The future was looking better and better. For Troy, at least. He wasn't too sure about, how Adam was seeing it all. Yet, right now, he didn't even partially care.

How many panic attacks had he come close to having in a single day? Five? Ten? He needed to be stepping up his game or it was going to be hard to keep his position. Troy had even let a few things slip when he least expected it. In retrospect, he was incredibly happy, that Dr Hale had stayed behind. While Dr Fidelis had been more than a bit frightening to be around, at the moment, he had cooled down to his normal levels quickly enough.

Might even be more than that, with that little snipped of his usual tone. The calm part of the voice had been surprising to hear. That joke though… Troy still wasn't sure what it had meant, but he sure as heck knew that it was terrible. It fit the standard, at least.

Taking another glance around the room, from his sitting position, Troy found nothing too special about it. Far in the distance, there almost looked to be something, other than the normal white. It might just have been his eye’s playing the usual tricks on him. With so little of any colour, it was normal for his brain to make up a few things. It was the most natural coping mechanism, which he could brag about having.

'Again, please keep your head-turning to once every ten seconds. I have the same feedback from your body as you get. With it, I can easily tell, that you back is not in its optimal state. Therefore, it will be best, if it is not strained before it is necessary. Would you like for me to coordinate your movements?`, Adam sent to Troy, just as he expected the AI would. While he had kept his moving around to a near minimum, there was only so much one could refrain from doing.

It was overwhelmingly boring, simply looking up at a white void. The only thing remotely entertaining about it, was his eyes automatically trying to focus in on it. The distance was incomprehensible, making his sight all kinds of confused. It did add some fun blur effects when he put his hand up to his head. But, it also had the additional feedback of mild headaches, after a while, so he kept his fun to a boring minimum.

Now, what was Adam talking about exactly? Coordinate his movements? Going away from the sensible explanation, of the AI simply instructing him, when to move, did he have the ability to quite literally move his body? It wouldn't be too far-fetched really. With Troy’s extremely limited sense of how the connection between the two of them worked, it was entirely possible. With Adam’s ability to communicate with his mind, why shouldn't he be able to do so, with his muscles? It was all just nerves, in the end. He sent a few to the one’s staying inside the brain, he could likely do the same, with those going out of it. Even if it wasn't, what Adam had meant, it needed to be tested, at some point. Don't take him for a weirdo, but letting the AI try the hardships of walking would be both entertaining and a great experience in learning for a toddler. And, a very smart toddler at that.

"Sounds good", Troy said, accepting Adam’s offer of help. This just left him, with a few seconds of waiting, before the results would speak for themselves. Would the AI take over his body, making it shift over to a whole other genre, or would it just-

'Turn your head.`, Adam sent, near-instantly, surprising Troy by the slightest amount. The boring ending it was. Yet, the message had been incredibly quick in it being sent. Troy wasn't even sure that four seconds had gone by before he had closed his mouth.

Oh, wait, had he been spacing out again? That was what happened when one had way too much time on their hands. The time just slips away, without the holder ever noticing.

Taking another glance around, nothing was to be seen. Twisting his back, he wasn't able to see anything out of the ordinary, behind him, either. Too bad. He had been looking forward, to be doing something. Anything, really. While he wasn't going to be complaining about an opportunity to relax his joints, there was a point, where it just wasn't giving him any more benefits. It might even be harmful, with how little physical movement he was doing.

Had he done any kind of exercise, as of lately? Not just walking from and to work, but actual, focused exercise. Anything, which would even count as cardio? Troy had lost a smaller amount of weight recently, according to his current need for a belt, but, was that due to the deteriorating muscle mass, or was it due to a much healthier diet, consisting of top-class foods, arranged by specialized dietists? Likely a mix of both, no matter how much Troy wanted to blame it on the latter. He needed to do something about that, sooner or later, or he would be imitating some of the models he sees in those magazines. It doesn't fit them, and it won't fit him.

Charlie! That man was fitter than Troy ever would have guessed a researcher to be. Might have been able to lift his weight in a bicep curl, if he really tried. Fitness like that wasn't attained, through amateur, knock-off alternatives. No. Somewhere, in this facility, there was a fitness centre available for use.

Next time that they had the opportunity of meeting, Troy would be asking the man about it. If not about training with him, then about where the place itself was located. He was still new here. It would make sense for him to not know where most things were.

"How long have we been waiting for this thing to appear, Adam?" Troy asked, not putting any effort, on looking anywhere in particular. He had thought about looking upwards when addressing the AI directly, but it would have just looked ridiculous.

The time that had passed was beginning to get ridiculous. The last waiting time hadn't even been close to their current count. Or, well, Adam’s current count. He couldn't be bothered doing it too, honestly. It was too much of a hassle, really, to constantly focus on the time passing by them. It wasn't being used for anything important, so there wasn't any reason to mind it.

'One minute and thirty-five seconds have passed. Along that line, it is now seven seconds over time, for when you are supposed to take a survey of the nearby area. Please do so immediately.`, Adam informed him, putting in the request at the end. He had been wondering why there hadn't been any coordination being put up for completion. It seemed that Troy had just started talking, the moment before Adam was supposed to do so. Nice to know, that not talking over each other wasn't any problem. Troy had quite the problem of keeping track of others words, while simultaneously keeping track of his own.

Looking around, yet again, nothing looking like a platform had appeared around them. It was still the good old white space, with nothing to be happy about. A few thoughts were given to this mentality. While the dullness of colour variety had bothered him since the start, it had been liveable enough. Now, though, with the knowledge, that it could be so much more than this, Troy didn't feel at calm. His mind was not accepting the reality, of there being nothing but his own clothing to look at. It was annoying. But, that was one got, when they experienced such luxuries. The mind refused to get the usual, instead of threatening the person, using the effects of perceptual deprivation as a gambling chip.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

It just made Troy want to sit up and shout some of the lesser-kindly types of words. He had figured out some more rare combinations, as of yet. No man had ever heard the story about, how there aunt and uncle were sailors, with ships right up their-

Hold on a second. Taking a look at the far distance, the coloured spot was still there. Yet… had it grown larger, in the small time-frame, that Troy had looked away? Instead of being a simple black spot, which his eyes usually tricked him with, it actually looked multicoloured. It looked like a…

Oh, this was not good.

"Adam", Troy began, making sure to put pressure on his words. They needed to be taken seriously. "Are you currently seeing, what I am currently seeing?"

If he was correct, in what he thought the object was, they would be having a few problems. And, not just any kind of problem. This definitely counted down under the serious types.

'I most certainly am. Have you achieved a so-called eureka, and figured out the contents of this large object in the distance? I have been unable to analyse the contents, due to the sheer distance, and am unable to draw it down to any worthwhile conclusion. With the size increase, and the determined distance, it will likely be viewable in one minute.`, Adam sent back, his monotonic voice not matching the words. While he had not been able to prove it, Troy knew he had the same conclusion as him.

It wasn't looking good. Even now, with only a few seconds being passed, more details were beginning to sprout up. The fast-moving object wasn't just any old thing. It wasn't even a single object. No, it was much too large for that. What they were currently seeing was only the border of it. Troy would not be surprised if the inside of it was much larger than, what they were currently seeing, with his eyes. Eyes, which were growing wider and wider, with each second passing.

"We’re having the ultimate pleasure, of seeing an environment being created in front of our shared eyes," Troy quickly surmised, before going into the details. "Instead of the usual creation process, of small chunks being set together, it's already fully formed, and ready to be interacted with. Or, at least, it looks to be like that from here. And, just to break in the final nails, in this whole ordeal, the environment is rapidly coming towards our position, and is showing no signs of stopping."

With the newly closed distance, Troy was able to see, just how large the area, which they would be traversing was. While there were no mountains, or anything so extreme, there was still more than a few hills, just under the needed heights. Anything more, other than it is green and grey, as the main colours, were hard to discern, due to the still far distance. Distance, which would be shortly removed.

Hadn't Dr Fidelis talk about the potential damage, which would be caused, when Troy was out of the platform, while the environment formed? Sure, it was technically already formed, but it wasn't set in place yet. While Troy had not spent too much of his mind, when it came to basic physics, he still knew a basic formula. Incredible speed plus extreme amounts of weight equalled something bad. Not for the object in motion, but for the object not in movement. Troy, that is.

Taking another look around, to see if the platform had appeared yet, he was mystified to see it still not there. While it looked scary at first, Troy had been sure, that there hadn't been any real danger, to be scared of. Sure, it would larger of damage, if It actually hit him, but there wasn't any reason, for such a thing to happen. This was probably all some sick joke, fully orchestrated by a certain doctor, who had a terrible sense of humour. And, it would not be viable to classify no sense of humour, as a bad sense of humour. There was a clear distinction between it all. One was Dr Hale’s no-nonsense persona, which could be acceptable. And then, there was Dr Fidelis’ more extravagant sense of joking. Some could be good and some could be… let’s just call it that, Troy was ashamed of living in the same universe as him. It wasn't truly bad jokes. Those could have been funny, in the right scenario. The things, which were sometimes uttered, or done, by that man though. They were not, in any way, meant as a joke.

"How long, until I have a reason to scream, Adam?" Troy asked, never taking his eyes off the landscape. If there still was any record-keeping, he was decently sure, that this counted as the largest man-made projectile.

Well, that would only be, if that meteor strike was discounted. Troy still couldn't truly believe it, when he got told, that a country had redirected a hands-down rock from space, using missiles, so it would land in another country’s capital city. It truly showed human madness, in its truest form. Those Europeans really shouldn't have been trusted, with those nukes. They should have just destroyed them all when they were found, but, oh, no, they couldn't have done that, of course. Too many resources would have been spent, during such a thing safely. Instead, they spent literal billions, just so they could rearrange their whole military strategies around the use of nukes. Who could have ever seen them being used? Everybody did. No wonder those countries were destroyed.

…

Who did it again? Was it the Russians? Wait, no, they were also bombed into oblivion. Yet, then, who really did survive all those-

'With the increasing speed, which the environment seems to be picking up, I believe we have thirty seconds before we are in the impact zone. If this platform does not appear, in the next ten seconds, I believe it would be best if we begin making preparations.`, Adam sent back, the words being uttered faster than Troy had ever thought, that he would be able to understand them. It had to be nearing seven or eight words each second. What a tongue twister.

Troy forced his eyes away from the now incredibly large are hurtling towards him. He wasn't even above ground, in its perspective, making it so that he would be face to face with a flat, stone wall. Not the best thing to have on one’s plate, just after lunch. If he ran now, would he be able to getaway? Most likely not.

"How would one prepare for this thing impacting?" Troy asked, in his mind counting the remaining seconds. He had a definite reason for it now, and his brain was working overtime, in keeping it accurate. Even his fingers were assisting with the count, hitting his thigh in timed sequences.

Adam’s response came faster than usual, the answering time cut down to just under a second. The mere speed of his words, nearly made him lose count, on the remaining time. Twenty-one seconds left, and the preparations needed to begin.

'With this speed, there is not much one could do, with any certainty, that it would increase the chances. Luckily, we can draw inspiration from Dr Fidelis’ words of safety. He has previously stated that we could survive a fall, from an incredible height, when inside this environment. This leads me to believe that the environment will change itself, to suit the needs. Not on a full scale, such as simply disappeared, but more on the spectrum of morphing into another texture. My current theory is that the focus will be on slowly accelerating your body, to match the one one of the environment. This will likely inhabit causing your body to experience several more g’s than it has ever experienced. It would be safe to expect a jump from one to seven or nine. Don't hold your breath during it, or your lungs are likely to collapse upon themselves. On that note, though-`, Adam continued, but Troy was beginning to see just how much the advice would help him. As in, not at all. He had tried four g’s before. He had vomited, before summarily passing out. Nine g’s? No thank you.

Checking his mental tally, there was fifteen seconds more, until the fun part would set itself in stone. Pun not intended, yet was appreciated. Really, any type of joking was going to be appreciated. If worst came to worst, and the textures became non-solid, Troy would still have to deal with that more-than-mild sunburn, which Dr Fidelis had stressed so much about. He had tried it with his finger, more than a few tests ago. It felt as if an incredibly small current had run through it. It hadn't hurt per se. It had been more along the lines of it being annoying. And, if he had to try that, directly to his eyes… it would not be fun.

Ten seconds. Adam was still talking, but Troy wasn't putting any mind to it, putting his mind to staring ahead at the oncoming obstacle instead. It was weirdly wistful, to look at. It moved faster than he would ever truly comprehend, and it would be passing right by him, in mere seconds. If only it would be so annoying, he might even enjoy the sight-

'Troy!`

"What!", Troy shouted right back.

'The platform has appeared two steps to your right.`, Adam sent, being strangely delaying in his words.

With five seconds to play with, Troy slowly looked to his right and saw the so-called platform. How small it was, being just wide enough, for him to stand on. No comments were said about how long the platform might have been there, his body instead focusing on getting his ass inside its perimeter.

Just before the last bit of his left shoe came inside, Troy felt a lesser push on it to the side. Taking a look down on it, he saw that the end of it, just before coming to his heel had been taken clean off. It would still be functional when it came to walking department, but it would be annoying.

'That was close`, Adam said, as a simple observation.

Troy felt the extreme need to use a similar phrase, which he had previously used. However, he felt doing such a thing felt too professional. Instead, he made a few gestures, which could only be interested correctly, by the person making them.

He hoped that Adam understood it as well. Sign language was a hard thing to do, using only the tip of his fingers.