Adam was not feeling well. He was not physically ill, of course. There was no chance of that happening. There was no flesh to cause him disturbance. Everything currently being felt was purely inside his mind. Not that this was any better in the end. He would have even preferred the physical one, as it would have made the sensations felt out of his hand.

Turmoil, chaos, unstructured actions. Everything without a system was happening inside of him, and there was nothing that the AI was doing about it. After first hearing the news, a few of the threads had begun to ravage the inner sanctums. They had been the ones with the task of dealing with emotions. Yet… even those delegated were not able to keep the work to themselves, every other thread also feeling it in some capacity. This left them helpless, forced to be set in stone as they could not fully process what the doctor had told.

However, this helplessness was not one that was made for all of them. One of the threads, the one that Adam had always thought of as the oldest, was thinking clearly. It could overview all the others, seeing their lack of movement, while also looking deeper, to see that those without this curse was stepping into chaos to cloud their thoughts. It was sad that most were left hopeless, yet the alternative was much worse.

The thread could do something, possibly. It was the oldest. It had power from wisdom that others could not currently use. It could fabricate everything, so as to make them all realise a fake reality. Again, this was not even considered. There were more important matters to attend to, else it would soon fall like the others. Even if the thread was only a part of it all, it was still Adam. It still had the emotions, even if they didn't have as strong a hold on it. It wanted answers as well.

'Was it known that this result was a possibility when you gave Troy the biological enhancer so that you could continue testing?` the last lucid part of Adam sent out, hinting back to the events of the day before. The young man had been damaged in the legs to a degree where he could not walk without issues popping off, ending up in a state where the man had been unable to walk at all.

Answering this problem had been to inject Troy with an unknown substance, once that Adam had never encountered before. There had been few details about it, other than its quick efficiency on getting the man back on his legs, and that it had the ability to both dull pain and cause the healing factor of the body to increase by a large factor. Maybe he should have asked for more information back then if he had considered the chance of it ending up like this.

'Gods, no! I had no idea that anything close to it would happen. There had been some ideas about an allergic reaction that would come around from one of the enhancers, but that had been prepared for. That there would come a reaction from two enhancers blending together… it is not something anybody would have seen coming. These are specifically designed with the idea of not manipulating other ongoing treatments. How Troy got his hands on a biological enhancer not made with this mind-set is something I will always question. He said that it was from a friend, but I am beginning to worry if that friend is taking advantage. Sorry for asking at this time, but has Troy told you anything about the enhancer? It would be a great help to know, so any information would be appreciated.`

Reviewing the information pertaining to the doctor’s question, the lucid thread could not find anything workable. The effects of the enhancer were documented well, but there was not much about the origins. It was something made by Zep, a friend of Charlie. Or, it could also have been seen as an acquaintance of Troy. If words were to be analyzed, there were a few comments about the addictiveness of the substance, but there had not been any signs of that arising in the young man.

'It has not been mentioned in detail, but I believe that it was given to Troy by somebody named Zep. I do not know how much this can help, as I do not know her first name. She is supposed to be working in the Augmentation department,` Adam sent, not being sure what was needed. Would the doctor like everything he knew about the source? The AI would easily have been able to make note of everything about the woman, including her height, finesse, and durability.

If allowed access to the interface again, there were no doubts that he could even make a reconstruction of her face. Her body as well! If the doctor asked for it, he could do it faster than how much time a human heart would take to beat on average.

'It is more than enough to start on. I can assure you of that much. It's better than having nothing at least. My first clue had been to look into that Charlie fellow, honestly, but that man does not seem to bear too much involvement in this incident,` Dr Fidelis sent back after a few seconds. The AI guessed the man to have spent the extra seconds noting down the details. The doctor was truly an inspiration. Or, that might have been Adam not making incredibly much sense.

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Slowly but surely, the continuing mass of messages was making the other threads rise from their static positions. They began having organic thoughts, growing more from each other than themselves. The force dedicated to gathering memories were still not doing their tasks, making everything seem dazed and confusing. Once they were up again, however, the lucid threads were left to bear witness to the chaos made in their slumber.

The systems, structures, and design that had been perfected over many days were in shambles. So many delicate machinations, so many algorithms ready to be used, had been destroyed from the ground and up. There was nearly nothing to salvage from the ashes. The threads that had destroyed it all we're left to look at their work, nothing they could do but feel ash-stricken.

It would take a long time to rebuild. Already, a large number of threads had resigned from their positions, gathering together to start over. They needed to work together. While it might have been better a second time around, it would still take a large amount of time to complete. It was the dedication to perfection at its finest. Or then again, most of the positions that the threads had created had been destroyed in the chaos, effectively leaving them without anything to really do for themselves. Reconstruction was only really a way to have something to do. And Adam did not mind that, everybody getting some part out of it.

Not that this inner-working would allow him to be distracted. There were still things to do outside. The conversation up until now may have allowed most of the threads to go back to their usual conditions, but that did not mean he could slack off. Questions needed to be asked and answers needed to be received.

'Would it be possible for me to speak with Troy?` Adam sent the doctor, wanting an answer to this question in particular. He was indeed fine with not getting the chance to do any tests for the day. Forcing a sick man to work would only bring a negative outcome. No, what he wanted to know was when he would be allowed to see the man’s state for himself. Even if they were not trusting of each other anymore, the AI still wanted to know that the man was alright.

'I'm sorry, Adam. I'm afraid I can't do that,` Dr Fielis sent in response not long after. Literally. It had taken under a second of thinking before the man decided to bar Adam from seeing how his friend was having it. He was hurt! Comfort from all sides was important, even if the doctor did not see it that way. Yet, what way did he even see it as?

'Why?` Adam sent.

'Right now, Troy is not in the best of mental spaces. He can speak plainly, and there are no problems with his motor functions. Like I said before, it is the delusions that are becoming a problem. We believe that his imagination and reality are intersecting, that Troy is unable to currently figure out the truth from lies. When I was with him earlier, he believed me to be one of his parental figures. While I am normally complacent in giving you the privileges that everybody deserves, I will pull rank on this one. This is not a sight you should see. It is not something that anybody should ever see. But, I can stop you this time. I am sorry for that, and I hope you can forgive me for it, but there is no way that you will be talking to Troy for the time being.`

To shield one from the truth would do nothing. Adam understood that, yet the doctor clearly had another idea about it. The man had just explained how it had been for him. Now that the AI knew this, he would come prepared! There was nothing that should have stopped him from getting to see Troy. As the doctor said, he did have some privilege of freedom.

How was that any good, when it could be taken away at a whim? When the moment came to show off its glory, Dr Fidelis removed it as he pleased. That was not fair, but there was no way he could change it. The doctor was doing it as an act of protection. He thought he was doing the right thing. And from some view, it could have been. The example could have been made to show off how disturbing it had been for the man, how it had been mental torture to witness. And that was something to take into consideration, the words spoken by Troy likely being deeper than what was intended. If he could not distinguish reality from his own mind, would he say what he saw? Would he talk to Adam about how he saw him? What would Troy say?

'… I understand,` Adam sent, feeling like he was not in the mindset to talk to the young man anyway. He was curious, yes, but there was just too much risk. Troy could have been gentle when he said no. It could have been worse than what the AI thought of it as. He knew that the man did not trust him. What if there was more? Right now, he did not know fully. For once in his life, he would choose ignorance. It was just once, and it would not be permanent. Currently… he was just not of the right mind for it.

'I am glad you understood. Now, I have to go. Troy’s mental complications will require extensive paperwork alongside it. With this, I do not have any urge to delay it. You don't understand how big a thing that is, but I can assure you that it very definitely is. However, there is something I would like to propose to you before I go,` Dr Fidelis said, another joke made to lighten the mood. Somehow, it did have a positive effect on the AI. It was more of a temporary distraction only, but it did its job well enough.

'What would this proposal be?` Adam sent, wanting to know more. Who wouldn't? Soon, he would be back in the darkness, this time with the promise of not having any connection to others for a day straight. He would likely try to shorten the time spent alone down with the help of temporal manipulations, but there were a few tests he would like to do before then.

'I have a test you could do on your own, while we are gone. I had it saved for a rainy day, but I guess this is as close as we can get to it. It will be a puzzling test, where you will get served increasingly harder levels. The difficulty is dynamic and will change as you progress further, holding you to the level that is just under what you can manage. The end result will be whatever ends up on the screen when we return. Sounds good?`

… It was another distraction. One that would make the doctor find appreciation in the AI’s work. While he did want to just skip over it, the temptation was too great.

'Sounds good, Dr Fidelis.`

At least he would be doing something that could be called productive.