The brief time spent enjoying her look of anger was decidedly not worth it when it ended with a moment of extreme pressure on his shoulder. It certainly caused no small amount of hissing, as the pain was more than just noticeable, making the legs briefly jump up to the stomach.

“You are a terrible person,” Dr Hale stated, before taking a few steps back from the pained human before her. Troy did not mind that at all, doing his best to compose himself. After all those talks about going beyond what his body told him, the least he could do was stand.

And stand he certainly did, his eyes unwavering in his staring. She wasn't doing anything to him now. She distanced herself again, stopping any quick attempts at attacking her again. Her back was towards the way of the cell. Could he try to run? The exit had been stopped not long ago, and a sprint there should allow him to get there first. But, she could catch up not long after that, as he wasn't exactly sure how to open the door up. It would have to be figured out… no, he couldn't do it. If she wanted him there, then he would have to stay there. Troy was trapped until Dr Hale decided to let him go, and there was no chance in hell that she would be doing just that.

“What a hearty accusation from my future murderer,” Troy said right back, massaging his shoulder carefully. It was sending out pulses of pain, and the movement was a little off from normal. If he tried to move it quickly, there were doubts that any cooperation would be found. “Do you really think it's that good to call me the evil one here? I just want to fucking survive, and here you are, ready to stab me again when I turn my back. Does it really sound that terrible, that I just want to get away from here?”

“You will not survive for more than an hour if you step outside of here, and there is not a chance that you will be able to find any of the closest exists, much less open them for yourself,” Dr Hale said with her tone cutting, and her eyes beginning to flash just the slightest. The last detail might have been the reflection of the light, however. Troy’s mind was still not the smartest of all right now, needing more time to get over the earlier bouts of pain.

“It would be better than going with you!” Troy said. “If I go alone, then you will not be there to kill me. You even said it yourself. Dr Fidelis wanted you here so you would kill me. How do I know that you aren't doing just that?”

Dr Hale looked at him without any anger, any guilt, or just any emotion. She was a stone wall, as the silence between them went unstopped. Troy wanted an answer, wanted a reason on just why he should willingly let his life hang on the line of somebody who would gladly cut it all up.

“If… if I wanted to kill you, you would already be dead,” Dr Hale said, looking away from the briefest of moments. Troy unwillingly followed, looking to the railing of the platform they stood on. To the side of it, there was a control panel of sorts, everything labelled in neat lettering. The young man spent no time reading it but understood just how many things could be done. “You can be executed in the cells easily, without you even realizing it. If you were to be killed, even Dr Fidelis could have done it himself, without ever having to step foot inside here. I could have sent the command, and killed you instantly. Is there not some amount of trust in that?”

“You could always just be lying to me,” Troy said back, giving one of the points that his mind provided. “You seem so good at making it all believable. There is not really any way to know if this is just another detailed lie of yours. Is there?”

“No… there is not. You will forever be doubtful of my words, no matter if I give reasoning or provide proof,” Dr Hale said, agreeing with the young man as a surprising show of sincerity. That might just have been the first real showing of trust there had been for some time.

It was quiet again, neither saying anything. Troy was ready to run if she tried to approach. He would take his chances with the door, with everything outside of it, the moment that she took a step forward. She might have been right on his low chances of success, but he would be damned if he did not try something.

“Do you want to know why I chose you for this project, Troy?” Dr Hale asked as a complete subject change. There was no real understanding of why that change was made, but it was completely unwanted. Some form of distraction was not unwanted, as it would allow him to think clearly for just a few more seconds. If he just thought for long enough, there was no doubt he would figure something out that would allow him to get out of his predicament. “I chose you because of what you were, because of your history. I hand-picked you from a selection of a hundred, just so that I was sure that your personality would match with the needed profile. While you might not understand in what ways this was shown off, I can assure that you that there were many. Even Dr Fidelis does not know most of them.”

Huh. A direct confession to manipulation. That was not the most expected of statements to hear, but neither was it one of the most unexpected. His situation was nice like that, knowing that he was being made to select different choices while not expecting anybody to directly say that they were making him do it.

Even now, with all that talk about how he was specially picked for the job, Troy understood that his views were being contorted, that he was being made to view it all a little differently. And it was working, his mind already reconstructing his perspective of the scenario. In what way, and how drastic were these changes? He had no clue. He only understood they were there, and that there was no way to reverse them. He was stuck with them, until the moment that it was all changed again.

“But I can only assume that you do? You who is the actual controller of everything, with Dr Fidelis being but your pawn, and everything only meant as some sick form of entertainment!” Troy finished it off with a small raising of his arms, as a prayer to the gods of discord.

Through his time in the facility, he had learned a few tricks from those around him, and the creation of chaos was one of them. It helped with it all, as it allowed him control of the conversation, with the cost of losing the seen sanity. A fair deal, but not one which should have been used to the extent that he just did. No matter.

“Dr Fidelis is still my superior. I can assure you that much. The only reason I ever had any say in who would be chosen for your role was because of me introducing the idea in the first place. Through that, I was given leeway in how all of this would play out, what key events were made to happen. Or, at least to a point. Nothing after your sedation has been officially planned,” Dr Hale answered, her experiences with one other disciple of the gods letting the woman swiftly deflect anything related to discord. One gained resistance to it after repeated exposure, after all, the shock being shown in a lesser form after some time.

“How much of it was really planned?” Troy questioned, not really believing that much of what she said, but simultaneously seeing no reason to stop her from talking. “Was the time spent with your current and former friends planned? Or is it just former now?”

He knew that he was overstepping by saying that, but he just could not stop himself. It was all too delicate, and he needed to press the right spots to make it all work. He wanted some form of an answer now. Those usually came in their purest form, when the logic was left behind, and the emotions were made to answer in its stead.

But, that did not seem to work all that well with Dr Hale, the woman just staring at him, not taking the bait in any way imaginable. Did she just accept his view, and decided that it was just how it was? Did she not comprehend the damage that had been done to all those around her? Was it all just another long-term play?

“I planned for the basics, and let the details come in as it all progressed. The key events where I was involved was written down to include certain phrases, to make sure that it would all progress. From the beginning, I did my best to instil some sense that something was wrong, trying to get you to question certain things. This became more direct over time and ended off with me revealing an apparent truth. And… I did not expect you to continue being together with the group, after the first trip to the shopping district. Everything related to them after that fact was purely your own doing,” Dr Hale answered in full, some form of a sigh coming in at the end.

Was she… was she revealing everything? Was she actually telling the truth? There could not be so many more layers to it all, right? There just couldn't. It could still have been some ploy to trick, yet Troy really did feel like she was speaking truthful words.

“If you did not expect me to keep up with the group, then I must not have been the best match,” Troy stated, just showing off that observation. He had apparently been hand-picked but had still not fit the little form that the woman had wanted so desperately. Just why had she not been a little better with that, with how important everything around them was?

“Just because you weren't perfect did not mean you weren't the best. You had what I needed most of all, and everything else was of lesser importance.”

“And what was it that I had which you needed so much?” Troy questioned.

“Your desire for survival,” Dr Hale answered. “Through surveillance of your past, current, and predicted future, it was clear that you just wanted to survive no matter what, while also having the needed dislike towards the people above you. If put in a situation where you needed to cause conflict with superiors in favour of your own goals, you would readily do it. And since your goal is survival, I found that there were so few things you would not do. Even now, you show that off by trying to take me on, knowing inside that it would be impossible for you to beat me. Because… you are just that desperate to take another breath. That's why I chose you.”

“That's not the most inspiring of talks I have heard if I am being perfectly transparent here,” Troy said.

“But, this one is true. I felt the need to not embellish it this time around,” Dr Hale answered clearly. “Since you now seem to actually listen to me, I will put it in some new terms. Dr Fidelis ordered me to kill you, after putting on a minimal amount of brain scans. This means that he expects me to contact him in an hour's time, with proof that you are dead. In that time, I hope to have extracted the AI from the actual storage space, while also having come out of the facility without any major injuries. This will require your help.

Again, there is no reason for you to trust me, though I can promise you that you will be dead before this day's end if you don't. With that survival instinct of yours, I expect you to make the right choice.”

… Troy hated people who manipulated others, sure but damn it was they all so damned effective with their work. With next to no second thought, he had been ready to say yet again. Was he really that vain, that being he would survive for longer was enough to convince him? While there was some parts of him that tried to protest, they were all really empty. There were no inner thoughts that wanted to die early, making it all a point of pride.

And pride was not something he had a lot of anymore, as his past had revealed. Dr Hale talked about having looked at that past of his, actually. How much had she seen? Were the lines upon lines of debt being paid off by corrupt people enough for her to guess his personality? Was it the unresolved cases of disappearing people around his neighbourhood? Maybe it was the time he had the nerve to report a police officer, for brutally beating one of his earlier neighbours to death, and getting sent a hefty fine because of it. Who knew? Troy didn't. There wasn't really any point in life he could focus on and show as his defining moment. It was just a jumble of meaningless things, that his mind had tried to somehow fit together. The success rate was terrible, and his ideas were equal in quality because of it.

…

Fuck it.

“Fine. What do we need to do?” Troy asked, meeting Dr Hale’s eyes once again. He was paper-thin when it came to his desires, but at least he held onto them with an iron grip.

He would get through this. He would persevere. He just knew it.