“Switch it up, how?”
“Up until this point, I’ve only ever sounded the buzzer, followed by either the opening of the door and nothing, or the opening of the door and an introduction of fear.”
“What sort of fear?”
“Eh,” she shrugged as if she weren’t putting them through the worst days of their lives. To Barb, they were just another experiment. “Something typical like snakes or spiders. Baseline triggers.”
“That sounds pretty tame compared to your other experiments.”
“The Pavlovian theory is a slow deprivation of humanity. It takes time to grow.” Barb rubbed a finger over her chin, slow strokes back and forth as she narrowed her eyes. “They’ve been in there fourteen days, seven hours, and thirty-two minutes. Since then, I’ve cycled between blue and warm lights to disrupt their circadian rhythm–”
“What is that?” I interrupted, and Barb turned a sharp eye in my direction. I tried my best not to shrink. With a weak laugh, I apologized and said, “Continue.”
“Thanks for your permission. Stupid girl,” she grumbled.
“You were saying something about circadian rhythm and hopefully about to tell me what the fuck it is and why it matters.”
“It’s the natural cycle of sleep. UV light direct from the sun tells the human brain to wake. UV light reflected by the moon is warm and dim which indicates it should rest. I’ve been training their minds to enter into shorter rest periods.”
“Sleep deprivation,” I realized, awed by the wrinkled evil genius beside me. How many times had I made poor decisions based on lack of sleep? The answer was: too many to fucking count. “Fear. Anxiety. Instinct…”
“Mhmm,” she nodded with a quirk of her lip. “All heightened by exhaustion. Which has led to some… interesting reactions when I introduce different physical fears and use sensory deprivation between events.”
“I’m so fucking glad I never met you when I was alive.” And I meant it. Barb would’ve smelled the weak seam in me and pulled until I came apart. Back then, when I was alive, I’m not sure I was strong enough to take it.
“I wouldn’t have chosen you,” she scoffed, her dismissive wave hurting my feelings a little more than I would have liked. “You’re too weak. Wouldn’t have lasted eight hours.”
“First of all, fuck you, Barb. You don’t know what I’m capable of.”
“Keep telling yourself that, coullion.”
“Whatever. Get on with your subpar plan, you old cunt.”
Jesus narrowed his eyes, licking his paw in the most judgemental display possible. At least he was on my side. Probably.
“I’ll begin phase three shortly.”
“Which is?”
“This has all been prep for the true experiment.” She cut me a sidelong glance that made my skin itch. “What will they do to live?”
I shrugged it off, chalking it up to her being a superior serial killer that just alpha-holed me. “That sounds super fucking basic.”
“Is it though?” she mused. “When a mother is faced with either saving herself or her child, who do you think she’d choose?”
“Easy,” I scoffed. “The kid.”
Barb huffed a knowing laugh. “Biologically, yes. But, when faced with years of evolution, does that still stand?”
“Uh yeah? It’s in their code. Save the young. You’re talking about self-preservation versus innocence here. Innocence, Barb.”
“I’d like to test that theory,” she answered matter-of-factly, like she was the one being on Earth that innocence didn’t affect.
“Does she have a kid?” I pointed to the woman who was still on edge incredulously.
“No.”
I wasn’t expecting that answer. Why test a theory on subjects who didn’t match the parameters you’ve set?
