A brazen plan.

June's eyes snapped open after about four hours. "I've got an idea!"

Meredith was in the same spot, still gently caressing her torso. "Of course you do."

"So we're guinea pigs, right? But we're not ordinary guinea pigs. I'm an award winning journalist, and you're my close associate! I could document any changes to you in excellent detail, since I already know you!"

Meredith shrugged. "I don't love the idea of subjecting myself to further experiments, but you seem really excited. I'll hear you out. How does that help us escape?"

"Well, ataraxia has been a massive improvement for both of us. Who's to say the next one won't be? Maybe it'll give you a tool we could use."

"There's one problem with your plan," Meredith reminded her. "They're listening."

"That's a feature, Mere.” June looked at the ceiling. "What do you say? You know we can't lie. I give us about 10% chance of getting something helpful, and 10% of that that we actually use it to escape. And you seem like the sort of people who like making your enemies your servants."

Almost immediately, the door with a loud clank and several men walked in. June recognized them from the demonstration earlier. "So we have a deal?" she asked.

To their surprise, none of the men responded at first. They were setting up some sort of equipment. The man who had spoken to them earlier approached June.

"Feeling better?" he asked. She smiled and nodded. "Good. Now take off you clothes and lie down on the bed."

"Good call giving her the gas," one of the other men said. He walked over to Meredith, who was still topless and standing quietly to one side. He crudely squeezed her right breast. She looked down at his hand, then up at him with a giggle.

"I guess manners aren't a priority around here," she said.

"Take off your pants, bitch."

She shrugged and reached down to unzip her fly. One of the other men laughed. "Man, that ataraxia hits pretty hard, huh?"

"It does," she told him as she folded her jeans and put them on the bed. "I feel like a brand new person! Here I am, taking off my clothes for a bunch of strangers who have held me captive, and I'm still perfectly calm. If you told me this morning what would happen I never would have believed you."

"Panties too, then lie next to your friend."

As she followed his command, June chuckled. "Something funny?" one of the men asked.

"Yeah," she said brightly. "I was just thinking that I would have rather died than exist in this state. I was so wrong about it. I was wrong about a lot of things," she said emphatically as Meredith slid into bed next to her.

Meredith turned on her side to look at June with a loving smile. June returned it gratefully and began to run her fingers back and forth along Meredith's lips.

"It's almost creepy how docile they are," one man said as he calibrated some sort of medical device. One of the men grabbed Meredith's hand and started pinwheeling it. It was limp in his hand.

"Wow, I love the way that makes your boobs move," June told Meredith. Meredith giggled again and thanked her.

Without warning, one of the technicians stabbed a long needle into the top of June's head. There was a large electronic device attached to the turkey.

"... what are you doing?" Meredith asked.

"I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I feel strange," June answered. She felt a warm trickle on her forehead blood she was smacking her lips,

"Taking a tiny biopsy. Don't worry, it'll just regrow. Raccoon with apparently something ataraxia can do. Anyway, word to the whistler- June might be a little dopey for a few daAA###"

She turned her head didn't but tried, the man was holding it in place. "I've got problems," she cheerfully informed them.

"She's gonna be like this for EAT days?" Meredith was looking doubtfully down from the mountain at her. Her brain was doing the wrong thing. How do you do the right thing if your brain does the wrong thing?

"Dooooon't trust your braaaain," she said in a singsong voice.

"Don't worry," Dr. Thunderclap says as he approached June. "My littledevice is scrambling her scrambling her scrambling. Once I do this-"