Eight more lights remained. It was more than he could have hoped for, yet it was still so little. They needed more than could be offered. What had Charlie been thinking, when he gave the machine over? That he could finish his business in two minutes time? What could possibly take so little time while being important enough to have the requirement of being utmost secret? Possibly drug-dealing but he was decently sure that the muscular man had not been guessing on that back then.

Going away from Charlie’s dubious machinations, Troy honed in on the answer to the last question of the day. As it turned out, each incarnation had a different world around them, changed in a way to manipulate them. The final goal was to make the AI agree to be a weapon, a stand that the entity’s personality did not match with. While the young man wanted to butt in that it was the doctor who created the personality in the first place, yet that seemed to be a constant placement in the problem.

If only to Troy’s flawed logic, there was no point in any further questions. He could of course fire ten more along if he really did need to, but it would not change his understanding by much. The two were on a strict schedule. Already, another light stopped its barricade, fading into obscurity and leaving seven behind to stand their ground. From what had happened before, there was a possibility of two waves wiping out everything that was left. They needed to hurry.

“Message received,” Troy stated, hinting back to his last question of the hour. He had been guessing himself to be playing the main character in the current scenario, being the piece of the puzzle that would allow Adam to reconsider becoming a weapon of mass destruction. It was not a title that he was happy about having, but being mopsy about it wouldn't do anything productive. As yet another light disappeared, leaving six to be seen, the fleetingness of time became more pronounced. “You had a plan to tell me about if I remember correctly.”

“Your memory is indeed correct,” Dr Hale said, wiping away imaginary tiredness from the brink of her nose. It was more of an action caused by stress. Troy could only imagine it, telling somebody else a secretly held secret for years upon years. Not that he did not have secrets to tell, of course. It was just that he had no desire to ever share them. That path was one other who would trek for all he cared, but some words were to never be shared for a second time. “I will tell you what I can, but it is not much. Too many points are not for your ears, as they would not help us in any way. After this is all over, I promise that everything needed will be told. Until then, please follow my words. It will all make sense in the end.”

“I trust you. Don't worry,” Troy answered, having already come to a decision in that regard. He did not know everything and that was okay. Sometimes, not knowing the answer to every piece of the puzzle was just a fact that had to be accepted. Trying to fit it all together into one coherent piece would just ruin the truth. “Please continue.”

“Of course,” Dr Hale stated, her face not revealing anything about her emotions, yet Troy still imagined the woman being a small bit relieved. Even if he had promised to follow her, there really wasn't anything stopping him from not playing her games. Willingness was a requirement that could not be forced, and he was doing his best to follow.

“My goal is to get Adam out of this facility. What had been done here can never be forgiven, and each second that passes makes it worse. That the AI has to sit here, happily going along with that scum’s tests… it sickens me.

The being does not understand what it has been through, what pain I have sent through it so that it would become the mindless slave we want it to be. In a perfect world, I would just let him out of his box, connect him to the outside world and let him roam free. But, that will not work.

“Why not? Couldn't we just connect him, and let him be on his way? We could just, you know, give him a warning to never stop running, and hope that he lives a life that he deserves to live,” Troy asked, throwing in a suggestion.

Right now, Adam was just in a cage, right? If they just went onto one of the right systems, they could fiddle around and make it unlocked. It sounded easy. And maybe that was the first hint that it was not meant to be. The second was the sigh coming out of Dr Hale, not one of frustration on Troy but a deeply rooted stress thrown at the way of life in general. He understood that.

“If it was that easy, I would have stopped this madness years ago,” Dr Hale answered, her face briefly showing just how she truly had lived. What had she been like when she was younger? Troy had to wonder.

Was she filled with aspirations, ready to take on the world? Maybe she was hoping to find a way to cure human trauma, to use her degree to find a way to prevent it instead of just exploiting it. How must it have felt like, seeing a way to heal being turned into an advanced form of torture? Had she cried at first? Maybe it was later on when it first began. Dr Fidelis could have won her over in the start. Troy could at least imagine that the kind man making a finely-worded speech about the greatness that could be achieved at the loss of one mind. Even the coldest had sympathy for others. Even if the cries were never heard, the brain just had a way of making it real nevertheless. It must have been hell. Years spent on destroying the same mind again and again as if it was just a plaything that would never be put out of its misery. Had she thought about just killing Adam for good? Troy would have probably considered it. A mercy-killing to make the torture end.

“Where is the deal-breaker, then? What stops us from stopping this?” Troy inquired, bringing them along. Eying the machine, there were still enough lights to last them a minute. If they were quick, much could be done. The only requirement was that nothing went wrong. They could do that.

“From everything that I and the doctor has tried, we have not been able to make the AI move from one storage unit to another. While we can do it manually, there has been no indication that the entity is able to move its core around. There is nothing stopping him from moving through a long series of connections, but the body will always stay behind. If a wire is cut, the conscious mind will move back to the origin. This is where we have the trouble. To succeed in our plan of moving Adam out of the facility, we will need to move his physical core,” Dr Fidelis explained, speaking clearly and not pausing for too long. With the seconds spent talking, another light had gone out. Four remained. Time was stressed.

“That doesn't sound too hard,” Troy had to acknowledge. “We should have a storage space for Adam that is big enough for our needs. Is the location of where the AI resides secret? Is the hardest part for us to actually get over to the physical location?”

“No, I know the exact location of the unit. It's hidden in the testing room, and I know what the needed actions to reveal it. The real trouble is in the extraction. As you know, the AI is alive. We both know that. This makes the entity an anomaly in almost every way, including the requirements for moving the core around,” Dr Hale continued. “While the AI is unable to independently perform the movement from storage to storage, it is still able to stop the extraction. In a manner of speaking, you need the incarnations to express permission to move it. If that is not completed beforehand, the extraction will be unsuccessful, the AI pressing against any attempts made. This is where the deal-breaker lies.”

With a small tick, Troy looked over to find that only three lights remained. All it took now was for a wave to appear, and they would both have to move quickly to get into their normal roles. What could happen this time? Maybe Dr Hale would limit it to a slap on the face if he was lucky… but it was best not to think about it too deeply. Concentrating on the future pain was never a good idea

“And… that is where my part is, I'm guessing?” Troy said, beginning to understand it all a bit better. “Adam does not trust you, as he has never spoken to you. While you are in the background most of the time, the only real-time he has seen you interact with me was while you gave me a mildly suggested phrase of future blackmail. Not a good showing when you are hoping to have the AI trust you with doing something new, that would more than likely be uncomfortable all around. But, that does not stand the same with me, somebody that Adam has spent countless hours with.”

“You seem to understand the basics of the plan,” Dr Hale said, nodding along to the young man’s word. “It is as you say. I am unable to do this alone. While I could possibly gain the AI’s trust if given time alone with it, Dr Fidelis would never allow such a thing. It took much work before the doctor allowed you to keep the earpiece in the first place, and that was only due to your… expendability. It would not matter too much if you got acquainted with the AI.”

A reassuring thought. Troy could almost want to fire back a quip about his lack of importance. He was just another ant in the scheme of things, his place able to be filled with just about anybody. Perhaps the criteria about age were just to get a worker not too acquainted with the true ways of the world, still naive enough to think that the position was without its fine linings.

However, this was not to be, as the remaining lights vanished with a flurry of tics sounding out into the room. It could have been seen as a miracle that Troy was still on the bed, minding his own business, as he would have otherwise received a nasty blue spot on the back of his head.

Truly, he had not even seen the hand come at his neck, it was hitting hard enough to throw his body down on the bedding. Even with the soft surface, he did not doubt that the impact would leave its mark in one way or another. The force was close to stopping his breathing completely.

“This is the last warning you are going to get,” Dr Hale stated coldly, taking her hand back after Troy’s gasps for air sounded out. “Defy my words again, and you will have an accident that you will not live to tell about. People will never even know how it happened.”

Trouble was had in swallowing his own spit, the top of his throat feeling constricted. It did not hurt as it should have, but he could feel the tightness hinting at some form of swelling. If that stuff Dr Fidelis had given him was beginning to wear off already, he would be having some black marks by the end of the day.

If by luck or just out of consideration, Dr Hale left her own room, allowing Troy to regain his composure. Through calm breathing and a little rest, his heart was allowed to get down to passable levels. There were some special movements felt, but there was nothing noticeably wrong. It seemed that she had held back this time. That was preferable.

Getting up from the bed, the young man once again tested to check if he could breathe normally. Any issues needed to be found immediately. After the first encounter with a possible demise, the young man had found himself captivated in making sure that he did not die during his sleep. Fortunately, nothing of worth was found during that search either, leading Troy to accept reality as what it was for now. Any complications would be reported to Charlie, so the man could help him using whatever techniques could be found.

Outside the room, the doctor was waiting, her face showing nothing about her true reasons. Troy guessed it was security, to make sure they both got back on time. Honestly, the young man was relieved that she waited, as he had no idea where he was.

“Let's go,” Dr Hale ordered, moving ahead without a moment's consideration. Troy could do nothing but obey, moving into a position right behind her. Back to testing it was.