The Alternate Test Subjects

by hatchlingpendragon

It's not that She was desperate. Desperation came from poor progress, and poor progress came from Bad Science. No, She was not desperate. She was just taking advantage of Her resources. The key to a good test was variety, of which lunatics, while dangerous, provided the best of. Unfortunately She lost track of Her lunatic. Ah, well, at least She now had these brand-new ones.

13. Of Course You Realize

She was growing concerned, and not just because she had seemed to reach an informational loop.

Another concern was that she was losing sense of time, perhaps even a sense of self.

She'd tried to time the cycles, but there was no clock, and no real discernible rhythm. The cycles themselves, were, well, harmless enough, she supposed. If sudden bouts of sleep were harmless in the same way as tranquilizers.

It was bizarre, and disturbing. She would work on the computer, when suddenly she'd feel a bit tired. The next thing she knew, she'd wake up in the bed again, the room reset as if it were the first time she'd woken up in it. She'd tested this. Turning that bloody boring picture to face the wall, stripping the bed sheets, she'd even tried hiding that stupid radio. The radio had ended up in the same place on the cabinet, even that little dent she'd put in it was gone.

These cycles had happened more times now than she could count.

She figured the reason was a sort of 'reset', but what was it resetting, and why?

Downright disturbing.

She was carefully alert this time, trying to keep an eye or ear out for the trigger to these cycles. In the meantime, she'd managed to recover the menu she discovered, the one about the current employee roster. It was equally disturbing, but also intriguing, if she were honest.

[COMMAND:ACCESS:re:EMPLOYEE menu:sub-opt menu:CTRL SUB]

[CTRL SUB menu]

[NAME: [REDACTED] Pauling;
EMPLOY: Full-time employee, Chief Assistant;
RESOURCE: Management]

[NAME: Dell Conagher, Engineer, Engie;
EMPLOY: Full-time employee, Engineer;
RESOURCE: Upgrades]

[NAME: Nickolaj Pavlov, Heavy Weapons Guy, Heavy;
EMPLOY: Full-time employee, Assistant;
RESOURCE: beta tester, Control Group]

[NAME: Jane Doe, Soldier, Lunatic;
EMPLOY: Full-time employee, Idea Generator (Note: Unsuitable for testing);
RESOURCE: ideas, examples, Control Group]

[NAME: Unknown, Spy;
EMPLOY: Full-time employee, Bloodhound;
RESOURCE: Monster Hunter, Control Group]

[NAME: James Mundy, Sniper, Horrible Person;
EMPLOY: Full-time employee, Test Subject;
RESOURCE: annoyance, Control Group]

[NAME: Nathaniel Vetter, Scout, Idiot;
EMPLOY: Full-time employee, Test Subject;
RESOURCE: amusement, Control Group]

[NAME: Unknown, Pyro, Pyromaniac, Monster Mark II (Note: fire);
EMPLOY: Full-time employee, Test Subject, Monster Mark II (Note: fire);
RESOURCE: fire, Control Group (Note: Unsuitability pending)]

[NAME: Kolman Stein, Medic, Doctor;
EMPLOY: Full-time employee, Test Subject;
RESOURCE: ideas, Control Group]

[NAME: Tavish DeGroot, Demoman, Sober Drunkard;
EMPLOY: Full-time employee, Test Subject;
RESOURCE: amusement, Control Group]

[NAME: Doug Rattman, The Rat;
EMPLOY: Full-time employee, Scientist, vermin, (Note: Schizophrenic);
RESOURCE: Nothing Whatsoever, (Note: Schizophrenia)]

[NAME: Chell [REDACTED], Lunatic, Monster;
EMPLOY: Unemployed, Monster, (Note: Unsuitable for testing)(Note: Still required for Science);
RESOURCE: chaos, destruction, Bad Science, (Note: monster)(Note: Unsuitable for testing)(Note: Still required for Science)]

[Inquiry:re:More menus?]

Miss Pauling frowned. If this 'Chell' person was unemployed, why was she in the employee roster?
What made her a requirement for this Science?

And apparently she was Management. Management of what?

She clicked on the option for more menus, being wary this time. It was around this part that she got...

She clicked on the 'Communications' option.

She yawned. Blast. A flurry of options arose on the screen, too fast for her to process, as she searched for 'E-mail'.

She had to contact the Administrat—she blinked.

She sat up on the bed, and blinked again, before glaring at the computer, which gave a quick beep, offering a refreshed options menu.

"That is cheating." she snarled, pushing up her glasses.

Well, apparently trying to start contact triggered a reset. Fine.

She now knew what that woman didn't want her to do. So, she'd just have to find a roundabout way to do it.

She sat in front of the computer again, linking her hands with a flex fit to pop the knuckles with a satisfactory crack. She grinned, thinking for a moment that she might be taking after the boys. Well, suited the situation, she supposed.

It would be a fine day to pull one over one of the 'higher-ups'.

She clicked on an option.