Sara's eyes were only for NATili. "She is alive?" she asked as she watched the sprite go through its motions.
"No," the man told her. "Though she might fool you a few times. She has much more potential than other AIs right now — that I know of anyway. And that is likely to change soon."
"And you called her a guardian program?" she asked.
"For now, yes. She's not autonomous enough to crack ICE or utilized exploits. I mean she can do a great deal but she still does not have volition. She does not begin on her own. She still operates from a list of instructions. Here, let me show you."
Then the man clicked on the command pad with the mouse, turning on the microphone. "NATili? Ready to start your day?"
"Yes, I am ready," NATili said through the laptop speakers.
"We are in a library. See if you can locate WiFi and gain access to the Internet. Then explore and see what you can find," he instructed the program.
NATili's sprite did a somersault and then vanished leaving behind a star that would spin periodically.