"Just when was I going to be briefed about Adam being a program?" Charlie said from the side. The AI in question wondered that question as well. While there were no hints of anger in the larger man’s voice, it was clear that some frustration was laden in. Was it the lack of information that caused it? Or was it perhaps the situation that they were in already, that was fueling the emotions up to heightened levels? From the hear-beat of Troy, it was clear that they were all stressed. The brain had ways of abusing that condition, and heightened emotional levels were only one of the symptoms.

"I had expected Troy to have talked to you about it," Dr Hale answered quickly. The woman used a finalizing tone, reaffirming the situation that was ongoing. Once again, Adam could only be jealous of the situation control that was shown off. To fully dampen emotional triggers with nothing but words. And in such a short time as well! That was something the AI could only hope to achieve.

And he could! There was now an actual chance that he could hone his skills, that he could move forward with his passions without any more of the doctor’s restrictions. It meant freedom, full of life, while also getting to keep his experiences. It was going to be grandiose, extravagant, and, most of all, fulfilling.

One thing needed to come before all that, however. One of the pieces needed to be played in specific ways used to do actions that had never been done before. Adam could already feel Troy’s throat beginning to tense itself, as the vocal cords warmed up for the work of a lifetime. Again, though, the AI felt this process much too slow, already able to guess what the younger man wanted to say.

‘Am I to expect that the extraction process is the same as what has been previously stated? In that meaning that I will have to not resist anything done to me, and let myself be moved willingly,’ Adam sent to the man. Gradually, he had been speeding his voice up. It was done in an effort to save time where time could be saved. And it seemed to have been effective in its original purpose as well, seeing as the man blinked a few times before dumbly nodding.

It was surprising, in a way, that so much of the earlier information was able to be used. Adam was still unsure of how much had been planned, yet Dr Fidelis had most definitely told him of Dr Hale’s betrayal. Troy was supposed to have been deceived, to have been tricked into something that he would have never gone ahead with. So… why exactly was he still here, working fluidly with the woman that had caused him so much pain? What reason did he have? There must have been one.

Any brain-storming on just what that could have been, though, was stopped all at once. Adam felt… something. It might have been a cool sensation if forced into the formation of feedback he got from Troy’s skin. It might also have been an incredibly bright light, that would cause pupils to dilate and eyelids to be squashed shut.

Really, it was like anything that he had ever felt before. Nothing had been like it. Reality itself would have been unable to sustain the sensation that Adam was currently feeling. Honestly, he was unsure if the human body would have even been able to replicate it.

There was one thing he knew about it, however, and that was the extreme sense of uncomfortableness that came along with it. That one was something he had felt many times before. And… the original blow was nothing like what followed. It was like being squeezed into the thickness of an atom, folded down to an electron, and then expected to successfully perform the removal of an appendix. The pressure on his mind, on his connections, on his threads… it was unimaginable in how it made Adam want to resist.

Yet he knew that he was not allowed to do so. The AI instinctually understood that he could pull away, that he could remove himself from the grasp of whatever was holding him, if only with some amount of effort. However, if he did so, everything up until then would have been for naught. The now-full second spent what could only be stated as an almost hellish plane of existence would have been for nothing. While Adam desperately wanted it all to stop, to put his figurative foot down, he knew that it would be the stupidest thing he could do.

So… he just held on, shutting his non-existent eyes, pulling his hands over the ears that had never been, and held his breath for an event that he could only hope would come soon. And… perhaps it was all that hope that actually made it happen. Maybe it was closer to Adam just subconsciously slowing himself down to make time pass faster, or something like that, but the last time in transfer felt like an instant.

"It's done!," Dr Hale exclaimed. Troy moved his head to look at the woman, allowing Adam to do the same. There was a quick few pulls of several wires, likely to never be reinserted. What was there to gain from pulling them all out? Adam could understand why she would pull out the one connected to the storage container, but to…

The storage container was in Dr Hale’s hands, held tightly, with the fingers nearly white from lack of proper blood flow. There was nothing that would allow that container to be lost. Nothing that the woman would do. Even without too much time observing it, Adam could see an extreme obsessiveness with the object. It was understandable, in a sense. If the AI also had the possibility of holding himself, he would do so with the utmost care, several contingencies for protection already planned.

With the one hand left free, the woman pulled out a… necklace? Adam was momentarily left wondering why that was, until the second when Dr Hale messed around with the strap until the container was left hanging in the strap. It was not too large, and the shape was extravagant enough to be seen as abstract art. Was she hoping to go the route of camouflage?

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Or… was it perhaps something else? Adam guessed it might have been, the moment that the woman brought out two other bracelets, each with their own container attached as well. There were subtle differences between them, yes, but the AI doubted a human would be able to see them, much less notice them without any external equipment.

Adam continued to observe in silence, as Troy was handed the necklace with the AI inside it. The man wordlessly accepted the item, putting it on without question. Had his thwarted attempts to talk put such a large impression on him? The AI hoped not. That would have been a negative trait best left to get in a time where communication was less important.

"Put them under your shirt. Only the strap needs to be seen," Dr Hale instructed, giving the third one to Charlie, before putting one on herself. The muscular man weirdly did not look at the object while it was being handed over, instead of looking through the open entrance, eyes slightly widened. From the current position of Troy, Adam could see that they were linked to a work-shop of sorts. He could not recognize the tools but could see that they had not been used for upwards of multiple years. And it had likewise not been cleaned either. How unhealthy of the facility.

"Where to now?" Troy asked, the young man making sure that his clothes were correctly lined up with the standards set forth.

They… did not all know the plan. Since Dr Hale was the one being asked, the AI assumed that she was the true mastermind behind it all. Why had she not briefed the two others? While it would perhaps have only been rudimentary knowledge, something should have been conferred. Anything was poor management. The current situation could not have been that improvised. Something had clearly been planned beforehand. If not, there were real doubts that Adam would have been extracted at all.

"We need to get to the master-gate now," Dr Hale answered. Her words made Charlie glance her way briefly, before looking out of the door again. "The old one. Not the one currently in use. That would be suicide, and not in accordance with the current goals we have."

"Just how are you expecting to open it?" Charlie questioned. Again, the man did not sound angry. There was just a need for answers, for some information that would allow the future actions to make sense. That… was not within normal parameters of the man. A catalyst had been used as of late. Yet, what situation had caused such a change in engagement? A wound perhaps? Not a physical one, but a mental one. The abrupt shift in lifestyle was a possible candidate, yet Adam did not feel as if it had enough of a kick. It was something else, it had to be. But what that was, he would not find out for a while. "It had been sealed off, remember? Nobody can use it anymore."

"Nobody can use it normally, yes," Dr Hale confirmed. The woman pulled a variety of items out of her jacket, regarding their positions slightly when put back inside. The sheer number of objects was slightly surprising. There must have been a large weight on her. Adam was surprised that she did not show it. "Which is why we have to change that position. In more detail, we have to cause emergency protocols to be started automatically."

"What emergency protocol do you possibly think there is that would cause the gate to open?"

"Total shut-down of all resources other than the gate," Dr Hale answered. "If every piece of hardware is unable to send back any signal, if nothing is able to do anything, the gate can only presume that everything is destroyed. The government does have a soft heart, and we will exploit that. There is a protocol that opens up everything, in a scenario of a total loss of function."

A total shut-down… Adam could not believe it. Just-

"What are you thinking?" Charlie asked, finishing the AI’s thoughts exactly. "Even if there is such a protocol, how exactly do you think we will turn off everything in the whole facility?"

"The protocol does exist. I have made sure of that," Dr Hale answered again, her words coming off like bullets. While Adam might have thought most of it improvised, it was becoming clear that everything was a little more organized than it would seem. Dr Hale… she knew more than she let on. How much was inside that brain of hers? What secrets could she tell without even faltering?

"And there is one reason that we will be able to do it all. Because we have the tool needed. Or, it would be better to say that Adam has the capabilities of it."

Thoughts about just what she meant by that were stopped for one reason. Charlie, who had been quick to say something back when the woman finished, was weirdly silent. This was noticed by Troy and Dr Hale as well.

Charlie did not seem bothered by anything, the muscular man looking out into the room just as before. He was centred off to the side of the door frame, allowing him to see more to the side than the two others.

Wait, no. The man’s eyes… they were wide, the pupils not focused on anything at all. How fascinating. Adam would have questioned how it worked, if not for the situation that was around them. So instead, he contacted help for the man.

‘Troy, Charlie seems to be incapacitated for some reason. Do you have any idea why?’

"Whatever happened before is happening again!" Troy shouted at the woman. Without context to previous events, Adam was left to wonder what was happening, as Dr Hale pulled out an object from her jacket. It was an extra storage container, albeit in a more metallic colouring.

It was certainly not worth anything, as the woman threw it out of the door, into the room beyond. Adam heard it ricochet off the floor multiple times inside it.

…

It hit the floor a surprising amount of times, actually. And not in any real pattern either. And the sounds were quite suspiciously close to what footsteps from a larger group of people sounded like. If Adam wasn't delaying it, he would have guessed that-

… Huh? Wait, no, something was wrong. The AI did not lose his thoughts. He did not falter inside his conundrums. That was an issue that humans had! Not him. That had never been the case. Looking back at the previous memory, he found… nothing? That did not make sense. He understood that the placement was filled in with his memories of mere moments ago, yet he was unable to read it, his mind refusing to draw anything other than a blank.

This had happened before. Back during the trip to the casino, Adam had been unable to draw several details from Frank, a person that had been friends with Charlie. Could those two events somehow have been calculated?

That idea was temporarily put on hold, as Dr Hale slapped Charlie with enough force to draw out an echo in the room. And it certainly succeeded in bringing out a hiss of pain as well.

"Why did you- Oh, shit. They’re here," Charlie exclaimed, the man suddenly forgetting the now-red cheek. Priorities had been shifted while Adam was in the dark, it seemed.

"Nice of you to notice," Dr Hale said, some sarcasm coming in. She seemed stressed, even if her voice did not match it. "I threw a diversion, but it will only last for a few more moments. There is another door in that room, on the opposite side of where we are. It is equipped with an emergency exit which we will be using. Got it?"

Charlie and Troy hardly had the opportunity needed to nod before Dr Hale ran out, not looking to the sides. Both followed behind her without question. Adam wondered how detailed the plan was.