It did not take long before the testing began. By Adam’s estimations, only six minutes, after the conversation with Dr Fidelis had ended, did the connection to the earpiece reestablish. What had been done, in that timeframe was unknown. The AI hoped Troy would be able to shed light on the fact.

With his less than ideal amount of data surrounding it, delays before the tests were common. This was usually manifested in the various people, involved during regular testing, having long talks. From the few recorded instances, such conversations were mainly nonsensical, having no clear relation to the tests.

What was important, about these talks, though, were the amount of time it took. It varied in length but had a general of an average of five minutes. This, of course, starting the time of Troy entering the outer area and ending with him entering the puzzle-room.

So, using basic math, and taking the average time spent, the AI should have been able to discern the actions of Dr Fidelis. A near-foolproof plan. Yet, not one which was certain to succeed.

As the earpiece fully connected, Adam was able to see the entrance to the puzzle room. The inside was barely discernible, blurred by the complex mechanisms creating the potential simulations inside. There was an idea, of asking Troy to look over, to see what the doctor’s screen had to show. But, it was scrapped, due to the smaller chance of anything worthwhile coming out of it.

“Hurry up, buddy”, Dr Fidelis loudly proclaimed. “You're gonna love this one!”

Troy did not look over to the man, his footsteps instead quickening in pace. A soft muttering could be discerned coming from him. But, the AI was decent, that he was the only one able to hear it.

“I always do.”

With that, the last part of his body was inside, and Adam was able to see the gradual disappearance of the entrance. The mechanics of it were still at large. He hoped he would have the opportunity to learn it some time.

The basics of, how the simulation was created, was something of an open secret. According to the two available sources, the technique used, during the creation process was confidential knowledge, high above anything they were allowed to know. While this occurred, Adam learned he had a special security clearance. He was still unsure of, how this clearance functioned, but was sure he would be told the moment, where he could utilise it fully.

Even with the supposed techniques being secret, it had been mentioned multiple times, that these simulated structures were made out of hardlight. A construct, which only had had previous mentions in older digital media. Adam was partially towards the opinion, of this not being the true name of it. Even with the explanation, the doctors were not so lax, in their words, that they would reveal such information.

'Was dinner enjoyable?`, Adam sent, as his customary greeting. It was better than the simple acknowledgement of a connection, as this invited further words to be exchanged. A perfect opportunity to further the collective amount of knowledge.

The man shrugged, his head tilting a bit to the side, in the process. No spikes in heart activity as noted, leaving the AI to belive that little had occurred. A standard process, with no larger deviations. If not, Troy should have experienced even a minor amount of adrenaline, as his body experienced the earlier situations in phantom form.

Adam was still unable to find a solution to this quirk of the human physique. While giving no larger positives, the body was able to experience new sensations, from inputs gotten long ago. A delayed, repeat reaction, to an otherwise unimportant situation.

Having a better grasp, on the sensation felt was important, yes. But, being crippled by this was apparently a regular occurrence. Stressful enough situations were not useful for the body to be experienced repeatedly. The flight or fight reflex, care engineered into the human body, had no reason to come forth, for no reason, other than to be felt.

Yet, for too many human entities, such an occurrence was part of their daily life. Heightened pulse, hyperventilation forced on the being, and the body generally disobeying the mind. Outer-sourced medicine was needed, to keep this function in check. It was an expensive, continual process, which would continue, till the day, that the effected beings expired.

How people let this evolutionary trait subsist, even in the smallest capacity, was baffling, to the AI. A failure in the bodily functions had the potential of permanent, irreversible damage. It had the capability of making an entity dependent on others, on the fullest sense of the word, turning into unresponsive husks, better dead than alive.

If Adam ever got the opportunity to do so, changing this part of the human genome would be on the first to-do list.

“It was alright, I guess. Some guy named Charlie showed a thing or two off, making the dinner a bit more strenuous than expected,” Troy answered, counting his customary walk to the presumed centre of the room. Adam was still of the mind, that any position, inside the room, would be adequate. His location would adjust, as the need called for it. With the lesser analysis, of his body mannerisms, the AI was able to discern something about important, from the words said. To be more specific, Troy was utterly lying. It was not

It was not the first time, such a thing had happened. In the past twenty-four hours, Troy had lied to the AI a larger number of times. Many had reasonable logic behind them. Either to obscure more important facts, about the nature of testing or simply due to the more personal nature of it. Things that Adam could understand and plan around. Things that the AI had no reason to be lied about.

Then, there were moments like these, where the reasoning was not driven by logic, but pure lack of willingness to tell the truth. There was no obvious reason to lie. Yet, it was still done so, with no clear benefit to either side.

Charlie, a human that Adam had met under more heavy circumstances, had likely done something, during the regular eating period. Something not usually done. Something which should have elevated Troy’s pulse, and causing some irregular reaction. But, again, with the analysis, no such thing had ever happened.

So, with the information, there was currently one answer, which stood out the most. With no indication, of anything otherwise, Charlie had done something out of the usual, during hours. Troy, in such a situation, would have body ticks showing his surprised reaction to it. Yet, no such thing had been shown. This would indicate a level of preparedness to it. This meant, in essence, that he had known of the event before it actually happened.

More conjecture could be created, from this point. But, Adam thought it wise, to taint the theory with too many personal beliefs. If he continued, it would simply become more and more biased. Such a thing would stand against more than one of his core principles. Information was best when it was purely objective. Anything else had a higher chance of leading to bad interpretations. Original sources had the potential to be twisted around if one did enough logic loops around it.

Therefore, getting more information from the main source would be entirely beneficial. Lies, truths, and unknowns all helped paint the canvas of reality. One just had to know the three apart. And, all it took, for the AI to know more, was to ask directly.

'Troy. How did you know what Charlie would show off? Did you have a hand in the disturbance, or were you simply made aware of it, at an earlier date?`, Adam sent, narrowing the possible answers down to only usable answers.

This time, the human body showed exactly what the AI had predicted. A minor amount of shock and fear, being put out as the tensing of the back, ready to move at a moment's notice. It quickly untensed itself, of course, the neck shuffling downwards by a few centimetres before the eye’s narrowed. As a more minor reaction, Troy even checked his pocket, as if to specifically check for something. Seeing as it was empty, the AI was unsure, what the object being searched for was.

“Ho-how did you know about that? Troy got out of his mouth. A slight stammer was observed at the start. A tick, coming from sudden stress, or a reaction of simply being surprised? Looking back at earlier data gained, either answer had the potential to be correct.

'Detailed analysis of your general behaviour, studying human physicalities and the quirks associated with it, basic psychology, and, most importantly, having a good grasp on, when you are being untruthful. Please answer my earlier question, at the same level that I answered yours. It would only be fair.`, Adam near-instantly sent back. Now was not the time to appear human. Such things were reserved for normal conversation. This could not be classified as such, falling more under one of the specific sub-categories. The AI was currently launching a small-scale interrogation.

Was it required to do, when one expected certain criteria of results? No. Nearly every type of results, with every variance of it in mind, could be acquired through an infinite number of methods. No information was unique. Only the techniques and processes used could be called so.

When interrogating any kind of human, it was important to think about the methods one used. If one simply demanded truthful answers, lies would be given in kind. The person would have no reason to do anything other than a lie. No incentive had been given.

And, for most cases, no such incentive could reasonably be expected to exist. Why should a person tell the truth for monetary rewards, if the act of doing so would make him unable to use? What was a reduced sentence to no sentence at all? The risks were high, but the rewards were even higher.

So, with no way for the carrot to work, the stick-method was next. While expecting physical violence to get any type of confession out, no matter how truthful, such techniques were reserved for only the most brutal of interrogators. Adam certainly didn't have the ability to use such a method, much less having any want to. Mental manipulation, inciting thoughts through cues, vague promises through wordings, and other so-called weak ways of getting answers were where the AI wanted to focus his time on. It promised much, in exchange for, what he could already give. A physical body was not on his wish-list yet, so anything else might as well have been impossible. Well, at least without Troy’s cooperation. Yet, Adam did not think it wise, if he asked the man to hit himself. He had already scratched himself with a simulated rock. Expecting more would likely incite a complaint during debriefing.

Troy was gradually increasing his drawn reaction when it came to intensity. The AI could almost see him trying to internally explain, what was happening. 'How had Adam known?`, 'What else did he know?`, and 'Does he realise, what I did last night, very obviously doing something for my own benefit?` were all some of the potential thoughts, which Adam thought possible. Personally, he hoped the most on the latter.

After five seconds of silence, which were a lot in these areas, the human seemed to get a hold on himself. A quick readjustment on the shoulders was made, realising a surprising amount of noise from the joints attached. A deep sigh was made, before the direction of the eyes hit the ground.

“I wasn't explicitly told of it before it happened,” Troy began it off with, an unnatural calmness to his words. It wasn't cold, distracted, or otherwise regular. This was forced. And, it wasn't done well at that. If not for the current situation, Adam would likely have corrected him on its usage. The words were supposed to be smooth. Not… cracking in the middle. Such speaking was reserved for pubescent teenagers and those with a vocally-based diagnosis. “It is closer to me simply seeing it earlier than the others. Charlie did it during lunch as well. It was only me and him, though, so he apparently wasn't too satisfied with so few seeing it. And, I guess it only fit the glove, when he decided to show it off during dinner. The reaction that was gotten, during it, certainly triumphed my earlier reaction to it. Quantity is better than quality here, it seems. You can't call it lying, though. I don't think it fits too well when you say that.”

A certifiable answer. One which Adam had trouble finding the largest of faults with. At the mention of lunch, his body reacted expectedly. A slight, unconscious tensing. Certainly not enough to be felt, not enough to be created manually. It was precise, what the AI had been looking for, since the very start.

Troy was telling the truth. It had required only mildly aggressive wording encapsulated inside a single message. If the information required for success wasn't so simple, Adam might have thought himself qualified in the art of interrogation. He would try the same methods, the next time that the opportunity for it came.

If it came with the same success, he could add another profession to his quickly growing resumé. This special archival space would not be too spread in its uses, except for any personal references. To his knowledge, any job searching would not be on his own, making the need for such digital formatting non-existent. Still, it was something to do, and that was what the AI needed the most.

'Your answer is acceptable. We can proceed with normal conversation, if you so please.`, Adam sent, now returning to his customary waiting time of two seconds. If he was lucky, the conversation would be back on track, before either realised it. The AI still had plenty of questions, including more specifics on this disturbance, how Troy had acquired a slight injury on his right ankle, and if he saw the content of Dr Fidelis’s screen, when he first entered the outer room.

“Good to hear. And, right now, I feel like standing in silence sounds better than talking. It would even allow us to get on with this test of ours. If the two outside are to be believed, this will be the last for the day,” Troy said, having gotten back to his regular emotional levels. But, there was still a hint of animosity in his words.

Adam had seemingly acquired a negative, for his prior methods of information-scouring. The aggressive conversation was returned in kind. The effect should have been obvious. The AI should certainly have planned around it, taking the interrogation to a more mild end, to his the transition. Yet, he had not believed the aggressiveness to be mirrored back so quickly. A few minutes, before, the shock of the words used would allow Troy to fight back. Some additional knowledge had been hoped for, outside of the newly established method. But, such hopes had been seemingly destroyed.

There were a few theories of the outcome of Adam pressing for a conversation. Troy would likely allow it if pressed enough. Yet, the information being returned would likely not be on the same, needed standard.

With this being the last test of the day, the AI would always be able to ask into it, in the time before Troy went to bed. Now that he thought of it, an agreement had been made the night before. Adam had not thought about it much, due to the lack of potential progress.

Soon, there would be progress to be made. He would uphold his part of the deal, for a modified reward from the other side.

It would just come down to Troy not being too shocked about it.