Over the metal-grating, Troy went. He didn't really like it inside that room. Nothing to look at, and nothing to react to. Nearly no stimulus. But, it was his job, and an existing job was something which only happened in one's own mind.

 

Still, it was more than grating on his mental stability. And, the headache he was feeling isn't helping much either. It was pounding the backside of Troy's head, with all it had.

 

Actually… Troy was beginning to feel a bit dizzy. Was he dehydrated, or something? Coffee counted as a liquid, right. Troy was pretty sure it did.

 

He nearly stumbled over his own feet, but held himself up, by holding onto the railing at his right side.

 

Dr Fidelis slowly walked over, greatly improving from his hastily gait from yesterday. He could probably see the tiredness in Troy.

 

“Something wrong, buddy?” Dr Fidelis asked, slinging one of Troy's arms over his shoulder. He then helped Troy over to the desk chair, where he sat down.

 

“I'm not sure, to be honest. Before I got inside the white room, I felt just fine. But, then, I just got this irritating headache,” Troy said, leaning back into the chair.

 

He checked his forehead. Was he hot? He sure didn't feel like it. Troy was sweating a bit, though, so he couldn't be completely sure.

 

Dr Fidelis opened up one of the drawers and pulled out a water bottle, which was handed to Troy. He took it, opened it, and took a large mouthful. It didn't help with the headache immediately, but it did temporarily cure his dry throat.

 

“We were supposed to do one more test before we took a break”, Dr Fidelis began to say, but Troy wasn't really listening as much as he should have. “But, Dr Hale noticed that your blood pressure seemed to be spiking, so we pulled you out early. Have you been stressed lately, Troy?”

 

Troy thought back to the last twenty-four hours. Had it been too stressful? Well, there had been some less enjoyable parts. But, would that really have put him over the edge?

 

And, if one would say that they did, wouldn't he have felt it much earlier? The stress had been felt, but it wasn't that serious. Honestly, in the last few weeks, he had stressed over money-problem much more than now.

 

“No, I haven't been very strained lately. I mean, there are the new-job tingles, but that's it. Nothing serious”, Troy explained. Was he just being a wuss, with his body overreacting a little?

 

Dr Fidelis didn't answer immediately. Instead, he just looked over at Dr Hale, who had been silently observing their conversation, while writing down on her electronic notepad.

 

“Dr Hale, do you still have that flashlight of yours?” Dr Fidelis asked.

 

Dr Hale just nodded and pulled a miniature flashlight out of her left pocket. Dr Fidelis took it, turned it on, and began waving it at Troy's face.

 

Was he really trying to get a reaction out of Troy right now? Troy didn't think that he was the time.

 

He tried to turn his head away from what felt like some blinding light, but Dr Fidelis' hand held him firm.

 

“Do sit still,” Dr Fidelis stated, with a tone like he was focused on something else. “I'm just checking something.”

 

This made Troy try to sit as still as he could. He didn't like being flashed with a flashlight, but he wasn't the professional, so he couldn't complain.

 

Dr Fidelis continued to flash Troy in his eyes for a good minute. He would switch from eye to eye, seemingly looking for something. What he was looking for, Troy wasn't sure.

 

After what felt like an eternity to Troy, but was only a minute or two, Dr Fidelis finally stepped back, turning off the light in the process.

 

“Dr Hale,” Dr Fidelis said, with a firm voice. “I believe I have found the root of our recent troubles. Would you be a dear, and go grab a Neural-Upgrader. Let's say… a gen six, in pill form.”

 

“Of course, Dr Fidelis. I'll be right back,” Dr Hale said, and off she went, out through the secret door, and down the hallway.

 

The focus was turned back to Troy. He wasn't sure if he was in trouble. Had he finally found something to be stressed about? Had he just lost his job?

 

“So. Troy.” Dr Fidelis's voice didn't sound angry. It… it could almost be counted as sounding disappointed.

 

Oh, Troy was out of luck. He had never heard Dr Fidelis talk in such a tone before. Sure, he had known Dr Fidelis in less than twenty-four hours, but one would have guessed that a disappointed tone would be heard before then. At least, that was something Troy would have had in his experience. Before, he had had trouble even keeping most of his jobs for more than a week. It just seemed that his superiors just didn't like him. It wasn't his fault, that he was honest about his opinion! And, AND, he had held off on saying anything, this time! He had said nothing cruel to anybody! Okay, maybe he had been a little unkind to that Charlie fellow… and maybe he had been a little sarcastic when he first met Dr Hale. Still, that shouldn't warrant such rash-

 

“Troy. Are you in there, buddy?” This time Dr Fidelis's voice was more firm. It drew Troy out of his inner-acknowledging thought circle.

 

“Yes, sir?” Troy asked, trying to have his sound as calm as he could. Inside, he was already checking what position would be best when sleeping on the floor. They said the back was worse, because of the hardness, but couldn't the same argument be used for the sides? It was calling somebody a witch, cause they floated. Complete nonsense, created by facts that are twisted by countless retellings.

 

“First off, there's something I want to know.”

 

Troy knew it! He had done something wrong.

 

“When did you get your Neural-link?” Dr Fidelis asked, with a questioning tone, like he was honestly curious what the answer would be.

 

“What?” Troy sputtered out. This was not what he had expected to come out.

 

“Most call it brain-implants, but the scientific name for it is accepted as being Neural-Link.”

 

“Oh”, Troy said, with a not so understanding tone.

 

Dr Fidelis, likely seeing this from Troy's not-so-much poker-face, continued his explanation.

 

“In our output-readings, your Neural-Link's model-name is designated as Unknown. This could mean two things. The first would be that it's a rare or less-commonly used model, which isn't included in the Common-Database. When I first read up on your profile, I guessed that this was, what the problem was, but, now, my views have changed. I'm beginning to think that it's the second possibility, that is the source of our problems. You see, while the Common-Database isn't new, it can't be called ancient either. Its been around for more than a couple years. Until a decade or two ago, there were still some brain-implants floating around, which was not included in the Common-Database, purely due to their age. So, I have been curious about the true age of your implants. When did you get it?”

 

This threw Troy some rope. It looked like he wasn't too deep yet. He had a much better chance of keeping this job than he thought.

 

“I got the implant, when I was five, like all the others. Isn't that the standard to get them, when you're that age?” Troy asked.

 

“A long time ago, it was standard to get Neural-Links, when you were five to seven, sure. But, you would not even be close to being born then. According to your ID, you're a little under twenty-five. If you would be at the correct age, where you would get them when you're five, you would be around forty years old. Now, if my assumption is correct, you are using outdated technology. Technology that wasn't designed, with the possibility to handle the amount of work that we've been putting it through. Would you mind, if I run an advanced scan, to see if I can pin down the model you have?”

 

The possibility of Troy having an older Neural-Link didn't really surprise him. He knew that his parents had always been on the cheap side of life. These things cost more than a lot, and they were obligatory to have. If they didn't have the money, it made sense that they would have just gotten an older model for a cheaper price.

 

Back to the topic of finding Troy's specific model of brain-implant. An advanced scan was needed. With Dr Fidelis having to even mention it, Troy guessed it was something, where they would need to get physical. He didn't like that possibility.

 

“What would an advanced scan entail?”

 

“Oh, nothing serious,” Dr Fidelis said, reassuringly. “In the old days, we would just stick a large needle through the right of your head. Now, we just need you to put on some very fancy headgear. Its less lethal, but much less fun too.”

 

“And no needles will be included?”

 

“No needles, that I know of.” Not the most reassuring thing to be told, but it was acceptable.

 

“Then I accept.”

 

“Great! One moment,” Dr Fidelis said. He stepped away and pulled out what looked to be one of those ancient flip-phones. He seemed to punch in a few cyphers, before putting the device to his ear.

 

“Hello? Yes. Dr Hale, I will need you to bring along a Non-Intrusive Neural-Scanning Headgear along, as well… Yes, I do remember that I told you to only bring the… But, you're still close to it! It shouldn't be too hard to… Now, there's no need to shout… okay, that is a fair point. Just tell Greg that it's a Code: Epsilon… Yes, I realise that I am pulling rank. No, I will take the blame… Trust me, Dr Hale, they don't have a lot more things to pull away. Good? Good. See you in a bit.”

 

Dr Fidelis put the device back inside his pocket and went back to Troy.

 

“We'll be able to test it in a few minutes. In the meanwhile, we can quickly get the footage of the recent test off your hands.” Dr Fidelis said.

 

Troy unstrapped the Camera and Microphone and handed it over to Dr Fidelis, who plugged it into the electronic screens. A percent-slider appeared. Looking at the slowness of it, it seemed like they had some time before it was done.

 

“Do get the earpiece off too,” Dr Fidelis said, not looking away from the screen. “I want to make sure I actually know where it is today. I lost it somewhere yesterday, you see.”

 

Oh, yeah, Troy had not mentioned that yet.

 

“That could partly be my fault,” Troy said.

 

This drew the attention back to Troy, with Dr Fidelis looking over at him.

 

“Do elaborate.”

 

“We forgot to get it off my head yesterday. I only just noticed that I still had it on, when I was going to bed, and Adam's voice just came out of nowhere, when I was mumbling to myself.”

 

To this, Dr Fidelis politely laughed. Troy hadn't been trying to be funny, but anything positive in the current situation was positive overall.

 

“Oh, I just knew that I shouldn't have focused on making the earpiece comfortable”, Dr Fidelis said, with a reminiscent smile, as he fiddled with the earpiece... “The first edition this of thing was… how do I professionally say this? It was… obvious to oneself when one was wearing. And it left its marks. Specifically, red marks. It was too heavy. It almost made me turn it into a full-on headset, but I stood by my original choice, and, after more than two months working on the design, I was finally able to slim it down to this.”

 

Dr Fidelis had semi taken the earpiece apart, with nearly all the inside arranged in neat lines on the desk. How Dr Fidelis had even opened it up, Troy had no idea. To him, it had looked completely formed of a single material.

 

“Did you speak with Adam? Last night, I mean”, Dr Fidelis asked, while he began to put the small parts back together.

 

“We did talk a small bit. I was just about ready to sleep when Adam spoke, so I cut it off quickly. When I mentioned that I was going to sleep, he seemed weirdly focused on me explaining it to him. I'm not sure why, to be honest,” Troy said, thinking back on things he had wondered about Adam.

 

After hearing what Troy said, Dr Fidelis made a small laugh. Not a laugh that was just for politeness. No, it was a laugh of understanding, like he had finally understood the joke he was told weeks ago.

 

This reminded Troy of something he had been wondering about for a while now.

 

“Hey, Dr Fidelis.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“I have a question. About Adam.”

 

That seemed to have gotten his attention. Before, during their conversation, Dr Fidelis had merely been glancing over to Troy frequently, while fiddling with either the earpiece or some specs on the screen. Now, Dr Fidelis had fully turned his head.

 

“What is it you're confused about?”

 

“It's about info-packs. I was under the presumption that Adam had never received any.”

 

Dr Fidelis drew a relieved breath.

 

“Oh, that's great. I was worried you were going to ask something, I couldn't tell you. This one is easy,” Dr Fidelis said, with a quickly turning smile. “Technically, Adam has never received any info-packs, from the moment he was made. But, that doesn't mean that he doesn't have information, which we haven't told him. To help him quickly get a grasp on things, we had pre-supplied him with a bunch of information. He doesn't get access to them instantly. That would be cheating, and against my morals. No, he slowly gets access to the info-pack by methodically searching out the information.”

 

Things began to make sense to Troy. He had been wondering why Adam had been able to speak without being taught. Now, he finally knew.

 

…

 

A bit of a weak answer, though. He had been expecting a bit more. Well. Real-life couldn't always be interesting.

 

A screeching sound came from the right.

 

“I really need to get somebody down to fix that door,” Dr Fidelis muttered. “Sometimes, for no reason at all, it just begins screeching like that every time it gets opened.”

 

Troy didn't answer, more focused on the incoming Dr Hale. She was looking mildly annoyed while carrying a folded out cardboard-box, which Troy guessed had the asked-for equipment.

 

Dr Hale went over to Dr Fidelis, gave him the box, and went back into her standard position, of standing a few meters away, and noting down things.

 

Dr Fidelis pulled out, what must have been some pretty advanced technology. To Troy, it looked like an old bicycle helmet, with a lot of corded spikes on top. It even had a strap to hold it in place on your head.

 

Dr Fidelis fiddled a bit with the cords, and pressed a few buttons on the side, before handing it to Troy.

 

“See. No needles to be seen,” Dr Fidelis said. Dr Hale looked confused at that for a second before she noted it down like everything else.

 

Troy looked at it for a moment, before he put it on, treating it like a bicycle helmet while strapping it on securely, much to Dr Hale's displeasure, and Dr Fidelis' amusement.

 

“Do be careful, when handling that one. They aren't made too cheaply”, Dr Fidelis said.

 

“How much do they cost to make?” Troy asked.

 

“At a rough estimate? About… forty-five, maybe fifty, grand. The materials for it aren't too expensive, but the military is unfortunately not letting us get the blueprint for the machines used to make these things.”

 

That made Troy hesitate on even moving his head to breathe. This thing cost more than what Troy usually made in a year.

 

His stillness at least made it easier for Dr Fidelis to press a few more buttons on the side of the helmet. This causes it to begin emitting a long, drawn, high pitched noise. It sounded like what Troy imagined it would sound like if you slid an old door-key on a piano-string.

 

After a few seconds, a short beep came from it, and the high-pitched noise stopped. This caused Dr Fidelis to look over the small screen, which accompanied the buttons on the side of the helmet.

 

He whistled at what he saw.

 

“I am honestly surprised that your parents could even find this model. This is some second-generation tech. It's a miracle, that we can even upgrade it safely.”

 

Troy took off the helmet, which Dr Hale took out of his hands surprisingly fast. Guess she didn't want him handling it for any longer than necessary.

 

Dr Fidelis got back into focus when he juggled a small, white and red pill in front of Troy's face.

 

“Now, you just need to swallow this. It's filled with a couple of million nano-bots, which will upgrade your pitiful Neural-Link to something much better. Try not to bite into it. I hear it gets very uncomfortable, buddy, if you do that, so don't even think about it.”

 

Nanobots in Troy's brain, huh. That didn't sound safe at all. But, Troy wouldn't know if it was or wasn't, so better to just trust your betters.

 

He swallowed it quickly, trying to ignore the terrible taste.

 

Dr Fidelis, seeing this, clapped his hand together.

 

“Great. Let's get you ready for the next test. It should take enough time for the nanobots to have done their job.”

 

Troy got up. He wasn't so dizzy anymore. That was good, seeing as it was time to get back to work.

 

He strapped the microphone and camera back on, put on the forgetful earpiece, and headed back inside the puzzle room.