It was peculiar, not being woken up by a disengaged comment. To not be informed of his own wakeful state. Troy had begun expecting the AI to ask how his dreams had been and if he had slept well. Already, a positive answer had been on the lips, ready to be fired out in the world, even if they weren't true.

But that course did not fall, for the AI was not able to talk with him. No message would be going to Troy, for he was not wearing the earpiece, the one thing which he was supposed to be keeping track of constantly. There had been few moments where it had been out of his sight, never straying more than a few meters from his body. The day prior to the one he now lived in, Troy had even started wearing it in the bath, not truly realising it was there until hours after. The device had become as much a part of him as his skin.

Maybe that was why he felt so empty, the earpiece no longer in his possession. Dr Hale had taken it the night before, never having given it back. Troy had not asked for it either, not truly putting mind to it. What had been said in their short conversation had been too much of a distraction.

Actions had consequences. Dr Hale had observed Troy performing activities which were against regulation at the best of times. It had been before he had gotten official permission to even talk to Adam outside of testing. Using the AI to cheat in gambling was long over the point of legality. It was obvious that the consequences would be dire, the moment his true superior knew of it. The good doctor might have been all for testing, but even such a man would not be able to condone such selfish acts. Dr Hale was likely the one who knew it best.

She had called it a deal, during the night. If Troy left, there would be nothing said of it. It would be buried deep beneath the dirt, never to be found by another living person. Troy wasn't sure he could trust it, but he also wasn't sure what else was able to do at that point. Quitting would be… unsurvivable. He would live in the dust from that point. So, an excuse had been made of the spot, one which had credibility behind it.

The contracts. The one which every person in the facility had signed when they first got the job. Charlie had said nobody higher up would ever be able to leave, no matter what pleasing words had been said during the hiring.

He had relayed the concern. Dr Hale had told him to shut the fuck up, and that she would be getting him in the morning. Troy had left not long after that, after witnessing the anger that the woman possessed. Or was it determination? There was doubt about why she wanted him to quit, why it had to happen at that moment. What had spurred it all on? There had been a want to ask, but a much higher desire had been to survive the night. Without an earpiece, Troy had reconvened with Charlie, who helped him on his way to the personal room.

That let morning turn into night. The alarm had been set thirty minutes earlier than usual. It had been done mechanically, with no real thought for it. Troy just wanted some extra time under the warm water. The implications did not go under deaf ears, as he knew exactly why it was so. The bath had only been left upon the skin getting wrinkled.

Getting out of the shower had likely been one of the hardest things Troy had done in a while. He liked it under there, the sounds were predictable to the ears. He could guess what would happen when he was under there. The water would stream onto him, the warmth filling his body with heat. The longer he stayed, the hotter it would get. The returns might become diminishing, but that didn't matter to him. He knew it would happen after all. That made it okay. The moment he stepped out of it, though, Troy wouldn't know what would happen. He wouldn't know what time it was. Maybe Dr Hale had been pounding on the door, ready to force him into resigning. Maybe she was already inside, the only thing stopping her from barging into the bathroom being human decency. That would have been good. Then the young man would be able to stay in the shower for a long time.

Troy had put on his clothes diligently, sitting on the bed until such a time where Dr Hale would come around. He had spent surprisingly little time in the shower. Only ten minutes had passed by since waking up. Twenty minutes would be spent sitting, waiting for the arrival of the doctor.

In a way, she had never truly stated when she would come around. Troy had only expected her to be there when she would normally come around. Such thinking was quickly turning out to be flawed when the young man heard the door to the room open up without the slightest bit of resistance. From the way, the footsteps were heard clearly, and how there truly only were two people it could be, there was little guessing who the mystery person was.

“You're here early,” Troy noted when Dr Hale came into view. Following the normal schedule, the man would only have woken up five minutes into the future. If this was done intentionally, or if the woman had better ideas of Troy’s mind, was up in the air. “Feeling better today?”

Dr Hale was in her regular attire now, the white lab coat back onto her form. By now, it was obvious that the coat was more of a fashion choice than anything. While rare, Troy had seen alternatives of the attire on other people. Simple modifications were the most common of outliers, stickers sewed onto the fabric. Others would even have changed the colour by a few hues, though that might have been due to age putting wear on it. The words on them were personal choices, however. That didn't come from the omnipresent time putting its toll down.

“And you are likewise awake at an earlier hour,” Dr Hale said, not sounding like she cared about the slight accusation sent towards her. It wasn't really like it would have done anything. The woman still held the upper hand after all.

“Are we going to perform tests earlier today?” Troy questioned, not standing up from his bed. Likewise, didn't Dr Hale move from her position next to the frame. “If so, we should probably hurry.”

“Tests are scheduled at the regular time,” Dr Hale refuted, not letting her face betray a single emotion. “Hurrying now would only displease Dr Fidelis. He expects us at the point requested, not earlier or later.”

“Then why are you even here?” It was getting agitating for the young man, understanding that something was going on without Troy being in the know. A game was being played, with him on the chessboard. He was a pawn, to be used for the benefit of others without his consent. He was a drafted soldier, of to play for the side he didn't realise he was a part of.

For once in their conversation, Dr Hale’s face changed to something recognizable to the young man. Instead of cold indifference, it was clear that she felt stirred. Maybe it was his constant questioning, of which would not be let up no matter who displayed it was for her, or maybe it was his lack of… what was being desired. What was being expected of Troy, even?

“I am here to clear something up, that you wouldn't simply take my word for,” Dr Hale stated, pulling out a crumpled piece of paper. It was tossed to Troy, who catched it without a single flinch. Only a fine wonder was present upon seeing the paper. It was not a readily-used commodity, the digitisation being much more common these days. No use making biodegradable waste, when one can refrain from making any waste at all.

Folding out the paper into a semi-flattened state, it became clear that it was not a simple drawing of a skull or one of the many death threats which would be created. Paper was most commonly used for the latter nowadays. A bit harder to track than it was online, which was not saying much.

“What is this?” Troy asked curiously, skimming along the many lines of what he now realized was a full-fledged document of sorts. The wording was obscure, long, and would have likely been incomprehensible to most. Luckily enough, one of the people in the room had a major in English, and that person certainly wasn't the doctor standing. As the young man’s eyes began getting about halfway, the context began setting in. If he was not mistaken, he was holding a-

“It's your contract, for your employment within this facility,” Dr Hale informed him, stating it more bluntly than anybody had the right to do. Yet, no matter how deadpan it was said, Troy was calling bullshit.

“You said you couldn't get access to it a few days ago,” Troy retorted. “And, if this really is the contract, it's only a small part of it. I remember signing a lot more papers than what is on this one.”

“It's called blatantly lying to those without the ability to fact-check your statements. Live with it,” Dr Hale said. The young man had to double-check if he was hearing what he just thought he heard. A confession of being fully untruthful purely because she could. Should he have been amazed? Probably not. Didn't stop him from being it. “And your sight is as impressive as ever, I see. I was so kind so as to bring the only notable part of your contract. Mainly the one about your stay here at the facility, and the time restrictions put upon it. If you would be a person who doesn't like to waste either of our time, look at the last parts. It would be best if you read it a few times, just so I don't have to explain it to you.”

Troy ignored the pointed words, deciding to instead read the document as a whole. It wasn't like he did not trust her words. The young man did not trust her in any way to be more precise. Everything had the potential to be an act, and it was best to second-guess everything seen when it came to that woman. She had dirt on him, and that would never be forgotten.

Nothing that truly mattered came until the end of the contract, just like it had been said. The final paragraph looked to be added in a hasty extension like there had not been much forethought in it. The wording was more abstract than earlier as if the writers had been switched out. It made sense of course. Troy couldn't believe that the words could be greenlit in being used in normal circumstances.

While any person hired into the facility might not have been able to leave, he was not included in that law. For Troy was technically not yet hired. He was on a so-called trial period, of which would be only changed upon two weeks of working for the place and a performance review orchestrated by the direct superiors. It was only after a positive review that he would be instantiated as a worker, with full benefits being accounted for.

“So…” Troy said, beginning to see how little he had to work with. “That's it? You want me to go over to Dr Fidelis, and I say to him that I quit? Not what I had been expecting, but if that is what you want me to do, I guess nothing will come for it.”

“If it was that simple, I would have made you do it last night,” Dr Hale replied, not sounding happy at all. “No, you will continue being here until the review. Even if you resign before that point, other parts of the contract still hold you to working until that point. It would be best for the sake of cooperation that you work until then.”

That was good news. Troy had been bluffing, dearly hoping that it was all some way to make Dr Hale seem more superior. It had happened before. Him being told to resign, only to be stopped before he could press send. Now… it was looking more hopeless.

“Can I tell Adam?” Troy inquired, but Dr Hale did not seem to listen.

She wasn't listening at all, in fact. Instead of continuing her stand at the door frame, she had begun moving towards the bed. And not the side that Troy was sitting on, but the one that held his alarm clock. The young man nearly began asking what she was doing, but a harsh glare shut him up. Her footsteps had gone silent, nearing the point where doubts were had if he was hallucinating or not.

With a gentleness that had never been seen before, Dr Hale slowly picked up the alarm clock, the power cord following it from behind. It was raised to the point where it was stretched to the limit, before… Dr Hale slammed it into the wall, with all the power she could muster. Between the wall, her hand, and the alarm clock, there was only one victim.

“What the fuck are you doing,” Troy shouted, flabbergasted at what he had just seen. By all accounts, the young man could have thrown the clock without it getting the slightest of scratches. Yet, here he had just seen it be destroyed by nothing other than pure power of a human body, the gadgets inside the hard plastic spilling out.

Dr Hale did not seem interested in answering him, bending her knees to rummage through the destroyed pieces of the clock. It took a good five seconds of prodding before the woman seemingly found what she had been looking for.

“This,” Dr Hale said, putting out a piece of metal that did not look like the rest of what was in the rubble. “Is what Dr Fidelis has been using to listen to us for the last two minutes. Congratulations, Troy, you have no secrets to hold, and I have no blackmail to stop you with.”