Troy woke up groggily. He was made to blink his eyes several times before he had a prospect of seeing out of them. Tears were wiped away with the back of hand along with it. Looking at the clock, the man was dismayed to find that his body still remembered his circadian rhythm, even with the amount of push it had received only a few hours ago. He could not have slept more than a couple of hours now.

Was it even five in total? Troy tried to count it but found his mind unwilling to comply. Getting the message clearly, he fell back into the comfortable cushiness of his bed. It was warm, just the perfect temperature to snuggle up to it, and fall asleep again soundly.

…

Troy did not fall asleep. His body was a mess. It demanded sleep but refused to support him in his struggles to satisfy it. An all-out war, fully contained within his physical vessel. Could Troy even dare to call it his body? He clearly had no control over it, the flesh only adhering to the wishes of its own. It would not be long before he was but a mind without a body, only able to see the world from an outside perspective. A damned existence.

'Your increased heart-rate tells me that you are awake. Either that or I am currently saving you from very lethal heart disease.`

Speaking of the devil. That tone filled with an absolute void made Troy want to cringe. He did not of course. That would have taken too much work out of his body. It still owned him. The conformists of the bedding were giving it power.

“Hole in one. I am awake.”

That did not stop Troy’s mouth from also acting on its own. Sarcasm so early in the day could not be good for any sane mind. Then again, he was talking directly to the voice in his head, who was mentioning a specific form of cardiovascular problems. Taking himself too seriously right now would not be kept up to any level.

'Then, I do wish you a good morning. Have you slept well?`

And, there the good morning wishes were. The man had been waiting for those to appear. A positive would be the answer, along with a mirrored question in some form or another. Adam didn't really sleep all that much, to Troy’s limited knowledge.

“With your constant observation, I think you would be the better judge of that.”

Then again, going full front on offence could also be beneficial in some way. Troy could not think of any, but that did not mean they weren't there. He needed to get control of himself swiftly, or words not meant to be said would be said. The AI would only forgive him so many times.

Adam answered quickly to his retort.

'Judgements about mental wellness is not an exact science. More often than not, it all comes down to personal opinion. While humans may share genetic code with others to some extent, the details are always different. No person is genetically identical to another. It would be unwise to expect that the signs would be the same. While I may have a lot of information about your body’s signs, it would be better to let you have the estimation made by yourself. Experience with your form will likely bring better results than my current methods.`

A vague answer. Something the man unquestionably deserved. But, there was a very distinct lack of Adam denying the allegations. Troy did not like that fact one bit. No, he most certainly did not.

The lack of positive emotions felt was enough of a starter for him to get back control of his limbs. The positioning of his body had left his legs slightly tangled. He could feel one of the ankles had been without blood for at least a few minutes. That was going to be paid for a second. He just knew it.

“Well…” Troy began it off with. He got off from lying down, moving over to having his legs down on the floor in a sitting position instead. A test drive was given to the near-dead ankle. It felt jittery, not responding as well as it should. The pins and needles had not yet settled in, much to his dismay. He had been hoping for it to end quickly. “I can't complain too much. Bit tired. Kinda want to sleep a few hours more.”

If his body would allow such drastic things, of course. Sleeping more? Bah! Which fool of a Took would allow themself to think that possible? Troy had gotten his expectation put down to where it was supposed to be. Down in the gutters.

It had been a while since the man had seen such filth. The images of it brought another jolt of energy through his body. Just enough for his body to realise how utterly hungry it was. With a deep reverb, he could hear his body groan loudly. Another demand from the bloody thing. At least this one he could manage to oblige.

'Your wishes will likely not come to fruition. The bodily processes have sped up greatly, in the last two minutes. Getting them to dampen down again will take an approximate time of half an hour. I do not believe either of us would enjoy such a long time trying fruitlessly to stay silent,` Adam sent.

If the AI wanted him to hurry his sweet ass up, he could just ask. Slowly getting to his feet, Troy carefully manoeuvred his body to the bathroom. The ankle was making its location known. A few glances were given to it, with the man being convinced he had stepped on a few needles on the way there. Yet it was not meant to be. Nothing was wrong with it, other than just being another piece of annoying evolution. It couldn't make things better. It could only make things less bad.

The daily essentials tasks were quickly performed. Especially a bath. God, had Troy smelled just a tad worse, even he would have succumbed to that stench. What had he been doing as of late?

Thinking back to the night before, the man could not remember ever getting to his room. Which was weird because he could very clearly remember just waking up in his room. Had he really been that tired? If so, Troy shouldn't have been able to find his room. That task had likely been delegated to Adam though. He certainly couldn't remember even taking off the earpiece at any time. Especially during the morning after. That had led to the interesting discovery of the earpiece being water-proof. It would certainly have been bad if it wasn't.

Wait, the thing did not have a battery. If there was no power-source, would it really be able to electrocute him? There had to be some circuit created if the man was to feel some electrons moving in the wrong way.

…

Such things were hard to think about. The morning was not meant for complex tasks. Brush the teeth, comb the hair superficially, check if any wounds have started appearing by themselves, and make sure you don't stink. That was all Troy needed to do in the morning. Nothing more. Nothing less. Any other tasks were purely done out of a free will. It was certainly not the perfect schedule, but it was what worked best for the lazy man. No expectations led to no unwanted stress. A moment of peace before the world would set his behind right once again.

Troy couldn't help but yawn. It was originally meant to have come out as a sigh, but his body took over by the end. While he may have gotten up and all, there was still clearly a lack of wakefulness. It looked like he needed some outside help to brighten up his mind.

Having a look at the time, he was dismayed to find it still a bit early. Going now would make him come twenty minutes before when he normally came around. Would the cafeteria even be open at that point? Cleaning had to happen at some point.

Inquiry. Would Troy prefer to be too early to the cafeteria, resulting in him potentially having to sit outside on the floor for a couple of minutes? Or, would he prefer sitting on his bed for a few minutes, making sure that he could get in no matter what?

The answer came by itself, as the man plopped himself down on the bed. In the time between him getting up from it, and him sitting back down it again, the mattress had seemingly turned much more uncomfortable. It was weird how much his body could trick him, just so that it could avoid any unessential movements.

'Are you not going to eat?` Adam sent to him. The unexpected sound made a small increase in his heartbeat. Which was kinda shameful, seeing as Troy should have been used to this by now. It wasn't like the AI could warn him before contacting him. Verbal communication didn't work that way.

A complete sigh actually came out then. A small nudge towards full control. Oh god, Troy wanted some caffeine. That dark-golden liquid would appease his mind. A flood of dopamine was already ready to be sent out. It would envelop him like a cocoon, and make him forget the physical worries of the world. Just a few more minutes and the travel to the holy land would begin. A one-man crusade to reclaim what was lost long ago. But, like, with a whole other meaning than those before.

“Oh, I am most certainly going to stuff something down my throat,” Troy said assuringly, no mind to the context behind it. Adam would certainly understand. “I am just taking a few precautions before I do so. Have to make sure it is a streamlined process and all that other jabber. If I begin now, I will be forced to halt it halfway. But, if I just wait for a little while more before beginning, it will go all the faster.”

The AI did not answer immediately. Troy had no complaints about it. With the feet still firmly planted on the floor, he laid his upper-body on the bed. It was not in an attempt to sleep. Far from it. The man knew any leeway towards that action had been lost long ago. Relaxing his back was just something every person felt the need to do once in a while. And it was not as if the man had any meaningful obligations this day. He could technically lay in bed in the next ten hours without having any greater repercussions because of it. Not from work-related things at least. No Dr Hale would be coming around, trying to bash his door in with nothing but her fists. Not like she couldn't just come inside. Basic decency was the last defence against the strong-eyed doctor. Troy shuddered thinking about it. He had enough trouble keeping his cool in front of her. He did not need that trouble away from her as well.

Having a distinct lack of strong enforcers, the man silently looked up at the ceiling, lost in his thoughts. There was nothing he would be forced to do today. No experiment that was forced into completing. No sick delusions of the outside world, created by a man who had likely not seen the sun in person for several years. That last one was a bit harsh, but Troy felt the need to mention it. He still was not sure how people kept their tan inside the place. Was the lamp designed to emulate natural lighting? It would certainly explain why he had not felt any lack of d-vitamins.

It always came down to thinking about things he did not understand. Troy preferred thinking about things that he could explain easily. Gravity, light, even just the texture of the ground. He could be enraptured in the concepts, considering them deeply in a trance-like state. It was a perfect mentality when one had nothing firmly scheduled.

Yet Troy was having trouble getting into it. Gliding a hand softly over the bedding, the only thoughts coming from it was how the man was wondering how he had ever slept on such a rough thing. Not a subject one could serenely dream about. And the thread was not letting itself go, his mind wandering to the subject when he relaxed his hold over it. With this, he was not going to get any serious trances going.

“What the hell do they expect me to distract myself with? I have nothing to do!”

The last part of his mumbling came closer to child-like whining. Not the proudest state Troy had ever been in. But, at least there was nobody around who would permanently remember this act of ineptitude…

Oh, yeah.

'I believe we have already made plans to perform several self-created experiments. Nothing specific yet, but the number of potential ideas should keep us both occupied for several hours. That is if you are still planning to indulge in such an activity. Your schedule can always become unexpectedly busy.`

Fortunately for the now very embarrassed man, the AI seemed to completely gloss over Troy’s speech patterns, only focusing on the content of his words.

Self-made tests? Troy did remember talking about it the previous night. He was not too certain that any too accurate deals had been made about it, but that wasn't a necessity. Right now, it was either following the gentle hand of Adam or just lying in bed while contemplating the saddening existence of fungi.

And what exactly was that last part meant to be? If Troy wasn't dreaming it up, which he was pretty sure wasn't after checking with a very painful pinching, the AI was currently guilting him into saying yes. Again, there was no need for such underhanded persuasion techniques. He had already accepted the proposal.

“I guess doing what you want to do is better than whatever I can come up with. It is not like Dr Hale will be breaching the door into my room in three seconds.”

A certain somebody secretly hoped that Dr Hale would breach the door into his room in three seconds. Sadly, after waiting for a few more moments than necessary, it became obvious that it was not meant to be.

'Troy. About Dr Hale. There are a few things I believe you would appreciate knowing about.`

Troy’s eyes hardened.

“Please, speak.”