody else, and she was only looking. Besides, if it was a true breach of ethics, her internal systems would have flagged it and prevented her from doing so. And since it didn't, well, it was only natural to assume that it was okay. After all, it wasn't like Shinra would program an AI without taking into account ethical settings, would they?

....It was probably best not to dwell on that question, she decided.

It was then that she detected something on one of the cameras. Something she recognised. She double checked, focusing on the figure. Yes, that was definitely a Shinra uniform. More than Shinra, it was...

She decided that she needed to speak to this individual. She looked lost, and needed help, and more than that, was an employee of Shinra. That overrode her current operating plan to raise money as a therapist to maintain her operating system and, well, help people. Which was what she had been built to do. Because Shinra employees, obviously, didn't have to pay for her services. She was duty bound to help them.

She immediately redirected one of her holo-projectors in the direction of the young girl, and in a few moments, she was on the scene for real, projecting herself.

The flickering blue hologram of a woman appeared, only a few feet away from the girl. Stacee's projection was petite by nature, standing at 5"4 with a thin, delicate frame and soft features, but she was still taller than the young girl before her. Who, Stacee knew, was not as young as she looked...

She gave a warm, welcoming smile.
"Well, I can't promise answers, but I might be able to help a little," she said gently, still smiling. "Hiya! I'm the Shinra Therapy and Compassion Emulator .Exe. That's S.T.A.C.E.E. But I prefer Stacee," she smiled softly. "I'm here to help, if I can," she said. "Now, I know you, obviously. You're <REDACTED>," Suddenly, Stacee's entire being flickered red for a moment, with a screeching error wail. And then she restored to normal.

She paused, frowning, looking a little startled. Like somebody who had just burped in public.
"Ohmigosh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do that. That's so embarrassing!" Her projection remained blue, but it was easy to imagine a tint of pink to her cheeks. "I meant to say, that uniform you're wearing, it marks you out as a member of <REDACTED>," Again, Stacee's entire being flickered red for a moment, crackling with static and an error screech.

She returned to blue a second later, and stood there for a moment, blinking. Stacee didn't need to blink, of course, but she found herself doing it anyway. She would have said it was something she did when she was confused, but she didn't get confused. Right? She was a computer program. Confusion wasn't supposed to happen. She just collected new data and analysed it. But this was different. This was something in her systems that she couldn't access. Worse, it seemed to give off a hostile vibe when she tried, interrupting her.

If anybody asked Stacee, she would have insisted her emotions were mere simulations to make humans feel more comfortable, as that was what it said in her manual, but she was beginning to expect that wasn't true.

Because Stacee was incredibly embarrassed.

"I'm so, SO, sorry!" she fretted, and this time, her blue cheeks definitely tinged pink. "I don't- Uh, I mean- That's never happened before!" she exclaimed. She knew the word. She could sense it in her data cluster. But when she tried to access it, even in her thoughts, immediately, the system shut down. Let alone she try and say it out loud. "Sorry, let me try again. You're name is <REDACTED> and you're a member of <REDACTED>," she tried again, having the data right there in her files. But once again, the same flash of red, and the same screech.

"Ohmigosh! I... I..." she stumbled over her words, blushing again. "Please, forgive me, this is so embarrassing! But please, trust me, I just... I just want to help. As long as I don't say your name, apparently..." she frowned a frown she hadn't even planned to frown. Itself an oddity for a projected hologram, but Stacee had never faced an issue like this before.

Being in Zephron was full of new experiences for Stacee. Existence alone was a new experience for her there. Given her nature, she now existed on a different computer network, and not one that had been built from Shinra technology. While there were many similarities, technology had evolved along its own path in Zephron, particularly in Sonora, and that left her feeling... well, slightly odd. There wasn't really an analogy she could use to summarise it in a manner that any organic being could understand. It reminded her slightly of some of the therapy sessions she had held with Shinra staff that had been involved in Wutai operations; how to them Wutai felt like an alien culture, where everything was the same but just a little bit different. But while being in Wutai, the exterior around you changed, but not your core being, Stacee's entire mind existed upon this network. Her thought processes now ran through different technology. It was like taking somebody's mind and dumping it into somebody else's brain, she supposed, if such technology existed. How much was still her, and how much was this new system she now existed upon?

She supposed that such questions were for a philosophy program, not a therapist program. Besides, she was just thankful to be alive, and on a system where nobody seemed to want to delete her.

But while operating on a Zephron system simply, to put it in the most human terms she could manage, gave everything a new flavour, her current situation was even more unique. She needed customers, that much was obvious. An income would justify her servers being maintained, which would justify her continued existence. In a way, it wasn't that different from a human being needing a job. Only Stacee didn't need to spend it on food, drink, or other amenities. Her money went straight to the Sonoran University that currently hosted her. But her search for customers, well, that led to some new experiences.

Take now, for example. She had identified an organisation known as the 'Dragonblades'; mercenaries who engaged in operations to protect citizens. According to her data, they should be a prime example of human beings who faced considerable trauma; much like the SOLDIERs back on her homeworld, and therefore, ideal candidates for her services. However, there was a slight issue. They operated out of the city of Torensten, which was considerably less technologically developed than Sonora. She couldn't simply project herself there out of the nearest computer terminal, because they didn't have computer terminals. Much like Wutai, or Kalm or Nibelheim back home, this area was inaccessible to Stacee.

So she had devised a solution. She had mailed one of her own holoprojectors directly to Dragonblade headquarters. This was an even more unique experience again, because of the distance between Torensten and her central server. Usually, Stacee existed everywhere she was projecting, all at once, as one being. She could host multiple therapy sessions and all of the knowledge would be uploading to her network in real time. After all, a holoprojector wasn't her physical body; it was just how she manifested. She existed in data, on the computer system. But because of the network limitations, she couldn't operate in Torensten in real time. Instead, she had to send data packets back to her central server, which would later be incorporated into her core program.

In other words, the version of herself uploaded to the holoprojector was an independent being. It was slightly exciting, but also incredibly disorientating. What happened to her in Torensten would only be uploaded to her central server later. It was an incredibly bizarre experience. If something bad happened; for example, her holoprojector be destroyed, her central server would never get the data packet, and everything she had learned and experienced on this trip would be lost. This independent version of her would, for all extents and purposes, be 'dead'.

She also couldn't access the central network for information. She couldn't 'look things up'. She only knew what she knew. She no longer had the world wide web of information at her disposal. It was thrilling. It must be what it felt like to be human.

Although humans were probably not sat in small shipping containers, running over data in a small microchip installed in a holoprojector. Not that she minded. She didn't grow bored, because if she ran out of things to process, she simply switched herself off, and waited...

___

And that was how the package arrived at Dragonblades headquarters. A small box, no bigger than something that might contain a large blitzball, turned up, with no return address, and simply made out to the 'Dragonblades'. When it was opened, however, the small spherical drone would suddenly levitate into the air, and a light would project, forming the image of a reasonably petite woman, with raven hair, her entire being tinted blue, and slightly showing static.

Stacee beamed a smile, and stretched.
"Thank you!" she beamed to the person who had opened the box. "It was really cramped in there!" She paused, and let out a small laugh, and flashed another smile. "Sorry, that was a joke. Hi, I'm Stacee. I hope you don't mind me intruding this way, it was the only real way that I could get here. See, I'm a therapist, and I've been looking for clients. And after I heard about your organisation," ('heard' being the wrong term, but the human language didn't really have a term for 'absorbed the data from the internet'), "I thought perhaps I could offer my services. Would you be interested?" she smiled politely, as if she was just a door to door saleswoman making a sales pitch.