Adam was saddened by the expeditious pace. In regular testing, the AI had as long a time as he wanted, taking things at the rate he required most. Troy certainly did not like this at first, but the man seemed to have adapted to the observational style that they now used. Constant requests to survey areas had certainly made itself unneeded, as it was done every single time a new room or environment was entered now.

It was excellent that this change in attitude befell them. Less time spent, and Troy got to be a little more content, increasing the overall productivity in of itself. Adam had no complaints at all. Well, other than the surveying not being too thorough. As with all physical terrains, it was in more than just two dimensions. This did not allow one to see everything from one point, no matter which direction was being studied. Normally, this would be mitigated by the simple command to walk around the sites and to take note of anything interesting. Such tactics had been used only moments before if only enveloped in a request from another person. It had allowed thorough exploration of what a chemically-focused laboratory was all about. Glass and metal fixtures had certainly shown themselves in plenty, but it was in the machinery which was where the real gold laid. Hidden in the closed-off shelves, Adam was not sure he could even begin to understand their purposes. These fine pieces of intricate machinations were not simple microscopes and the like. They were a whole laboratory in and of itself. In many, small tubes ran along the sides, status-lights on the front showing all kinds of modes, and a cut off inside. On some, there were hatches, which would allow access to the middle. The AI was guessing it to be a container of sorts.

And it was certainly not limited to containers! Abstract sensors, weirdly coloured glasses with radiation warnings, and even a few things with warnings against lasers, varying in strength from two to four. Of the latter, only a few were seen, and likely for a good reason. Such powerful devices could not have come cheaply, especially in such small forms.

There were so many parts, so many gears in the device that was the whole laboratory. Each machine had its own, unique purpose, ready to be used to its fullest. Without it, the laboratory would not be whole. It would be unable to operate fully. Yet, Adam could not say what that purpose was. Not yet at least.

He had hoped to, in the end. Only the lower parts of the laboratory had been searched through. Only the smallest of machinery were hidden down there. The so-called heavy hitters had been ready to make themselves known to Adam, hiding up in the upper shelves. The AI had been ready to make the request. To ask of Troy that he look through the upper shelves as well, no matter what excuse had to be made. Some of the shelves in the upper side of the laboratory had automatic movement systems in them. Adam needed to see why, how, and what hid up there.

But, that muscle bond of a man that was Charlie had already finished his part as well. If he was not mistaken, the man had actually finished a minute or two before Troy had been close to doing the same. Yet, instead of making that fact known, he had acted like he was fiddling with the last one instead. Why? Adam had accounted for it as trying not to flare Troy’s possible inferiority complex, but that reasoning did not seem right in the AI’s mind. He hoped to find out soon.

When Troy finished with his part as well, they had been hurried away from the laboratory, towards the door to the next room. It was not a glass door, like the many other doors before it, leaving Adam in the dark on what was on the other side. Though if he had to take a guess, it was likely not the laboratory they were currently in.

The AI still needed time to search through it. He did not understand the process yet. He needed time to get it through his mind in a full sense, to analyse each part, and put it all together like the big puzzle that it was. But, he did not get to do that, for this situation was not in his control.

Adam did not always like the current reality. He wondered how he could fix such a problem in the future. Was time distortion in a localized plan possible? Also without killing Troy of course. That would be a messy deal otherwise, and certainly not one which could be easily benefitted from.

"We have to be quiet now, Troy," Charlie instructed, slightly hunched a few meters in front of Troy. The muscled man sat before the still-closed door, fiddling with the door-handle. He never closed down it, though, looking to be more focused on the forces needed to move it to the sides. "This damned door already has the chance of revealing our position, with how damn old it is. Which is weird, because it certainly wasn't like that last time I checked, and that can't be too long ago. Darlow should be standing around somewhere in the next room. It is my current goal in life to scare the ever-living crap out of him. A side-objective would be to make him swear in a language neither of us will ever understand ourselves. I will go first. You stay to the sides, trying to stay out of sight. Try not to complain or exclaim when you see the room. I promise you. It is not that interesting when you get a better look at it. No bloody good machinery to speak of.

Do you get the plan? Because I am already halfway to forgetting it myself."

Side-loping the potential early-onset dementia that Adam was seeing for himself, Troy looked to have grasped it quickly enough. Giving Charlie a quick nod, he got his body closer to the floor quickly enough. Not enough to hinder forward movement, but enough to force someone of average height to look slightly down. From what was written down about Darlow’s height, this technique would work better than it had any right to do.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

With a slow twist of the door-handle, the door itself slowly opened itself up. A quick thought was put to poor planning, with the centre of mass not being well placed, but that was quickly refuted with a point towards the utility of an automatically opening door. Manually pushed carts could easily fit through the door frame. Having to push the door itself away had the potential of jolting the containers held within the hypothetical cart, causing an unintended kinetic reaction. Adam was not sure what was normally worked on within the laboratory, but one could never be too sure. Even the pillars of table salt could cause unwanted mass-destruction. If improperly used at the very least.

Charlie went in first, his steps not being perceived in sound. If not for Troy’s direct stare at them, Adam would not even have realised that the other man had moved. Whatever method was used to nullify the sound, the AI wanted to know it. It was likely done by the shoes, however ordinary they may have looked. The silvery shine was being more and more likely to be coming from actual metal. Adam wondered how much the shoes weighed. It had to be next to nothing, with the ease Charlie was moving in them. Or, had the man tempered his body, just to use the equipment with no hindrance? Some humans did seem to have enough dedication from their craft, to do such acts of passion.

With a look to the left, Adam was able to see Charlie grinning smugly. Looking back at Troy, a nod of the head let them know that they needed to get moving. The big finale was coming up.

'It seems that you are expected to move forward.`, Adam sent to Troy. The man likely did not need to be told, having clearly understood the message himself. Yet, hesitation had been clear in the lack of movements. New stimuli were always the safest way to get the prior ones to seem petty in comparison.

Troy responded to the AI instantly, making a quick series of hand-signs which would just about mean 'Oh, really?` Adam did not mind the intended passive-aggressiveness in the slightest, seeing as it allowed them to get moving. With the body still in a crouched position, they moved through the doorway, and into the much brighter room.

The difference in light-strength had blurred the inside of the new room slightly, stopping the AI from peeing inside early. Yet, when Troy’s eyes finally adjusted fully, Adam was saddened that he had been made to wait for it to be revealed to him.

Where the earlier room had been draped in metallic and pure white colouring schemes, this one was anything but standard. It would not be too far from the truth to say, that the room had been filled with small explosions of paint that had been scattered through on the walls. Not a single piece of colouring could have been called symmetrical. It was pure, unadulterated chaos.

No matter how unbecoming it may have seemed on its own, it did fit quite nicely with the other additions to the room. Cages upon cages, made of what looked like an iron alloy, were stacked upon each other in one of the far corners. They may have looked small at first glance, but upon further inspection, it was obvious that they could fit a full-grown human easily enough. It was a trick of the mind, Adam not realising how massive the room was, being easily ten meters in each direction.

And this was not the only abstract piece of furniture that was housed inside. On the other side of the room, opposite of where Troy and Charlie had come in from, stood Darlow silently, using a knife to chop a variety of different foods down. Adam only paid him a small bit of mind currently, too focused on the room itself. Behind the tall man was a massive window, stretching up to the ceiling high above them. It showed what the AI could only surmise as a collection of smaller environments. Deserts, forests, and even a lake or two were all present. It was a long way down to them, as they looked to be in a massive room the size of what Adam had estimated an airship hangar to be. Small figures could also be seen in smaller environments. No guesses as to what these figures were could be made. Troy’s eyes were too out of focus for any meaningful details to be made.

On the last side of the room stood a variety of electronic devices. This included a good chunk of screens, each showing their own view of some animal or another. It was made from above, giving the AI a good idea on where the cameras themselves were located. The rest looked to be servers, composed of the usual bundles of fibre-cables going every direction possible. Whoever had set it up had not had any kind of wire-system in mind, chaos clearly shown in it. Adam wondered if they had been the one to design the wall-paintings as well.

With the interior observed to a superficially satisfactory level, the focus was put back on the event before them. Charlie had slowly been making his way forward, steadily closing in on Darlow. Adam had been worried that the sound created by the not-too quiet Troy would cause unwanted tension, but it seemed that any worries were misplaced. Darlow had been wearing what looked to be larger headphones. From the small hums coming from the tall man, it would be safe to say that he was listening to a fast-paced musical experience. And from the slight hint of music that Troy was able to pick up, and from the fact that such headphones were known to be extremely sound-proof, making noise was not among the AI’s worries. Adam doubted that Darlow would hear anything if Troy spoke at normal levels.

From their current position, the taller man was cutting up a large variety of meat, fish, vegetables and fruit. Great efforts were put into having them apart, with the knife being frequently cleaned. The cutting-board also had a similar effort put into it. The products were assorted into square plastic boxes for themselves. A sticker was afterwards put on them before Darlow continued with the next piece to cut up.

Adam enjoyed the sight. Despite having so much interaction with the personnel of the facility, he had never been able to see them work. Communication during their work-hours had certainly been made, but nothing about the things themselves that they did day-to-day. From the looks of it, despite Darlow being in the department specialising in biological pheromones, the current task was to cut up various assortments of edible plants and meats. The AI would have never guessed it! The laboratory scene would have been expected, not any of the practical work. His own view of what it meant to work was flawed. This was helping clear up so many things.

And it would certainly clear up yet another fact. What reaction would a man with a knife make, when he is suddenly scared from behind.

With extremely careful and slightly overdone steps, Charlie got ever closer to the tall giant. Adam would have expected Troy to portray his normal reaction of worry. That was expected nowadays. When under stress, the AI had not found the man to react that well. Yet, aside from the slightly increased heartbeat, Troy looked to be as excited as ever. Could it be that the man enjoyed others in pain? It was a possibility that needed to be considered. Ignoring it could provide more problems down the temporal line.

In but a moment, Charlie hooked his fingers into the sides of Darlow.

Darlow shrieked in tones higher than the AI had ever heard come from the mouth of a human.

"Mallacht mo chait ort!"

Language lessons were always appreciated, however short they might be. Adam could just not understand why Troy had ever complained about such free knowledge.