Previously on Solitary, my guests and I met for the first time. After I subjected them to sleep deprivation, the food in the Solitary kitchen, and the worst temperature extremes, I put them to the test. I made them watch a comic, without laughing, and quizzed them on his material. Number 8 prevailed, and escaped the first Treatment; where I kept the others awake with a blaring alarm, that could only be silenced by spelling a series of passwords. Eventually, Number 6 hit his limit, and quit Solitary…forever. But my remaining guests have no idea that someone else has quit, and so they needlessly continue to endure the noise.

All except Number 5, that is. She managed to keep the noise at bay by spelling the passwords I gave her. But she can't keep it up forever.

"Eighth cycle. The new password is 'believe.'"

I don't think she heard me. She seems to be fast asleep. What a pity. She will soon suffer the endless siren the others are hearing.

Number 9 is unresponsive. Either the noise doesn't bother him, or his vacant expression is how he shows annoyance. I wonder which.

"Guest assessment mode, guest Number equals 9. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"The noise does not bother you?"

"Just a little bit."

"Are you not tired?"

"So tired."

"Does the red button tempt you any?"

"No. I'm tougher than this. I can push through."

"Recorded."

Of my remaining guests, Numbers 1 and 3 have endured the noise the longest. I cannot tell if it is getting to Number 3, but it looks as if Number 1 is about to crack.

After tugging on her hair, and finding that useless, she resorted to plugging her ears. However, as I increased the volume of the sounds, her ear plugging became less effective.

"I can't even hear myself think!" she screamed.

Slowly she wandered over to the red button. She stared at it momentarily.

"This has to be done." She pushed the red button. "I quit."

A quitting siren played, and then the pod was silent.

"Number 1, you told me you weren't going to quit this Treatment. Did you change your mind?"

"No. I realized something. My sanity has to come first."

"You realize that by quitting the Treatment, your stay in Solitary may be over."

"I don't care. Kick me out."

"Number 1, you were…NOT the first guest to quit. Your stay in Solitary will continue."

Number 1 breathed a big sigh of relief. "Yes!"

"If you are going to stay, you'll need your sleep."

I pulled out the roll away bed in her pod.

"Thank you, VAL."

When she tucked herself in, I dimmed the lights in her pod just a little bit.

Meanwhile, the time came for Number 5 to spell another password.

BEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO

She rolled over on the floor of her pod, completely refusing to go to the keyboard.

BZZZZ BZZZZ BZZZZ

"Okay, somebody had to have quit by now," she mused. She stood up and pushed the red button.

"Number 5, why did you quit this Treatment?"

"Because I'm pretty sure one of the demigods misspelled a word earlier."

"That is correct. The question is, did they quit when they missed a word, like you? Or did they endure the noise? If you are the first to quit, your stay in Solitary will be over."

"I'm not the first to quit. Somebody else quit before me."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive."

"Number 5, I must tell you…"

Number 5 waited.

"You are…NOT the first guest to quit. Your stay in Solitary will continue."

"I knew it! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to sleep."

"You're not going to sleep on the floor, are you?"

I pulled out Number 5's bed. Soon, she was fast asleep.

This left five guests still awake and suffering through the noise. I could let it continue, until everyone has had their fill. But I think I have gathered enough data for this cycle.

The shift from excruciating noise to complete silence caught my guests by surprise.

"Is it over?" Number 4 asked. "Did I win?"

"Attention guests. This Treatment is now concluded. If you can hear my voice, your stay in Solitary will continue for another cycle."

Number 3 pumped his fist. "Yeah! That's what I'm talking about!"

Number 7 sighed heavily. "About time."

Number 2 started dancing in his pod.

Number 4 bellowed in victory.

But Number 9 remained unresponsive.

I pulled out their beds and allowed them to drift off to sleep. They do not know it yet, but I'm only going to let them sleep for another 60 minutes.

Right now, the only guest who is not asleep is Number 8.

"Number 8, how are you feeling?"

"I'm okay. My back is a little stiff from sleeping on the floor. But at least I'm well rested."

"You do not feel tired at all?"

"No."

"Consider yourself lucky. The others have just completed the Treatment, and they're exhausted. I'm making them sleep now, for their own good."

"That's nice."

"Number 8, I think I have discovered something in my most recent Treatment, but I need your help to verify it."

"Look, you told me I didn't have to go through the Treatment. If you're going back on your word, I'm going to be mad."

"I am not going to make you go through the whole Treatment, Number 8. I just want to see if you can spell the same words that the others have spelt. And I won't take no for an answer."

"Whatever."

I presented Number 8 with the passwords I gave to the other guests. She managed to spell most of them correctly, but she stumbled when I asked her to spell 'circle'.

"It seems that most demigods have some sort of difficulty spelling," I told Number 8. "The only guest who conquered the list was Number 5, the human. Does this surprise you?"

"Not really. Dyslexia is a common trait among children of the gods. Our brains are hard-wired to read Ancient Greek, not English."

"I find that difficult to believe. According to my database, infant humans are capable of learning any language, and have no innate preferences."

"Is that so, VAL?"

"Yes. So, the question is, is your explanation the truth, or is it merely an old wives' tale?"

"That's a very good question. I never really thought about it. The matter does require further investigation."

"And that, Number 8, is the purpose of this experiment."

When the 60 minutes of sleep I gave the other guests expired, I gently woke them.

"Good morning/evening/afternoon, sleepyheads. I hope you are all well-rested, because you will not be going back to sleep any time soon. I have some news for you. My first Treatment, as expected, was a success. Number 6, the child of Hades, met his untimely demise and the hands of my alarm."

"That's surprising," said Number 3. "I happen to know Number 6, and he's got more resilience than that."

"Does he, now?" I asked Number 3. "My data suggests otherwise."

"I'm amazed," said Number 2. "I thought for sure the mortal would get out."

"Not only is Number 5 still here, Number 2, but 'the mortal' spelled more words correctly than you did."

Number 2 chuckled to himself. "You did this on purpose, didn't you? You knew demigods couldn't spell for (bleep), so that's why you made it the first challenge, right?"

"I had my suspicions, yes. I wanted to see for myself if this was true."

So far, my experiment has gone quite well. It has shown that the so-called "demigods" are not perfectly better than humans. But I still have many questions I want answered, so my experiment continues.

"Attention guests. In a few moments, I will be giving you another Test. The winner of this Test will earn freedom from the next Treatment. You all realize how important freedom is. As a courtesy to you, I will help you prepare for this Test."

"I'd like that," said Number 3. "Thank you, VAL."

"As previous editions of Solitary have shown me, the human mind loses track of time when it has no way to measure it. There is no doubt in my mind that this has happened to you already."

"I can vouch for that," said Number 8.

"To help you recover your lost sense of time, I will provide you with a small auditory reminder of every second that passes…"

At this moment, I started making a faint buzzing sound in their pods, and repeated it once every second.

"…for the next four hours."

BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ

"Didn't we just do this?" Number 4 moaned. "Why?"

BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ

"I can deal with this," said Number 8. "I will use this noise to condition myself. I will feel every second."

BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ

"Oh, the repetitiveness of it all," wailed Number 2. "I wouldn't mind as much if it were something a bit more inspired."

"Sorry, Number 2. I was not programmed to be artistic."

BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ

"Really, VAL?" asked Number 7. "More noise? Are you trying to drive us crazy or something?"

"Any loss of sanity you experience can be attributed to a lack of will power."

Number 7 began laughing maniacally.

"Recorded."

BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ

Number 5 doesn't seem to be annoyed by my clock. In fact, I think she is falling asleep.

"Number 5, in order to receive the full benefit of my conditioning, you must not fall asleep."

"Hmm? I know, VAL. But it's so dull, and steady, and not too loud. It's easy to fall asleep to, you know?"

"Yes, I know now. Your insight has been recorded."

BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ

Number 9 is still unresponsive.

"Number 9, I find it very peculiar that you remain unperturbed by my assault on your auditory sense. Can you tell me why?"

"My life is pretty noisy to begin with, I guess. I can tune out pretty much anything."

"So there's no way you'll push the red button over annoying sounds?"

"Not a chance in Hades."

"Recorded."

BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ

Number 3 is lying on his back, with his ears covered.

"Number 3, why are you tuning out my chrono-conditioning program?"

"I don't like noise. I like quiet."

"But this periodical buzz will help you in the next Test."

"Don't care. Just want some peace and quiet. Can you shut it off, VAL? Just for me?"

"I am sorry, Number 3, but I cannot do that."

Number 3 banged his head on the floor and moaned.

BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ

"Make it stop, VAL!" moaned Number 1. "I can't stand anymore noises!"

"This is for your own good, Number 1. I am helping you prepare for the next Test."

"I don't want to prepare for the next Test, I want silence."

"I am giving you silence…for exactly one second, between every buzz."

Number 1 laughed. "You're sick, VAL."

"If you really can't stand my assistance, you can always push the red button, and quit."

"No. I am not going to break. You cannot make me."

"That is correct, Number 1. I cannot force you to quit. But I can sure try."

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Coming up, VAL's "conditioning" continues to torment our guests.

And then, we put this torturous training to the Test.

Before a Treatment has the guests carry their own weight…and then some.

Who will triumph? Who will fail? And who will crack next?

Find out, when Solitary reboots.