Chapter Eighteen
Matt was working on several engineering projects – mostly minor chemically based explosives and the manufacturing of an antique style handgun, when his tools kept disappearing in the middle of his work.
At first it was a slight enough experience that he thought perhaps the stress of being there must have caused him to be less than precise about where he had placed his tools – a problem that had never existed for him outside of the space.
While he had become absorbed in searching for the tools he was missing, he came back to find his catalyst had gone, and then the trigger mechanism for his handgun.
Matt became furious, and called out to the people around him, thinking that one of them was playing a prank on him, but they were no where to be seen.
Fuming, he stalked off to find them, and realized that each one of them was no less than one-hundred yards away from the workshop at the time of the incident. There was no way that any one of them could have been present, and messed with his projects or his tools so quickly.
Rob and John simply gave him a weary look, and shivers ran up the length of Matt's spine. At that point, his projects came to a halt, as he was reticent to be alone in the workshop, in the company of some poltergeist thief, or otherwise glitchy software.
At night, over their discussions at the campfire, it became a common theory that the prison space realm was not the only test that they had volunteered into.
To Matt, it seemed that this was an unrestricted space, and the administration of the experiment could run into various problems.
Rob was quick to vocalize his agreement, and John silently stood by his brother.
Al and Harry had still not experienced anything out of the ordinary, and though they were a bit skeptical of the others' experiences, they listened patiently to their theories.
Al thought it was useful to hear them out, because by talking, perhaps they could process some of the stress that had undoubtedly triggered the perceptual anomalies.
Harry knew all about the government's capacity for Psy-Op experiments, and occasionally mused as to whether or not he had truly found himself placed within such a fabled study.
In any case, he did not seem to mind, and generally kept a quiet sort of peace over his disposition.