Adam was at an impasse. He needed to figure out how this was caused. A brief look at the time taken showed that he had only done this particular test for just under two minutes. The animals had not shown themselves yet, so he couldn't really spend much thought on them yet. And, not using the available time, to further his own knowledge and abilities would be a waste. Therefore, Adam had the perfect excuse, from diverting from the test's original goal, if only for a minute or two.

He was sure, Troy would understand, once the reasoning had been put out.

However, before further outside analysis was done, Adam first wanted to create a hypothesis. This would allow him to gain a larger idea of what he was looking for. And, If that wasn't possible to feasibly do, it would at least let him consult all prior known information, and let him draw figurative links between them.

With no further preparation, Adam went straight into hypothesizing.

First off, the cause most likely had a natural explanation to it. With their current altitude, Adam had been unable to see anything, which resembled being man-made. Wherever they were supposed to be located, it was not within the borders of civilisation.

So, with the main cause delegated as a natural occurrence, Adam was able to further it even more down.

Now, whatever had happened, it would not have happened before. Or, at the least, it hadn't happened in the last few years. He wasn't truly knowledgeable about the growth times of specific plants, but Adam had enough background information, to know, that the bushes didn't grow to the current size, in but a few weeks. Or, a few months, for that matter. The largest, which had been observed, was even up to Troy's abdomen if he had been standing next to it. Few things would be able to survive such quick growth, giving further into the idea of the occurrence being extremely rare, at the minimum.

With that in mind, it was even more constricted, in what it could be, that had done this. When it came to natural disasters, which could cause such a result, there were many. Yet, not too many, which would fit the bill completely.

Through pure glances, at the information retained of the various potential causes, Adam was able to quickly remove a large chunk of them. The reasons varied but were mostly due to the lack of obvious damage, which such disasters also caused when the culprit. Also, another large reason, for their immediate exclusion, was their lack of habitable conditions to manifest.

A few notable mentions here would, for example, be the waterspout. Such a thing has been known to move larger amounts of water around, in a short period of time, causing massive fluctuations in-depth and while also enticing larger waves, which hit with the looked-for forces. With these mentioned details, it was a perfect contestant, in being the true culprit. But, alas did not fit, when Adam looked further into it.

As the name 'waterspout' would suggest, it was indirectly linked to water. Large amounts of water at that. While there was a moderate chance, with the current levels of liquid, of a smaller manifestation, it would have been impossible to move the needed amounts. This isn't even taking into the fact, of the significantly reduced amount, at its disposal, before the disaster has occurred. Altogether, with these several contradictions, the idea of it being possible was scrapped quickly, and Adam had quickly moved onto the next possible candidate.

The next possible candidate, in Adam's long list of potentially viable disasters, had been the flash flood. It initially sounded great on paper. It, as its name clearly stated, was a flood of water appearing out of nowhere. The initial signs of it even beginning to occur could mostly only be detected a few hours, before the startup.

Like before, though, the reasons for why it wouldn't work began piling up. There were certain requirements for a flash flood of this level. One, which the environment would not be able to uphold.

This went into the reasons on how flash floods were formed. Two types were the main instigators in the development of it. The breakage of older ice formations and natural debris, which are not able to hold up with the pressure put on them.

The first, that being older ice formations were immediately ruled out. This was due to the average temperatures, which was prevalent in the area. As Adam had already categorized the area, like a swamp. This meant, that it would be designated with a general temperature of twenty-six degrees celsius. While it was possible to drop to near the zero degrees mark, during winter, most areas certainly did not fall so low. This environment, which they were in, certainly did not fall to such extremes. This made it nearly impossible, for any larger ice formations, capable of creating flash floods, to be produced naturally.

And, the natural debris had the same improbability, albeit a different problem to constitute it. While the temperatures did not influence the formation of such obstructions, the degree of efficiency they would have was still on the extremely low side of the scales. For the natural debris to make any difference, it would have to be with the outcome of stopping regular, downward flows. This would constitute, that it had any downward flows to stop. Which it didn't.

The area around them was beside the flattest simulated locations Adam had ever seen. Any curvature, to be seen, was due to the trees growing up. The earth, and rock underneath, did not follow the same nature, being under the water instead. If they all could be buried underneath so easily, the chances of any greater hills being there were small.

So, any semblance of flash-flood being the cause was scrapped. It just hadn't been meant to be.

Outright tornados had been looked at briefly as well. That one had not required too much thinking, to be discarded. Yes, it would have brought the necessary forces to move the water into the game. No, it wasn't likely that such a thing had occurred. The forces, which could have lifted the water over to the current position, would have easily torn more damage throughout the environment. If it actually had been so, the trees would not have been within eyesight, likely floating along the surface instead of still standing firm.

After having removed all these obvious misjudgements, Adam had thought himself closer to the answer, than ever before. Well, until he saw exactly, what he had left.

At the top of his list of potential disasters were earthquakes.

Adam couldn't prove, that it wasn't an earthquake. The signs of such things weren't too obvious, with a better look at the ground, and the general area. Maybe, if the trees had been removed entirely, Adam would have had better chances of determining if earthquakes were as viable, as they were thought of. Alas, Troy did not have the ability to see through atoms, and he was unable to validate removing it from the candidate list.

So, with no other option, he was forced to tear the whole list down. The logic did not agree with his opinions. And, in Adam's own mind, he knew better, than the pre-known knowledge stated it as.

Therefore, with no other consumable sources, Adam had to draw from knowledge from a unique type of source. A human type of source.

'Troy. I have a question. What reason could you think of, for the higher, water levels?', Adam sent.

“Shouldn't you be doing your description work?” Troy asked right back, with a notable prevalence of irritation. “You know, like you promised to do, no less than three minutes ago?”

Adam had known, such a reaction would come, and had therefore foreplanned his answer.

'Due to the lack of study able entities, I have not been able to further my progress in creating a description of this area. When these creatures appear, I will gladly cease my current activities, and refocus on the intended task.', Adam sent. It was fully informational, with no obvious ways to misinterpret his words as arrogance. That problem had been removed, in the first rewrite.

“Are you sure that you're not actually just avoiding doing your literal job, in the hopes of having more time to study this environment?” Troy questioned. The suspicion, coming from him, was clear. And, this suspicion was reasonable. If Adam's current focus had been on analysing the environment around them purely, his last message would have been identical. From his perspective, it provided the greatest chances of Troy letting the delays slide by. At least, when it was paired with the next message.

'Please point any of your fingers, at any animal, other than yourself. This will help me, in seeing your reasoning, for why my decision to maintain analysis, is hampering the efficiency of the test.', Adam sent back. It was a little cutting, as in, acting like he had a moral and intellectual superiority in the conversation. Adam did not like using this technique.

And, however derogatory his words may have been, he hadn't been dishonest in his words. There weren't any animals, or general creatures, for him to study. It was the main point, of the task, for him to do so, yet, there wasn't anything to be seen.

This did not stop Troy from twitchily looking around, quickly surveying for any signs of greater life forms. Like Adam had earlier predicted, the attempt failed.

“... Fine. I see your point”, Troy stated, after too long a time spent thinking. Adam knew he had been contemplating excuses, which would set him in the right. This was not due to any mind-reading, although he wished for such an ability. No, it was because of the face, which Troy usually had on, trying to make up more complex manners of lies. It should be pointed out to him soon if he would have any chance of lying to others effectively ever again. “What was your question again?”

'What reasons can you find for the current water-levels?', Adam repeated.

“What? I can't say I see anything wrong with this”, Troy stated, having an extra look around, mostly focused downwards, at the water surface. “It can't be that deep.”

'How would you describe the depth as approximately being?', Adam asked, knowing exactly the type of answer, which he would be getting back.

“Like… a maximum of one and a half meters? Not everywhere, of course. Some places, close to the trees, for example, not even a meter,” Troy answered.

'You are grossly underestimating the depth. On average, I have calculated it to be two meters deep. This takes into the consideration of the area close to the trees, which should not have been underwater, to begin with. If this current state environment was stable, most plant-life, incapable of simply floating in the water, would have died. I have tried to figure out the reasons for this extreme increase in water, but have yet to find any worthwhile causes. Thus, I hoped your addition would assist fully.', Adam sent, with his complete analysis summed down to a few sentences. Troy would be likely to understand it all, but it should have given enough foreknowledge, for him to provide something worthwhile to the unstarted discussion.

Troy made an encouraging nod in confirmation. His thoughts were likely focused on comprehending what had been told to him. At the least, his focused expression, paired with the ungazing eyes, hinted at such being the case.

After simply standing still, for a few seconds, the movement once again began. Instead of making another survey of the area around, as Adam had guessed he would, Troy looked at the skies, dancing his eyes between the clouds hanging around. They were plentiful in number, giving him a lot of eye movement to complete.

Why Troy was doing such a thing, Adam had not the faintest idea. Sure, it was something to do, with the question asked, but how it related, he wasn't too sure. Did Troy think it was an airborne natural disaster, influencing the water flows, causing such increases in water levels here? It was plausible if the conditions were evaluated closely enough.

A slight shake of the head was detected. Whatever thought, that Troy had had, was internally rejected.

“I'm beginning to get a decent idea of the causes. Or, should I say, the cause,” Troy stated, with no small amount of disheartenment. The true answer, which he had found, was not something, which Troy took lightly. “Do you just want my honest answer immediately, or do you want a little more time to think of reasons?”

Seeing as Adam was already out of options when petitioning Troy's help, putting any more work into his own did not seem like the most efficient option.

'Your immediate, full answer would be appreciated.', Adam answered. From the small slouch, Troy made, after hearing his words, made Adam reconsider his choice. Something was stopping him from wanting to spread knowledge. Something he… no, it could be called detested. It was milder than that. Troy just…. don't like, what he was about to explain.

“The most likely answer, as to how this flash flooding was created, is, to my best knowledge, a river diversion,” Troy stated, with no hiding the bitterness of his words. The last two were nearly spat out. “This isn't something, which has happened often here. I wouldn't be surprised if it never has. The true malefactor, behind this, was not the one we call nature. That would have been too easy a thing. And, if it had happened naturally, the environment would have been ready for it. The area wouldn't have become so… ruined.

Nature isn't to blame. Humanity is. Some larger company most likely created the river diversion, with the intent of flooding this large area. Was that enough of an answer for you, Adam?”

Not even close. Adam needed to know more. Originally he had ruled out people having a chance of being the culprits. Nothing looking close to human constructions had been observed for a couple of kilometres in radius. Removing humanity on these grounds had been asinine. If they were the cause, why would they keep buildings standing? The materials used would have been harvested before the area was made to be underwater. But, then, how had Troy ruled them as the true malefactor, as he called it?

'No. It was not. I need you to explain it in detail.', Adam said.

“I would have been more than happy to do so”, Troy stated bitterly. “If, of course, those animals of yours hadn't shown up.”

What? Oh. Troy was right.

Floating along in the water, just under Troy's feet, was a massive creature. Just what Adam had been looking for.