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*This is a work of fiction and all characters are over the age of 18.*

*This story is set in the near future.*

What had been a faint sound for Sophia of the deadbolt door locking, was a loud and startling noise to William, that seemed to have such a finality to it. This was it, and he was in it for the duration now. The sound of that deadbolt slamming home echoed in his ears and as he looked around the stark room, he felt some fear and apprehension for the first time. He was still excited about the experiment, but now he was actually facing the reality of it.

The overhead speaker crackled to life and he heard Sophia say, “Subject 8472, the study has begun,” and the lights suddenly went out. It was now pitch dark in his cell, a complete absence of any light whatsoever. There wasn’t even any small red LED on anything lit up. The sliver of fear inside of him grew a bit, even though he knew this was one of the protocols that he had discussed with Dr. Kimball.

He could not see a thing, and wouldn’t be able to until she decided to turn the lights back on, but she would still be able to observe him on the monitors. The cameras that were set up were capable of recording and viewing in full dark. There wouldn’t be any color, but she would still be able to view everything he did. Except there wasn’t much he could do, until he started to go crazy, he wondered to himself with a smile. He laid down on the bed on his back, staring into nothing and occupying himself by thinking about all of the protocols they had discussed, but now, that was starting to make him more nervous. Even just this enforced darkness. There was a chance there could be nothing else for days…

—

Sophia noted the increase in heart rate and adrenaline when the deadbolt closed and locked him in, indicated a bit of elevated fear. When she turned off the lights, she watched that effect increase. “Interesting…” she mused, writing everything down and taking notes.

*Subject 8472 is already experiencing elevated indications of stress and fear from being locked in the room and losing all light sources. For now, he has decided to just lay on the bed, but as the hours drag on, how will he respond?*

She could see from his brain wave activity that he mind was quite engaged. He was probably going through some wondered experiments on his own to keep himself occupied. This was so interesting as people’s perception of the passage of time could vary wildly. An hour had now passed, but it would probably feel more like two or three to subject 8472. She thought if that stretching would get worse as the time went on. It was early afternoon when he started and when she shut off the lights, she hadn’t had a firm plan on how long they would remain off, but now she wondered she would keep them off with no other stimulus for as long as it took for the subject to have more reaction. Afternoon dragged into evening with very little change.

William was still trying to keep his mind occupied and distracted, but it already felt like he had been in this nothingness for more than a full day. He realized though that this likely wasn’t the case. His stomach growled and he felt hunger, giving him a clue that it might be only about dinner time. It was distracting, but he did his best to ignore it. Sophia had complete control over when, what, or even if he was given food. And the lack of food was definitely another protocol.

He remained motionless and eventually started to drift off to sleep.

Monitoring and recording the subject’s vitals, Sophia noted when sleep started. It was only about 7pm, so earlier than he normally would have fallen asleep, but with no external stimulus or time cues, it was one of the only options left to him. He was probably suffering from some hunger as well.

Once he reached R.E.M. sleep, Sophia got up and stretched. There were accommodations here for the researchers too and she planned to make heavy use of them. As time went on, the subject’s sleep patterns were likely to become more and more irregular. She would plan to go out and look after her own place, and his, during the daytime hours that he was sleeping. Of course, she might also go out while he was bound too. It was so interesting to have such a wide open sandbox to play in, and put her mark on this entire research project.

The lab was well stocked with food, some of it quite good and some of it little more than MRE’s. She made herself a nice dinner and then relaxed to do some further research on interrogation techniques. There were soft alarms that would alert her to any change in the subject’s status.

At about 9pm, she checked his status and saw that it was unchanged, made sure that the alarms were set properly, and then went to bed herself.

It was 4am when an alarm woke her.

William woke up and felt panic that he was blind, as there was no difference between having his eyes opened or closed. He cried out, disorientated, before he recalled where he was and why he couldn’t see. He had fallen asleep but had no idea how long he had been asleep, though he felt somewhat rested.

He had to urinate and so he got out of bed and felt his way along the wall slowly in the 20’x20’ concrete room. The walls were padded though, not making it too unpleasant. He realized that this was also a hurdle to get over, using the bathroom with the potential of someone watching. It was a bit humiliating to think about and he realized it would be a multiple times per day occurrence.

When he found the toilet, he hiked up the gown and sat on it for two reasons. One, it gave him the illusion of more privacy, and two, in this total darkness, he didn’t trust his aim.

Sophia was back at the console as the subject was getting out of bed and making his way around the room with his hands on the wall. She glanced at his vitals, and looked at the 5 minute history and noted the spike as he had woken. The obvious fear and the fight or flight hormonal response, and made a few notes about it. As time went on, he would be less startled on waking as this became his new ordinary.

She watched, intrigued, as he found the toilet and seemed to take some measures to have as much privacy as he could. This sparked an idea in her head and she started to think it through. It certainly fit within the parameters of the protocols and would be another step on making the subject more uncomfortable psychologically.

He finished using the toilet and then slowly made his way back to the bed. When he sat, he suddenly spoke, “Can I get some breakfast? Or food of some sort?” It was phrased as a question, but he almost seemed indignant about having to say anything at all. Sophia tapped her lips considering, and decided to not respond yet, seeing if it made the subject more annoyed.

A minute passed and it worked. “I’m fucking hungry! It must be at least 20 hours since I last ate. Bring me some food! And some water, if not coffee…” It hadn’t been that long of course.

Sophia smiled and made a few notes about the subject’s agitation levels and how demanding he was. Again she ignored him to see the process through. The subject threw up his hands, but didn’t say anything more as he laid back down angrily.

Sophia decided to advance after another five minutes passed in silence. The subject was still clearly angry and irritated. She hit the button on the intercom, and then remotely opened the drawer into the room.

“Subject 8472 will remove the dressing gown and place it in the drawer,” she said clinically and released the button…

NSFW: yes

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