"Capturing me in my sleep. I thought you were more dramatic than that, Lalna," Rythian struggled to keep his voice calm, but he couldn't keep a note of panic from creeping into the remark.

"Just a precaution. I can't think of someone more perfect for this experiment, and I doubt you would have come with me willingly. Besides, it gave me a chance to test the sedative I've been working on," Lalna replied flippantly. He was bent over a screen, adjusting dials and switches that Rythian preferred not to examine too closely.

"Nice to know you see me as a guinea pig," Turning around in the glass cylinder that served as his prison, Rythian observed the small room. There were screens and control panels dominating one wall, but the rest were oddly bare. His own prison—which was far too much like a test tube for comfort—seemed to be the only truly outstanding feature. "So what exactly is this 'experiment' I'm perfect for? Explosives testing? The effects of radiation, perhaps?"

"Believe it or not, Rythian, not all science is geared towards violence. Now, I want you to think, what's something that's always present in the world? It's huge, and a part of everything that goes on here. Even when you think it's gone, it's always there at some level," Lalna crossed his arms and turned to face the imprisoned man, satisfied with the riddle he had presented.

"Your ego?" was Rythian's immediate answer.

"Sound," he pressed on, unfazed by Rythian's attempt at a joke. "Even in the quietest room, there's always some sort of outside sound present. I've managed to create a room that absorbs all sound- an anechoic chamber. I haven't been able to test it myself just yet," he admitted, "I'd need someone to let me out of the room for that. That's where you come in,"

"If you think I'm going to pass up on the opportunity to keep you locked in a room, you're sorely mistaken,"

"I'm not going into the chamber, you are. I'm going to unlock your current holding chamber-"

"Prison," Interjected Rythian.

"Your current holding chamber, and when I do, you're going to walk through that door and sit in the anechoic chamber. There you'll stay for as long as you can bear, and when you decide you've had enough of the silence, I'll open the door and let you go. Simple as that," Lalna explained the process as simply as he would've explained two-plus-two.

Rythian was entirely unconvinced. "What's the catch?"

"What? Lalna was genuinely shocked. He wasn't prepared for suspicion.

"Come on, there's no way it's as simple as you're making it out to be. You knocked me out, brought me here, and trapped me in this glass bubble so that you could ask me to test your anticonic chamber? What if I don't want to?"

"Anechoic chamber, not anticonic. And if you don't want to test it, you can leave,"

There was a moment of silence while that information was processed. "I can leave?"

"Of course. The test is no good to me if you're unwilling. This is all based on how one reacts to being in an entirely silent room. It wouldn't exactly work if you're screaming for me to let you out. If you don't want to test the chamber, you don't have to," Lalna paused before continuing, and a knowing smirk appeared on his face. "But aren't you the least bit curious, Rythian? In that room, the only thing you'd have to listen to is yourself. Your heartbeat, your breathing, your thoughts. Are you really telling me you're not at all curious to see what it's like to be entirely alone, with just your thoughts to talk to?"

Rythian's eyes narrowed, and he felt a biting answer building behind his lips. A resounding 'no' rang through his head, which is why he was shocked at what he heard spill past his lips.

"Fine," The walls of the cylinder slid apart, and Rythian stepped towards the scientist.

"Now, when I said this won't work unless you're willing, I meant it. I can't force you to stay silent, but for the sake of the experience, don't talk unless you're calling for me to open the door again. There's a camera in there, so I'll be able to tell when you want out,"

Rythian eyed the door suspiciously. As much as he hated to admit it, Lalna was right; he was genuinely curious as to what the anechoic chamber had to offer. Every survival instinct he had was screaming that he had to stop, that he shouldn't be willingly letting his archenemy lock him in a room, especially not a room surrounded by several feet of concrete and steel.

Then again, he'd ignored the very same instincts many times before—bringing a dinosaur into Blackrock, letting Zoey keep the science compound beneath the castle, agreeing to let her rescue Teep on her own—and everyone was fine so far. Why not test it once more?

"I understand, Lalna. No talking. Now, can I get started with this or what? In case you hadn't noticed, I have better things to do than sit around your lab,"

"I'll let you get back to Zoey when you're done," Rythian began to sputter a defense, probably something along the lines of 'I never said I wanted to get back to Zoey!', but Lalna continued talking. "I'm opening the chamber doors now, you can go inside whenever you want," He gestured to the far wall, where a steel door was opening to reveal a small room.

It was that same room Rythian found himself walking into a moment later. He knew he shouldn't be trusting Lalna in this way, but he continued regardless as if in a dream. He took first one step, then another across the wire netting suspended over the uneven floor, and took a seat in the chair in the center of the room.

"I'm ready. You can shut the door,"

If the walk into the room was a dream, then actually sitting inside the room itself was something else all together. When the door closed, Rythian was expecting a resounding boom, but the noise was clipped. As his ears adjusted to the deafening, smothering silence, Rythian became hyper-aware of his breathing, and his heartbeat began to pound through his ears. It would've been relaxing, had the lack of noise not seemed so unnatural.

He began to descend into his own thoughts, mainly consisting of What is wrong with you, why did you let yourself be locked in here, and it's counterpart, Relax, nothing is going to go wrong, you're overreacting, everything will be fine.

That is, until he started hearing Them.

Hello, Enderchild, They hissed into his hear. They seemed so real, almost as if he could reach out and touch Them and his heart rate quickened. He felt dread growing in the pit of his stomach, and cursed himself silently for not thinking They would bother him now.

What's wrong, Enderchild? Why are you so scared? Could it be that you're scared of confronting this part of yourself?

Rythian could hear the almost feral smile in Their voice. He tried to ignore Them, but his Ender side wouldn't go away.

Why do you insist on calling this side of you they? It's as much a part of you as your human side, why not refer to it as such?

Rythian was growing uncomfortable. There was no way to tell time in the small room, and he wondered how long he'd been inside. He was trying to ignore Them, but it obviously wasn't working. They jumped on this train of thought with predatory ease.

Poor, poor Enderchild. You're so used to being able to fight monsters, or at the very least run from them like the coward you truly are. But how are you going to run this time? No one to talk to, no way to distract yourself—you can't hide from voices in your head, Enderborn.

They were right. Normally, whenever They started talking to him like this Rythian would just distract himself with a chat with Zoey, or a menial task around the castle. There was nowhere for him to escape to now, and They knew it. They were taking full advantage of it.

Admit it, Enderborn. You claim to hate this side of you, and you try to stop it whenever it speaks. Secretly, though, you want nothing more than to indulge it. You say you hate when we speak, but if you truly did, you would've left this room by now. You're interested in what this side of you says, how it thinks. You want to observe it, don't you? To hold a conversation with it, or even just listen to it as you're doing now?

It was right again. One of the difficulties of having a voice in your head—they know everything you think. Of course, when the voice is out of your control (and completely malevolent), it tends to use that against you. Rythian hated how They could slip into his mind and magnify all the things he found wrong with himself.

You place the blame for that on your Ender side? Interesting. Don't you think you're the one choosing what to focus on? You provide the information, Enderborn, this side of you simply points out how true it all is.

Rythian tried to stave off Their voice, but They kept talking. He had no choice but to submit to the stream of criticism and listen as his entire existence was picked apart by his own mind.

When he heard the door slide open, Rythian thought it was just a hallucination caused by Them. He wasn't sure if They were able to do such things, but he wouldn't put it past Them. He simply watched as Lalna walked into the room and tapped his arm.

"Rythian, are you alright? We need to get you out of this room, come with me," Lalna's voice was strange, and much too loud. It took a moment for Rythian to realize that this was the real Lalna, coming to take him away from the silent hell. He tried to stand, and almost instantly collapsed. Lalna had to half-carry, half-drag Rythian outside. Just before he crossed the threshold of the door, Rythian heard Them hiss one last time into his ear.

You can't keep this side of you locked away forever, you know. You'll have to release it one day. And when that day comes, we'll be waiting.

"Rythian, are you awake?" Lalna had propped the dazed man against the wall. Rythian was struggling to come to full consciousness; his time in the room had left him in a glazed-over stupor.

"Why'd'ya takemeou'?" He slurred, but the meaning was understood.

"You were only ever supposed to last a half hour in that room, 45 minutes at the absolute most. I told myself I'd take you out at 45 minutes, since any longer could have been harmful to your mental health,"

"How long was I inside?" Worry was making Rythian regain awareness quicker.

"Well, I lost track of time, and I acted as soon as I realized what time it was-"

"Lalna, how long did you leave me in that room for?"

"An hour and 10 minutes," Rythian closed his eyes, which prompted Lalna to start talking again. "Rythian, I'm so sorry, I honestly didn't mean for it to go this way, I was expecting you to signal to leave 20 minutes in, if even that. When you reached 30 minutes, I was impressed. But it was never meant to go longer that 45 minutes, I swear,"

"Lalna, please shut up, listening to sound at a normal volume is hard enough right now without you blathering in my ear," Rythian was adjusting to the sounds of the lab well enough, and managed to climb to his feet. "Besides, I'm fine. I'm not raving like a mental patient, so the room didn't affect me too terribly,"

Lalna was silent for a moment before asking the question that was so clearly on his mind. "What were you thinking about in there that kept you sane?"

"I really don't think that's important," It was all Rythian could do to keep from snapping the answer. He was still disoriented by his experience talking to Them for so long. To keep Lalna from worrying, he smirked. "Besides, I doubt I was really all that sane to begin with," He started walking towards the door to leave. "Now if you'll excuse me, Lalna, I believe I said I have better things to do than sit around your lab,"

He marched out of there confidently, but he was shaken to the core. He wouldn't be forgetting what They had said to him in the silence any time soon.

You can't keep this side of you locked away forever, you know. You'll have to release it one day. And when that day comes, we'll be waiting.