The time is 10:58pm. The subject (Mr. X) arrives at the landing of the stairs leading to his workstation - a 12 x 14 room, no windows, the room bathed in the light of a lightbulb hanging from the ceiling over two desks facing each other, each mounting a computer. The subject stares and stares at the door.
120 seconds. When Mr. X enters, the other occupant of the room doesn't looks up. Back straight like a rod, the other person is sitting in his chair and working on his computer with arms outstretched with a cold demeanor. The keys are being punched in. The subject sits on his chair facing the other person.
90 seconds. The subject looks at the other person’s face. Grim. Tight jaw. Eyes glued to the screen. The emotionless face basking in the light from the computer screen. 2 years in the same room. 12 hours a day. Never exchanged a word. They weren’t allowed to. Mr. X doesn’t know what the person’s name is. The subject refers to him as Mac in his mind. Mac must be under the effect of the ‘pill’ right now, thinks the subject.
40 seconds. Mr. X continues to gaze at the other person, which draws no response. The subject looks at the camera in the corner of the room. No wonder Mac can’t look up, They Were Watching. Every Single Minute. But the subject still has 40 seconds. He again sets his gaze at Mac. Was he beginning to crack?
20 seconds. The subject’s thoughts drift back to the day when he first walked into this room. Clad in a fine business suit, the pioneer of intelligentsia, eyes full of dreams. There used to be a thin line between intention and action. In worn-out clothes and a disheveled appearance, he doesn’t feel the same way now. Life had quietly leaked away from his mind. It would be a good thing if Mac survived, thinks the subject.
5 seconds. It’s finally beginning to sink in. Mr. X can feel all the thoughts drowning at the back of his mind. The pill, supposedly to enhance human performance, is taking over his brain. The subject stares at the blank screen. 5 seconds and it would start. Mr. X can now only feel his fingers. Everything else was numb. He finds it hard to blink his eyes. The pill has taken over completely. And then, the computer screen turns on.
The camera in corner of the room in its place. They Were Watching.
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