THE DOCTOR HAD BEEN SURROUNDED BY SNAKES.

It wouldn’t have been too bad if the snakes had been aliens. But the cruel rabbits only chose ones from Driew. The doctor had too much medical knowledge about the venoms, and he knew all too well that one bite will easily lead to a slow and painful death.

Oakley was harder to break. They tried to keep her in a dark room with centipedes and tarantulas, then they made her feel like she was choking. Oakley’s resiliency surprised the rabbits, but this only made them more excited. They tried even worse forms of torture, including tying her to a spinning wheel and shooting all types of deadly weapons at her. Now they put her in a pitch-dark maze, with mines and fire traps behind every corner and shocked her with electricity

Exflibberaguil predicted that despite how amazingly strong Oakley was, she was at the edge of her sanity. She stopped too often and got shocked. In the beginning, she gritted her teeth and refused to react. But now that she was more tired, the sudden shocks began to force screams from her, and after five more minutes, she was screaming the whole times she ran. She was burnt badly in several places and her knee was swollen. But she kept on running, trying to find the exit.

That would prove to be a problem, of course, since the exit did not exist.

Exflibberaguil knew this all too well as he watched her run. The top of the maze was roofed by a giant one-way mirror, allowing spectators to observe from above. Exflibberaguil wanted to scream at her and tell her to stop trying. As much as he liked her energy and will to fight against the rabbits, running and bumping into obstacles only made her more injured.

But yelling wasn’t an option either. He was gagged and given the horrible potion that made his voice go away. He suspected it was because he kept on pestering the rabbits for an answer to why they were torturing the Sodriew and refused to accept “shut up” as an answer.

The rabbit seemed to be gone, or at least muted for the time being. Knowing her, the rabbit would normally have been relishing this moment and reporting Oakley’s progress like some twisted sport. But there was only an empty, disturbing silence in the room, and Exflibberaguil often fancied he heard nonexistent sounds.

It is worse this way, he decided, never believing that he’d miss Nick’s endless amnesia chatter.

Oakley was definitely breaking apart now, and she even began running into the black walls. Exflibberaguil flinched when an arrow was triggered and slit her ankle. Oakley stumbled and fell, then suddenly began to jerk and tremble, a flash of blue electricity illuminating her frightened and sickly face. She opened her mouth and Exflibberaguil knew she was screaming.

She’d be out in anther two minutes, Exflibberaguil thought gloomily, watching Oakley make a desperate and pathetic attempt to pull herself up.

Exflibberaguil turned away, not wanting to look. He knew all too well that the next time he awoke, he’d be in her place, suffering some terrible form of torture he didn’t know why he deserved.

What did he fear most? The rabbits will eventually find out. Exflibberaguil pondered over the question, but then realized it was meaningless because the list was too long. He feared loneliness and rabbits, but in two different ways. The only true fear he had was of death, but that was what each of the tortures had revolved around. Death was a universal fear.

Exflibberaguil amused himself thinking of terrible ways the rabbits might hurt him. Perhaps they’d make him a weight that kept on getting heavier until it crushed him. Or he might be forced into an acid pit that would eat away at his eyes and leave him blind forever. He imagined two empty sockets where his eyes would have been, then shuddered and decided that he’d seen too many horror movie trailers.

Just as he expected, an unheard command was soon given and three robots, each with a seven-fingered hand, carried the unconscious, yet still shaking and convulsing, Oakley out of the maze and too another room to clean her wounds and revive her. Exflibberaguil forced the gruesome eyeless face image out of his head and patiently awaited the sleeping gas. He didn’t have to wait very long. A blissful smile crept on his face.

He slept…

THAT ONE, IT RAN QUITE A BIT!

Yes…

Oh, don’t be like that! Come on. It deserved that.

I…I suppose if that’s what you believe.

You’re such a killjoy. Look, why are you trying to make me look bad and guilty here? I’m not. You’re not. And you really should be the one to know that.

DON’T YOU MENTION IT!

Okay! Calm down. You know what that redhead’s going to go through next, don’t you? You’ll feel better watching him, I’m sure.

I don’t know about that…

He’s a troubled soul. We’re doing him a favor.

What a cliché thing to say.

But wouldn’t you agree? He’s…he’s not living right. And a poor thing too. I can understand why he did such a thing—now don’t get angry again!

I TOLD YOU NOT TO MENTION IT!

I’m sorry! I really am! But…but I’m right aren’t I? He isn’t living right.

…We don’t have the power to judge.

You can advise.

…I…I don’t think I’m qualified.

Pssh. You? Not qualified?

Well…hey! Wait! He’s breathing too fast. He’s waking up!

Quick! Put him to sleep!

He can’t understand what we were saying, right?

Don’t be ridiculous! Now where’s the gas?