“And, don't you even dare be pretentious about this shit. I expect to hear every single thing, or I will not help you in any way,” Troy added, feeling the need to talk down to Dr Hale just a bit more. He had acted like a weakling, not doing anything after being punched in the stomach. It had been literal bloody abuse!

He had gone through that whole process before. The beating, lying, and the ignorance of what it really was. A whole tour with an online therapist had been about the topic, how terrible it had been for so long. And Troy had come out a better person because of it, overcoming an upbringing that would have turned some towards a more permanent solution.

There was not a single chance he would be going through that shit again. Troy could act like it, sure. That he could. But… willingly being beaten for a goal that he did not understand, not having been told from how weak a lead it was? That was where the line was drawn, where he would step off for good. He might have been willing to do many questionable things, for reasons that were as vain as the people behind them, but reliving the past was one of his many undesirables.

Dr Hale did not look impressed with his minor outburst. But, neither did she look irritated by it, as if she knew precisely when it would happen and why it would happen. And she likely did, that bloody sociopath. Troy was having trouble figuring out just how much of it all had been planned from the start.

“We have two minutes, before Dr Fidelis we have to begin walking towards the testing chamber. In that time I will try to answer as many questions as I can. Start when you are ready,” Dr Hale finally said, after waiting for the customary two seconds of silence. Maybe she just needed to be sure that there wouldn't be any cutting in before she was finished talking. The young man didn't really care. He only knew just how frustrating people who took a neutral stance could be.

“I really just want to punch you in the face right now,” Troy said, bringing out that last bit of honesty before he really began thinking things through. “Why aren't you just saying everything about this? Don't you have an excuse at the ready?”

“I have learned through many confessions, that it's best to let the other participant ask for the content they wish. The human brain will focus on damaging itself, if the information gained is wrong in the end, instead of going after the one really saying it all. I did have an excuse at the ready, and it has already been used, for when I punched you in the stomach,” Dr Hale calmly informed him. The straight-out, reference-based answer was not something Troy had really been expecting, as he had thought it would be more along the lines of earlier scenarios in something like it. The people before had always tried pulling at the heart-strings immediately, making vague promises about their tragic life, how their mothers had force-fed them cigarettes for lunch, and isopropanol to get it down with. After a while, there had even been a general idea of what would be said. Those thoughts about the past made Troy falter for a second. Dr Hale noticed this hesitation and moved accordingly because of it. “Twenty seconds have gone by. A hundred more until we have to move. Make it count.”

The notice of the passing of time brought Troy back quickly. He couldn't wait around, with those pauses of his now. Standing still, quietly contemplating life and what it meant, while also imagining getting into his smoking habits again was not on his current to-do list. Already, too much time had disappeared from his worthless thought, things that could be a waste of time at some other point in life. Right now, Troy had a purpose that could not be delayed, for it would decide the path he would take in the foreseeable future.

Right, so that awful excuse of a human being had said it was for his own good, that Troy was the one to reveal the secrets so that he wouldn't be able to blame her for it… that was a good mound of well-manicured bullshit. If he wasn't getting what he wanted to get, there would only be a need for one guess on who he was blaming, and he would certainly not be himself.

“Your reasons are terrible. You're supposed to be a physiatrist. Couldn't you have come up with something a little better?” Troy questioned. If she went under and confirmed that she had been lying again, he would be able to immediately settle on-

“There are different studies in physiatry if you must know. I have learned these things from personal experience, which can turn out to be extremely biased. Try to ask better questions now. We are getting off the rail with this,” Dr Hale answered, her words coming out quicker than normal. It was likely as a way to speed things up, with how little context had actually been gotten. She probably wanted them to get right into the meat of it, but he still had some preliminary questions.

“There can't be more than many things in physiatry, which don't go under reactions to stimuli,” Troy said, pressing more on the earlier question. He would not be holding his hand up from it, for as long as it took.

“You clearly don't understand how my profession works, and I would like for you to understand that. My doctorate did not go over the need to make people stop acting suspiciously, so there may be some gaps in my knowledge when it came to that. Can you ask something usable now? Eighty more seconds until we leave.”

“What thesis did you release to get your doctorate?” Troy asked, fully ignoring Dr Hale’s instructions to move onto the main topic. He had a lead, and he wasn't going away from it.

“'How long the mind is able to withstand stimuli.` I researched at what point the mind would break, become insane, whatever you understand it as. I released a paper on how to maximize cumulative performance,” Dr Hale said, not sounding as ashamed at the words as Troy felt she should. Even if he had not been one to focus much on news, such a title deserved some minor mention in an article. Algorithms always found a sensation when it was new. Connecting dots in people’s mind about what was being accepted in the country would have been the news of the week.

“How have I not heard of it?” Troy asked, needing to double-check something.

“Because you would need level three security clearance to read about it. I hardly had time to send it in, before I got the offer to work here. Dr Fidelis came over to my apartment personally and came with the proposal for me to work with him on his next big project, that he had just gotten the role of supervisor at. The money was not enough to win me over, but the ability to continue my research over at this facility, no matter the issues with funding, was more than enough. Fifty seconds. Hurry it up,” Dr Hale answered. Sentences were said within a single breath, to keep time waste away to a minimum. It made her breathe deeply after finishing, giving Troy an excuse to wait a maximum of five seconds before his next question.

The timeline was being messed up. The woman before him was more than fifty years old, yet she had said that she had been taken in the moment she finished writing her thesis. She had worked there years upon years, Troy already understood that part. Charlie had worked there for over a decade, and he still looked young. With Dr Hale, her features finally beginning to show a slight tinge of weariness, it was nearly impossible to guess how long she had been around. However… if Dr Fidelis had personally recruited her for his team, just how long had that man been around?

“When did the two of you switch over to working on Adam?” Troy asked, needing more information. He knew time was beginning to run out, as he was nearing the final thirty seconds before they needed to move along. He knew that because he counted it in his head, making sure that Dr Hale was not lying about the time. It was being used for what he could, and not a second shorter than that.

“I have worked on this project for my entire career. It's the one I was originally recruited for,” Dr Hale said, being brief this time. The answer made no sense to Troy. It had been over ten years since she came to this place. Adam only gained sentience within the last nine days. What purpose did she have, with her position? What gain did Dr Fidelis have by getting her on his team?

“Why were you recruited so early? I don't think you would be able to code anything about making the AI, and Adam only really came into himself a few days before I got here. What have you been doing?” Troy said, unable to limit himself to a single question, for he knew they were pressured on time. He needed to let it go, to ask more worthwhile questions, yet he could not make himself do it. The young man was already so far, that he could not backtrack. There was hardly any time for it now. As always, going forwards with it all was looking to be the only real option left.

“I was hired for what my thesis was about, and the experience I gained writing it. I do not know how to code, for that was not needed for what I researched. And I have been doing nearly the same thing as I was hired for, until the moment where you came into the picture. What you think about Adam is not true. Twenty seconds,” Dr Hale stated. Troy did not hesitate with the next question, it being as obvious as day onto what he would ask.

“What do you mean, that everything I know about Adam isn't true?” Troy questioned, beginning to grow restless. He needed to know it. Then he could make the decision. It could go back to his act, or it could go back to how it was before. Dr Hale would probably get a slap on the wrist for her violent action against the unknown person, but that was likely all she would get.

“During my first day here, I had no trouble speaking to him. Though, Dr Fidelis had called him Alan back then. We change the names to remember which incarnation we are talking about,” Dr Hale said, now looking directly at her watch. Troy just needed one more question.

“What-”

“We don't have time for this,” Dr Hale stated, cutting off the final question planned. “If we wait any longer, this will fall through. Do you trust me, that you need to follow through with this, or will you just let it burn?”

The time for a choice had come. Troy spent under a second deliberating it, before he came to a conclusion. More time would have been preferable to spend on it, but it was clear that it was a commodity that would not be in excess.

“Yes. I will follow for now,” Troy answered. “I just want to know more.”

“Then we need another place to talk. This one will be fixed the moment Dr Fidelis realises we are here. Ask Charlie for one of his devices. I don't doubt that he has something for it.”

That was everything said, before Dr Hale switched back to her more cruel face, walking up the stairs in the meantime. There was little doubt that shouting would soon commence with it. But… Troy could bear through it, for he now had a purpose to follow. He had questions that needed answers. And he had a goal that was short-term and would involve doing something he could actually do.

Troy followed Dr Hale up the stairs, taking a deep breathe while he was at it. There was no real point, where he could definitively say that they were being watched. As she had said, it was best to assume that it was constant, that the slightest of abnormality would cause it all to be revealed. It was a great cause of stress to think about it, but there was some logic to it all.

It was taken to heart, as the hidden door opened up, and they were allowed out in the hallway only visited once before. Dr Hale walked to the side quickly, already at the point where he would have to practically jog. There was no comment made because of it. It was natural that they would be hurrying at this time after all.

They had a test to get to.