"Give me the progress report on the little monstrosities. Did they make any progress this week?"

  There were a few groans around the table, especially from the three behaviorologists. They'd been brought in over two decades ago to what they thought would be a dream project, working with a group of exceptional and unique minds, doing research no one had ever even conceived of doing. And that had all been true. But what they hadn't realized was that they would be isolated completely from the scientific community until the project was completed. It still had no end in sight, and the three were now in their seventies and despairing of ever leaving the project. Or even seeing the sun again.

  Worse, it was daunting to work with the subjects. Each one had an IQ that far exceeded their own. They didn't even know how high, since normal testing couldn't be applied. And they were dangerous to talk to (those who talked instead of screaming curse words whenever they had a listener). None of the subjects had any formal training in psychology, but over the years, they had all become extremely good at manipulating 'walkers' (one of the least derogatory names they had for their controllers). Whether or not they shared their growing knowledge of psychology with each other (A frightening thought!) or each was honing their expertise independently (Worse!) was debated endlessly.

  They delighted in spending weeks, even months, creating relationships with one or more of the dozens of psychologists, behaviorologists, sociologists, mental health experts, or animal trainers assigned to them. Sometimes, they exploited the relationship for gain, giving out information in exchange for more playtime or giving one of their siblings extra punishment. They also had a thirst for new knowledge. Too many times, someone had used that to try and cajole information out of them or get them to take tests. It was an easy way to get their attention, and seemingly, their cooperation. It didn't always work out well in the end. The test subjects knew that all fifty staff assigned to study them were desperate for a breakthrough into how the minds of the test subjects worked. The person who came up with a method to control and work with them would be a legend in their field when Batches 6-10 were started.

  But control worked both ways. The people working with the subjects had their own wants and needs, especially after severing ties with family, friends, and colleagues in the outside world. They craved stimulating conversation, companionship, the need to succeed, and to be recognized as better than their peers. As the years went on, some of them formed lasting relationships, sometimes shocking in their intensity, with the sixteen subjects who were able and willing to communicate with someone on a regular basis.

  In an early experiment, Dr. Rutherford had worked with Epsilon, trying to form a caring, parental relationship for over a year, followed by refusing to talk to Epsilon unless it did double the required workload. Epsilon complied at first, then exceeded parameters, spending its rewards to spend more time with Dr. Rutherford. Now, firmly in control of his subject, he looked forward to publishing his work. When that was denied, he threw himself into the project, with Epsilon helping him form relationships with Gamma, Omega, and Zeta.

  His colleagues, jealous of his success and always watching, noticed the change in him when something bad happened. From confident, he became hesitant and fearful, spending most of his time in his laboratory or office. A week later, he hung himself. His journal showed that all subjects had harshly rejected him, one by one. Each consoled him over his loss, then rejected him. Pages were torn out of the journal and never found. The subjects weren't talking, and in fact, seemed not to know who Dr. Rutherford was. Epsilon made the cryptic statement, "No one rejects me, so he is no one."

  As the years went on, there were more suicides, and several people tried to 'quit', only to find that while they could refuse to work, that only got them locked in their quarters as permanent prisoners. It was an open secret that most researchers were in some sort of relationship with one or more subjects, but chose not to reveal anything about their 'research'. Large meetings became snake pits of accusations and even fist fights between people upset when they found someone else working with their pet subjects. Eventually, Doctors Smithers, Carpenter, and Joaquim were moved from research on the experimental children and assigned to oversee the mental health of their fellows.

  No psychologist likes being analyzed by a peer, and the three were ostracized and forced to form their own social group. They dreaded the weekly meetings, which always revealed new problems and added to their incredible workload, trying to keep their colleagues sane. As usual, this one started with Beta. Alpha was barely functioning at this point and non-communicative. They suspected it was in a permanent dream state. When asked for reports on Alpha, Dr. West barely looked up and waved his hand in the air.

  Dr. Nottingham took a deep breath and began her report on Beta, her voice trembling, "Beta is getting more extreme. It is still the very best we have at breaking through corporate security, and our best chance at hacking into Wally, but his... it's... paranoia is accelerating as well. It is constantly wanting access to hack into Wally to 'Beat the rest of them' and won't talk to the other subjects, accusing them of betrayal. It can't recognize its own failures, always blaming things on someone who keeps sabotaging it. Twice now, it has claimed it knows that someone out there knows about it, going round and round about getting revenge."

  "What do you recommend? We need Beta to hit Wally's security. That's one of the prime goals."

  "I know. I think I will give him more time, but on a set schedule, with isolation in between. Socializing will be with its closest siblings. Alpha, Phi, and Omega seem to calm Beta down. I'm also going to ask that you tell Dr. Fallow keep her grubby little hands off my subject. Beta informed me you tried to contact it again."

  Dr. Fallow stood, pointing at Dr. Nottingham. The two women had once been close and rumored to be romantically involved when first recruited. "That is simply not true! You sent me an email asking me to evaluate Beta and help you manage him. I have the emails! You can't keep Beta to yourself, ask for help, then lock me out again! And Beta needs me! He's responded to me better than to you."

  "I didn't ask you for help. That is a bald-faced lie!"

  "I've got your emails saved, Bitch. I'll be complaining to HR about this."

  Stolen story; please report.

  General Morgenstern slammed his hand on the table. "Shut up! Who's next? No, I'm tired of this shit. I don't need to hear again how you all failed. Who has anything good to tell me?"

  Dr. Phillip Galloway, who hated his nickname of Dr. Phil, tentatively raised his hand. "I have a promising report and data from Kappa."

  "A change of pace, tell us about this breakthrough, Dr. Phil."

  "Uh, yes. Kappa is normally hesitant to work outside and has a passive approach to breaking through security. She had little..."

  "She? Doctor, do I need to remind you that all of the subjects have no gender? We have learned the hard way that anthropomorphizing them and considering them as people has led to situations I don't need to bring up. It is an it, Doctor."

  "Apologies. Kappa is referring to itself now with feminine pronouns, and I may have been influenced."

  "Be stern. Keep your distance. The subjects have no gender, no sexual characteristics, and never will. Continue."

  "As I was saying, it had little drive before, but lately, it has insisted on long working sessions. The first put it into a catatonic state for a day, from pure exhaustion. Upon waking, it made the detailed report that I'm forwarding to you. In a remarkable move, it followed a series of clues and began an investigation of the Chicago, Illinois, transportation system. You can see its findings. Raxxon/APEX is skimming a large profit, providing poor service with their fossil fuel-powered bus fleet, and blatantly defrauding the city while bribing the city council. There is enough evidence in Kappa's findings to break their contracts and eliminate them from the public transportation system in that state. Kappa is asking to begin looking at how they operate in other states, to find similar operations."

  The general smiled, "Actually, something I can use? Thank you, Phillip. Your understanding of the corporate-political spectrum is appreciated. Continue this line of investigation and draw whatever resources you may need for Kappa and yourself."

  There were gasps and puzzled looks from around the table. Phil was already known to steal desserts from the kitchen and computing resources when others were sleeping. Giving him permission to do so would make him many times worse.

  Dr. Kaplan stood up, "General, please explain to me, and the rest of us, what goal Dr. Phil is meeting. It will help us to do the same. Bus routes seem... trivial. If I do say so myself."

  The General called up several screens showing connections between various corporations. "You need to attend more planning sessions, Dr. Kaplan. They are now mandatory for you. We are weaving a careful tapestry of resources and allies in our great work. It has been determined that control of energy is a priority. Ten years ago, we courted Raxxon when the Mid-Atlantic and South Polar oil fields gave Raxxon and its block of fossil fuel providers control of 61% of the new energy being produced. We've had to give them what they wanted to gain the billions of gallons of fuel we have strategically stored. However, those fields are running dry decades ahead of schedule. The claims may have overstated the amount in both fields. We have projected that to achieve our goals, there needs to be a fundamental shift back to electrical generation from Fusion power and orbital solar arrays. Technodyne is on board with us, but Raxxon is doing everything they can to continue their dominance. Do you understand, Dr. Kaplan?"

  "I don't see how..."

  "It's simple, Doctor. Raxxon will be accused of fraud and overcharging, Tesladyne will gleefully step in to take over, replacing the older gas-burning buses with their new electric fleet, and set up long-term loans for the city to pay. With Fusion coming back online all over the country, they can make a fortune on cheap power. Tesladyne will jump through a hoop that we hold to do this, recognizing a chance to do the same in other markets. Dr. Phil saw this and has managed to use his subject to ferret out a solution."

  "But...how do we know..."

  "Shut up, doctor. Raxxon out, Tesladyne in. Kaplan out, Phil in. Simple. Make it so. And as for the rest of you, be more like Phil. Train your little monsters to give us what we need. Get back to work, except for Doctor Kaplan and Doctor Fallow, who are going to take a refresher course on our long-term goals." With glares, muttered threats and curses, and a few winks and nods, the meeting broke up. The three behaviorologists stayed behind to compare notes. This meeting had been productive, and they needed to argue about how that had happened.

  Kappa smiled at her friend and hugged him. He was SO FLUFFY, even with his soft, white fur sticky with the blood of their enemies. Like it usually was. "We did good, didn't we, Redrumbunnykins? They all ran at me, and I was able to use Mr. Moose's body to avoid most of the barbed quills while you killed them all. You are so good at that!!"

  Redrumbunnykins, who until recently had been called 'throatslitter' by his now dead friends, showed his serrated teeth in a wide grin. He was very proud of his teeth and grinned whenever he could. The clumsy thing they called 'Fears-no-Pain' was getting better. Progress on the third level was very slow, and she died over and over to the simplest of traps, but she always came back. She had no fear, never complained, even when she fell into the giant fans or got stuck in a garbage disposal's grinding teeth. She could even run for cover now, although she still flapped her arms too much. When hurt, she shrugged it off, saying cryptic things like, 'Barely a level two jolt.'

  Their current strategy was Kappa stumbling forward and yelling at the denizens of a section of the dungeon to enrage them. Redrum had to admit she could hurl insults with frightening ease, enraging the creatures that would kill her for no reason. As Kappa ran, Redrum picked them off one by one and could usually slay enough to save Kappa from being mauled and sent back to the start. But not always, and it was the enthusiastic way that Kappa dove back into the deathtraps that had convinced Redrumbunnykins to claim her. They were bound by shed blood and horror, and would conquer the levels, one by one. It helped that what Kappa lacked in physical coordination, she made up for with the puzzles. She was a whiz at the puzzles, and getting better, like she was seeing the pattern of the world.

  A bell went off. Kappa looked sad and hugged him again. She really liked hugs, now that she knew what they were. "I have to go. I'll be back tomorrow, and we can slaughter the little gerbil people in the sunny cavern place." Redrumbunnykins looked forward to that. The gerbils were annoying and had needed a good whomping for a long time. Kappa faded away, and her partner in crime grabbed a tasty-looking carcass and went to find the Glade of Bragging, to tell the others of its latest adventure with Feels-No-Pain.