'Are you awake yet?` Adam sent Troy for the fifteenth time that day. The AI had been sending that message, again and again, waiting five minutes each time. It was already obvious that the young man wasn't asleep.

Yet he was not awake either. There were sensations still sent, and those were not among the dream-senses. The difference between those two forms was as obvious as light and dark. No, what Troy was currently in was a fine balance between the two states of being. From the pulses felt, the muscles were not being used. However, they were being repaired at a tremendous speed. A speed that could be called inhumane.

It was obvious that the young man had been drugged. That had been the immediate conclusion made by Adam. Drinking and beverage of unknown make and then falling over thirty seconds later. Either something had gone horribly wrong with the concoction, or something fouler was at play. From the brief tidbits of the ears working correctly, it was obvious that it was more of a mix.

The worst thing about the whole ordeal had been that they had made their intentions plain in the air. From the talk about resistance being built up to the drug, it was obvious that the effect would be more of tissue-regeneration. The AI categorized it as a unique form of relaxants, not sure how the main effects came around.

From the brief moments of Troy’s body cooperating fully, it was obvious that the concoction had performed as promised. It removed all of the muscle-fatigue, making them grow rapidly in the process. Adam estimated it to be two full weeks of training. By the next training-session, the man would be able to grow muscle mass immediately. The body had been prepared perfectly, ready to take in any damage without any delayed set-backs.

It was all looking perfect, and that made it all the worse. The AI could see no problems with the drug. Troy’s body was working better than it ever had before. The heart was beating strongly, the lungs filling fully. Even the tired back had been replaced with one filled with vigour.

If the concoction was so perfect, it would have been brought up before. It would have shown itself in the lives of those who had a higher clearance. The benefits were almost indescribable as de-ageing. Years of poor dieting had been removed in a single hour. Just thinking about what repeated doses could do was baffling.

Again. It was the first time it had been seen. There was a negative effect on it all. The body turns more and more perfect with each dosage… there had to be something bad about it. The negatives of perfection. It was not a concept Adam had thought much about, but it was clear that the consideration of it had to occur. If not, he wasn't likely to find the truth. One had to change to see the real world.

Adam quickly checked how long a time had gone by since the last message. His internal clock showed it to be four minutes and thirty-four seconds. Twenty-six more seconds before he could send another message.

…

Now that the AI thought about it, there was not actually any reason to uphold such strict regulations. It was made by himself, made to only be known by himself. Nothing would be lost by now following it. Nor would there be any consequences. The only real reason for the messages being identical was due to the mental input it required to make a new one. Those had not shown any promise of waking up the man from his semi-dazed state. Maybe a new one would show another set of results?

…

'You fat sack of shit! Get up before you sink any more into that damned ground you seem to enjoy licking so much!` Adam sent, the tone being that of outright shouting. The AI could have just increased the volume of the message, but he felt that the current approach would bring better results. And results it certainly did bring.

“Sir, yes, sir!” Troy said, doing what was likely meant as a sitting salute. In reality, it was more akin to a straight out hit in the eye. The accompanying hissing from pain was certainly not meant.

'Hitting yourself in the eye is not advised,` Adam sent, wondering what had made the man wake up. Was it the drugs that had slowly gone out of the blood-circulation, the shouting made by the AI, or was it the grunts of effort that could be heard?

Now that the AI thought about it, those grunts of effort had been persistent. Background noise for when the ears allowed themselves to be used. It had gone as ignored during more troubling times, but doubt now came from the sources.

“Really?” Troy said, a yawn finally emerging from the body. “I wouldn't have guessed.”

A yawn was not expected. If anything, the young man should have had no need for sleeping. The reaction speed witnessed was higher than before, as if Troy’s fingers were obeying with less hesitance. Adam was not sure how that's possible. Yet without proper instruments, it was not feasible to test it with anything other than home-made calculations.

“I will never be defeated!”

The grunting heard had temporarily stopped, replaced with the sound of Charlie shouting about his determination. Adam did not know why the muscular man was feeling the need to do such a thing, nor where the voice was coming from. With their low sitting point and the fact that Troy had only begun opening his eyes, it was not possible to determine the location.

“Sure about that?” Zep questioned, not sounding as tired as the other. In the AI’s mind, it was hard to even realise that she was struggling from the voice alone. “I see those legs of yours shaking.”

“I have no idea… what you are talking about,” Charlie answered, being forced to stop in the middle to hold his breath. Whatever was forcing the man to do such a thing, the AI was about to find out. In the few seconds that it had taken the two to banter, Troy had opened his eyes. Getting up on his feet, the young man’s head had been able to peek over the machines.

Being twenty meters away, over at where the free weights were located, the two others stood around, having a small moment of relaxation. Adam was momentarily paused, not knowing what the two were doing. The barbell, loaded with a large assortment of weights, spoke a story not even the red face that Charlie had sprouted could tell. The two seemed to be having a contest.

“It is your fault, that we are even doing this, you know,” Zep said, putting her hands on her waist. “Should have planned a little beforehand could have done us a world of good! But no, you just couldn't bring yourself to do that. No way. Your absolutely rotten brain couldn't even think of that.”

“How was I to know that he was a little, weak bi- Oh, hey, Troy!” Charlie said, immediately stopping his outburst upon seeing the young man stepping out of the machine area. It did not take a genius to figure out what was about to be said. Even Adam did not need more than a moment. “Was your rest good?”

“When I said that I wanted to rest for a bit, I did not mean that I wanted to sleep for… how long was I sleeping?” Troy asked, wiping away the last bits of imaginary sleep from his eyes.

“Little over an hour, if my memory serves me right,” Charlie answered, looking up briefly as if the ceiling had all the answers in the world. The AI briefly made sure that it didn't. Such an invaluable trove of information would not have gone unused. “You can really sleep when you want to. You slept through so many things. I even tried to-”

The last sentence was cut off from Zep, through the use of two fingers hitting Charlie’s stomach. It clearly was not with enough power to hurt, but it also very clearly caused massive destruction, the muscular man bracing himself for the impact. As nothing came after five seconds of the abdominal very clearly being prepared for strikes, Charlie clearly grew confused. At the moment where the man stopped flexing them, Zep struck, pressing the two fingers in with incredible speed. The shriek of horror that came after was a perfect example of the human vocal range. Really, people usually needed much training before being able to hit such notes.

The irony of the situation did not go unnoticed by the AI.

“What did you two do while I wasn't awake?” Troy asked, sounding suspicious. A perfectly fine state to be in, seeing as Adam was of the same state. Only, he had more reasons to be of such a mindset, as he had certainly heard more evidence that many in the room thought he had. Charlie might have suspected it, but no action had been done about it. Adam wondered why.

“Well…” Charlie began. The muscular man looked over to Zep, who slowly nodded in consent. “We were talking a lot while you were asleep. That falling thing you did was not expected, and we talked a little about what we needed to do. I just wanted to wake you up, but that clearly didn't work. By the way, If you're feeling anything on your face, you can just ignore it.”

“Anything else?” Troy asked.

“Oh, yeah!” Charlie said, sounding as if he had gotten a revelation. “It was really boring waiting for you to wake up, so I began training as well. Just warming up the proper way and all that. Took me a good forty minutes. And then I talked a little with Zep again, and she decided to mention that she could lift more than me. So… uh, that's where we are now. I'm just working on proving just how fucking wrong she is.”

Ending off the summary with a nod, Adam was not sure how much of it he believed. Nothing was likely to be explicit lies, but there was still deceit going on somewhere. No lies but also not the full truth.

“That's… nice, I guess,” Troy said, sounding a little confused. “So, that's what you've been doing for twenty minutes now? Lifting heavy things, waiting for one of you to fail to do it.”

“Got it in one shot,” Zep confirmed, before stepping over to the barbell. “And, I do believe it is my turn.

In quick succession, the short woman performed ten repetitions of a standard deadlift. It was no overstatement to say that the fluid motion involved shocked the AI. It was done with ease not supposed to be seen when one was lifting more than they weighed. Zep’s was not even red, and her breathing was normal when she finished.

“How much is on that thing?” Troy asked Charlie quietly. The young man was not looking to calm at the moment as if his world had crumbled before his eyes. Were scientists generally not considered to be the most athletic? They were the ones in possession of the greatest technology. With the introduction that had been made of their connection, the current situation was not surprising in the least.

“More than you should think about,” Charlie said, pointedly leaving out an exact weight. And without any numbers being displayed on the weights, it was impossible for the AI to determine the exact number. Could he perhaps make Troy lift it? Making comparisons to the pressure felt when lifting the barbell, and the force felt when lifting a one-kilo barbell would be able to give an approximate.

Zep went down on her knees, putting on another set of weights on each side. The colouring made Charlie blanch briefly, but the expression was quickly hidden by a smug look. Adam was able to see the momentary change though, and so had Troy been able to.

“We don't have all day, darling,” Zep said, imitating a specific type of speech. “It is your turn. Do be quick now.”

Charlie sighed before looking over at Troy, a serious expression glaring right at the younger man’s face.

“Troy, if I don't make it, tell Darlow that it was me who stole his pencil. And remember to say you forgot where I said I put it. The last part is important.”

There was no response to this request, but there was no need for one either. Charlie had already begun his presumed walk of defeat. The AI was not certain that the man would be able to lift the barbell.

“Is he going to be okay?” Troy asked Zep, who had begun looking weirdly happy.

“He will be just fine,” was the answer the young man got. “He is asking for it, and that is what he will be getting. It would be hurtful if I wouldn't show him just how much he overestimates himself.”

Troy turned back at the muscular man. The arms were flexed to their limit, veins clearly showing before the barbell even lifted from the floor. Adam noted that Charlie had put on a belt of sorts, while Troy had looked away. It was a peculiar thing, but the use of it was easy to grasp. It was a crutch that had been allowed, for Zep knew she would win no matter what.

Why, though?

That was the question Adam asked himself, as Charlie got a nosebleed, the redness of his face translating over to a deeper color. This did not deter the man though, as the barbell continued to be raised. Charlie stood raised for a full two seconds, before dropping the barbell out of his grasp.

“Fine,” Charlie said, wiping away the blood with his exposed arm. “You win.”

“Told you,” Zep said with a wink.