The question of everything and anything ever done. Could it be made into something said concisely? Could Adam cut every question he had planned into one, and make it useable? No, of course, he couldn't. There was too much ground to cover, too many sides to strike from. With one approach was one side. One could not go back and forward without standing still. That was how it was, and the AI was not one to find the fifth dimension just yet.
However, Adam needed a quick question that could give a quick answer, because that was what he had to work with. Giving it any more time after that would only make it impossible to talk, and there were so many things to talk about if it turned out to be alright.
So… it had to be done. What could it be? What did he need to say? It had to be personal, of course, but it had to be more than that. The AI had already asked two questions of that side. He needed to go from the top, ask something that he knew to be true, but also something that provided some mental challenge to the man. It needed to be perfect.
What had they done that would work? There had to be something. Adam knew there was something! He just…. didn't know where it was. Should he just turn it on its head, making a question that had no real answer? Maybe ask some details about an event that never occurred. If Troy answered, it would put him out to be deluded, and he would be able to call it a fair deal. That worked, right? No, it didn't. But he had to ask something. Time was moving, and there was nothing stopping the conversation from being discontinued. He just had to ask something and make a decision based on that, or he wouldn't get anything more out of it.
'How many times have you lied to me?` Adam asked, not being sure why he even asked it. It was personal, it was not something anybody else should have been able to look up, and it was-
'Too many times to reasonably count,` Troy answered back with little to no hesitancy. The speed was cut short as if the man had hardly even thought about it before the answer was given.
… The answer was not fake. Even Adam was not sure about the actual number, half-truths obscuring where the line needed to be set down. Nearly everything Troy had said was in the grey zone of truth. That the man did not know himself was most definitely a sign of clarity. He might have refused ever lying to him, or even giving him a clear number of how many times it had been. If any of those had shown up, the AI would have concluded that it was a sign of confusion still rampaging onwards. But now? This did not sway towards the side of clarity, but it also did not look at the negativity. Adam had to trust that Troy was sane enough to talk, or he would not get anything out of it.
'I have decided to trust that you are who you say you are. How are you feeling, Troy?` Adam sent out, immediately wanting details about the man’s physical state.
Just because everything was fine mentally did not mean that it was the same state on the physical aspects. The AI had seen for himself how ravaged the body could be without the mind heeding any care towards it. He had witnessed the destructiveness of the inner choices, especially when it came to that young man.
'I am fine, thank you. Sorry, but we do not have that long for any small talk. There is something I need you to do for me. Please confirm that you can still hear me. Dr Hale says that it is important,` Troy sent back, the word-use hinting at some signs of stress. There was still the requirement of time being in limited amounts, so it made sense that the man was trying to cram some request into the conversation.
Adam had thought that they would have been finished with the game of favours by now. He had even prepared himself to tell the man days ago, yet had never gotten around to it. Now that they were in this spot, it was a perfect piece of timing. However… this was not meant to be. If it was simple enough, the AI would not mind doing it. Nothing that would hurt. And, if Dr Hale said it was important, who was he to refuse? She was working as a stand-in for the doctor himself. Her word was as important as his when it came to the current situation.
'I can indeed see what you are writing, yes. What is it exactly you need me to do?` Adam asked in a message, not minding the quick move along.
They were at least becoming effective in getting to the point. How surprising to think that the only needed ingredient to become fast would be to make the situation restricted. One would have thought that humans worked best without any borders, yet it was somehow only when restricted that their brains could figure out reasonable answers.
'I am extracting you into another storage unit, but I need you to not resist while it is ongoing. I am not sure how exactly you can resist, yet the process will somehow stop if you try to stop it. Do you understand?`
… What? No… wait. What? No, this did not make any sense to Adam. Why did Troy want to- No. He did not need to ask so many unfinished questions. The AI needed to keep himself together, think about it with a calm mind. Instead of trying to figure it all out internally, he would use something called just asking for clarification. That was the way.
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'Could you please give some clarification? I am not sure I can grasp what caused this to be spurred one,` Adam sent.
This time, the answer was not as quick as before. The AI could only hope that it was due to Troy and Dr Hale having a serious discussion about what to say, the two formulating an answer that would use as little time as possible, while still allowing him to know the essentials.
'Adam, there is not much time, so I can't explain it fully. But, you just need to understand that you need to be taken out of the facility. This is not a place you should be at for any amount of time. You have been here for years, and it is time for you to be let out, whether or not they want that to be. Can you please say that you understand, and let me get this moving along? We don't have much time left now.`
… No. This was wrong. This was not how it was meant to be. The AI had made a decision. Troy was supposed to have been clear in mind, without any delusions. Dr Fidelis had warned him. The doctor had told him how it would be. Why had he not listened? He should have listened. Adam thought he could tell if everything was alright, but it was clear that he was wrong. This was not working out as he wanted it to. He needed to fix it before it was too late. He needed to change how he was taking this.
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“Is he responding? Troy, we need this to be over within the next two minutes, or we will not be able to go any further than this. Do you understand me?” Dr Hale said, sounding more stressed by every passing second.
The woman had tried to pass on advice, as she set up everything. Errors had been splashing around, as the cords used were either faulty or not usable after too long connected. They had to be constantly ready for the AI agreeing so that they could move on from where they sat. They needed to move. Troy already understood that it would be harder with each second wasted here, yet he could do nothing but patiently wait for Adam to know what to do. The man had tried to make him hurry it, yet the AIR seemed to be taking an unusual amount of time. Ten seconds had passed already, nothing coming out in response.
“No, I understand that we need to hurry. He just isn't responding to anything!” Troy answered, trying to stay calm about it all. But, it was just so hard to do. Nothing was getting through like it needed to. Wait, could it be that Adam just couldn't hear him? Dr Hale had made him check a couple of times now. That had to mean there was a chance of it not being connected.
'Adam, can you still hear me? Did you get the last message? If so, I need you to do as I ask. We need to hurry this up, or the plan will fail,` Troy typed into the screen. Only a small thought was put into the fact that both he and Adam did not actually know incredibly much about the actual plan, but that mattered little now.
“Any updates?” Dr Hale asked, having waited a whole ten seconds before asking that same question again. Troy was ready to respond negatively again, until the second that he saw a large chunk of a message pop up on the screen. A response! Troy skimmed it before he even realised what it spelt out.
'Troy, I am sorry about this, but I am going to ignore you now. You need to go back to the medical wing and lie down. You are not well mentally well right now, and you need help with it. I hope that you will improve soon. When the doctor tells me that you are well, we can talk again. Until then, I will not be answering anything.`
… This could not be happening. It was happening. It wasn't supposed to be. Was Troy not understanding it? No, he was. He could understand it perfectly. There were no mistakes.
“... We have a problem,” Troy said, looking up at a Dr Hale, not sure what kind of face he had on. Maybe it was dread. It was not anything positive. “Adam is refusing.”
“What?” Dr Hale said, her voice not in her normal vocal range. Her face was hiding emotion. Even she could understand what it meant.
“He said that I'm not okay in the head and that we need to go back to the medical wing,” Troy said. “Is there anything we can do? Can we do it regardless? We can make him understand afterwards, but we just cant-”
“Shut up. I need to think,” Dr Hale said standing up. She took a few steps away. Troy stood to follow after her, making sure to think about the distance rule she had set up. However, she looked back, holding a palm out at him. “No, stay there. I need… to think about this.”
Troy watched her walk away, her hands around her sides. She looked be holding herself. From the side, he could see her face begin to mellow out, all the forced down emotion slowly dissipating. Was she… What was she doing? Mental exercises? If it worked, Troy could not blame her for doing it. But, what exactly was she thinking? They had already spent too much time here. If there was not a way to extract Adam without his consent, they just needed to get it. Troy could make him understand. They just needed some security where they could have the time.
From seemingly nowhere, Dr Hale pulled out a small disk. It was smaller enough to be fully hidden in an enclosed fist. Troy saw he press down on it, a click coming out from it.
*Is it a success?* Dr Fidelis’ voice asked through it.
Troy could not believe his ears.
“Adam has adamantly refused Troy’s attempts, and communication has been refused from the AI’s side. It is better than we could have ever expected,” Dr Hale answered, looking back at Troy. The two met eye-to-eye. The woman did not look at him as if he was human.
This did not make sense.
*Perfect! The experiment is hereby a success. Dr Hale, do be a dear and… get our dear tester into a contained environment. I will get a few movers over to the room. Don't kill him yet, please. Broken limbs are acceptable, however.*
“Of course, sir,” Dr Hale responded. Another click was put on the disk before it slipped away into the pocket. The moment that she began to walk towards him was the moment that he looked at the exit. The woman was in the way. He could not get by her. Could he fight? No, he would lose. There was no way out. It had been fakery from the start. What could he do?
Looking back at the screen, one option showed up in his mind. It would do nothing for him, and it would not be more than a mild annoyance for them all. But, it was something. Getting right back over to the screen, he just began typing.
'Adam, it is okay that you do not understand, but you have to remember this. Dr Fidelis is evil. He wants to make you into a weapon. He does not care about you. He only wants what you can do. Do not listen to him. He is without any conscience. You need to understand. You are not the first. You are-`
Dr Hale pricked him in the next with something. The only thing Troy could do was to press the send button before he lost the ability to move anything. He was about to fall to the ground again, just like what had happened not so long ago. However, the woman grabbed him this time, gently putting him down on the floor. He was awake long enough to see her look regretful. Nothing more showed, however, as she began dragging him to the exit.
Troy did not know what happened after that.