Marco's choices were to continue denying that this was actually happening, or suck it up and let himself suspend enough disbelief so that he could actually function. And he had to admit: tiny skateboarding holographic AI? Pretty cool.

At the same time, certain keywords from Theta popped out more than others. Agent. Field. Energy shield. 'Implanted'?? He stared at Theta's actions in fascination, resisting the urge to stick out a finger and poke the hologram. Except he might not be able to reach that high.

"Dude, you call that talkative? I'd call that totally sweet. Though it's kinda weird that he sounds like, you know, a little kid? Especially in like, battles and stuff. Can't you program him to sound more like, I dunno, a robot or something? Like the voices the AI always have in video games and movies or whatever."