'Troy. Have you at any point felt jealous of me?`

The young man had never really believed others, when they talked about the so-called breaking point. It was the moment where people could break away from each other, or they could grow closer than ever before. Or nothing could happen at all. Information about the phenomena was way too subjective, based purely on retold personal experiences.

Questions asked during these times still had the same pattern. It was always about opinions, commonly focused on the person asking the question. This time did not deviate from the usual, and Troy was only happy that it didn't. He wouldn't have realised just what was going on.

And he would have answered it plainly if he hadn't. The young man would have just thought back to his behaviour the last few days, considered if he felt the special emotion at some point, and he would have then answered just as plainly. That idiot brain of his probably wouldn't even have thought about what he was answering, too focused on whatever topic he had been preoccupied within the moment. The ethnicity of swallows would have ruined him.

Time had passed since Adam had asked him the question that could bring them both ruin. Troy understood that answering it truthfully would break something. He would need to answer with more than just a yes. Why did the AI even want to know about it? What gain could be gotten?

Maybe he could try to explain his answer? Troy had been jealous of him a while ago, yes, but he had outgrown that emotion. He had learned what it meant to be jealous, and how disgusting a feeling that it was. It had taken some time, but he had learned to appreciate the things Adam could do better because it only showed promise for the future. It made the man happy to know that he was a part of it, even if his role in the grand scheme was short. He had gotten a new friend, and that was all that mattered.

Such a thing couldn't be answered with a mere yes. But with the question asked, it was clear that such a thing was excatly what Adam wanted from him. He had already stopped him from explaining something before, demanding his words to be limited into one concise syllable.

Would Adam ask for more details after? Maybe. If prior experiences were to be taken into account, Troy wasn't betting on it. If the AI wanted to know more than a rejection or confirmation, he would have asked for such in the first question, explicitly requesting for it. Wasted time was not something he did often. Similarly, Adam did not appreciate the wasted time, and that was exactly what the man was going, not answering the AI in the way he should have.

He didn't want to answer. Would that be accepted? Could he just say 'no, thank you,` and have both of them continue their productive testing? Adam had to be doing something hard if he was waiting so long before putting it into the real world.

That was a possible excuse right there. Whatever he was working on, it had to be something important. Troy was his guide, the one who was supposed to mentor Adam in some form or another. He was the one that was supposed to put up the guidelines. Asking him to focus on the test instead of asking personal questions was perfectly valid, right? There was nothing wrong with wanting to focus on work. He could always answer at another time, where he would be able to answer fully.

"Could we just continue with the test, please?" Troy asked, trying to sound professional. "Letting yourself be distracted with things like that will only stop you from doing this effectively."

The argument sounded good enough to build off. It was possibly not the greatest wording in the world, but it wasn't like he was expecting anyone to judge him on that front. As long as Adam understood what was being told, no problems were likely to manifest.

'Your lack of an answer is also causing me to be distracted. It would be better if you were to satisfy my inquiry, so we can move on from this topic,` Adam replied, that voice of his seeming extra sharp. It certainly cut into his ears just a bit more than it had ever done before.

"I have a feeling that this answer would just be a gateway into a whole hour of needless talking. It would be easier if you were to put this behind you, so we can move on with the test," Troy shot back, trying not to sound too harsh. He needed to shoot it down before Adam decided to make demands. If the AI simply refused to do anything before completing the test, the man wasn't sure if Dr Fidelis would have his side on the matter. "You can take this as a request from your guide, the person who is supposed to make sure that you are completing the test assigned. Please, cooperate with me so we can move this along smoothly."

Five minutes passed by. Troy was sure that it was such a long time. He counted each second as if his life depended on it. The first ten had been nerve-wracking, the long wait making him think that the AI had been preparing the longest message ever witnessed by man, on why he needed to answer the question. After the first twenty seconds, he had been thinking if Adam was just communicating with the doctor, trying to make him force Troy into answering the question. After a minute, it had theorized to be a mix of both.

It had taken seven before the man began to believe that Adam had obeyed his request, going back to doing whatever he had been doing before asking the question. He did not dare to ask if that was the case, for the fear of starting it all up again.

By the thirty-minute mark, the idea of success had finally begun creeping into his mind. It might just have been a successful operation, the rank-calling being enough to stop the breaking-point. Troy didn't truly believe that it was over yet. While Adam might have been discouraged from asking, for now, he would most certainly ask sometime again in the future. The question was not forgotten when it went unanswered. That fit into the AI’s mental space better than anybody else.

It was only a question about the time it would take before the next wave came along. It could be another minute, another hour, or perhaps another day. Yet, it would most certainly come along, with Adam more prepared than ever before. Troy only hoped that it would come at a time where he didn't need to watch his words, where he could speak honestly without being fearful of the consequences. If he still had access to his earpiece outside of testing, he might just have popped it on before dinner. Yet he knew that wouldn't be the case. Dr Hale had taken it away, after all, likely hiding it in a place where it could not hear any hidden conversations at all.

All in all, Troy was screwed. He needed to figure something out, or things would turn out bad. Oh, why couldn't that breaking-point just come up at another time? He would have gladly dealt with that shit another day. The man already had enough on his plate. Why couldn't fate have waited a few moments before unloading another load of irritants?

That loop of self-hatred, rebellion against an imaginative being, and a few swear-words mixed in for filling was what the young man thought about for a whole two hours more. It was fascinating in a way, that one could continue such radical ideas without ever going out of the already set boundaries. Talks about revolution without ever doing anything to go towards that goal. If it was as if the people with such concepts only ever had them like that. Concepts. There were never any thoughts about taking the lead, being the forefront of a new era. Troy certainly never entertained the idea of being the spear-head, swaying more towards moving in the empty space that the weapon created. He was a follower, and that was likely all that he would ever be.

So was it with most people? They learned from an early age to respect authority. It was how they learned in school, being reprimanded forever questioning the teachers. The police were to be feared, the politicians to be worshipped, and those under oneself to be ridiculed. People were made to believe in the hierarchy put in place. It was almost propaganda as if the place of birth put a big, fat marker on what somebody could achieve in life. Born from a poor family? That person gets to live a poor life. Born from a rich family, though? That person is to be successful, just like their parents before them.

There was most likely not a single person in the poorer regions that hadn't thought of changing that hierarchy. They wanted to be on top, for the roles to be reversed. They wanted to be looked up to, to be worshipped by those under them, and to be feared for the power that they wielded.

Yet nobody ever did anything to go for that. They might have worked hard in their jobs, but they would have done that before as well. Any lazy ones were fired immediately after all. The poor had the incentive to do it, but nobody took the first step. Some would try to make others do that for them, but they would be taken care of quickly enough. Those on top knew the system well, and most had counter-measures in place. A few disappearances were never questioned after a check or two.

With how things were, a revolution would likely never come. Humans were good when it came to following a purpose. They knew how to follow orders well enough. It was just that few had ever learned to make those orders, to begin with, and those that had were in the wrong category to be any help.

Dr Hale was a leader though. Troy knew that much. He was the one following her orders, even if the reasoning behind them was not fully understood yet. Did that make him as bad as those who didn't do anything? Maybe. There wasn't much difference, to start with. But… he did feel a little special, knowing that he was doing something at least. He just didn't know what he was helping her do.

He needed to know that soon. Troy was never a good follower. He was an even worse leader though, so there was only one clear choice when it came to options, and just jumping out of the system would not help anybody. Especially not himself, as it would just mean that he would be experiencing the winter months only once more. It was still months before such a time came when the snow would begin to fall through. If he failed in his task, failed so spectacularly that everything else fell as well, then he would likely never even see the sun. How fun to think about. Troy still was not sure of the risks of being found out yet, but he knew they had to be great. It was clearly illegal, but to just what level? What was that woman planning?

Maybe it was that incentive he needed to have a proper talk with Charlie. Troy had been thinking for a while how to break the idea to the muscular man, to allow him to receive something incredibly illegal for his own personal use. There was more than likely some clause in the legal documents about privacy being limited while working in the facility, some excuse for why it wasn't okay to have a temporary private space. They would be meeting each other in the gym, a place where there had to be an immense quantity of people. Would it be okay to ask for such a device in a public area? Would he have to ask if they could go over to Charlie’s laboratory?

The young man really was too distracted by the thoughts in his head, not even noticing the moment where the bench he sat on beginning to quietly dissipate. It was only in the second where he began to gently float down on the ground, that he finally began taking a more focused look on what was happening outside his body.

*And… that is the test for this time. We will be taking a break, so we can uphold legal agreements. Until such a time where we can begin again, Troy, will you please exit the puzzle room, so that we can- Oh, don't worry, buddy. The interface does not reset when I pause the test. As long as you didn't delete it yourself, then it will remain just as you left it until such a time where you personally discard it. When we begin the next test, it will be there, waiting for you. Again, Troy, please exit so we can begin preparations for the next start-up.*

The man didn't need to be told twice, moving the second he was told to. He kept the earpiece on until the second he left the room entirely. Adam did not wish him goodbye that time, and he didn't do it either.