Get answers - you'll talk to "Silvie"

"Well if neither of us knows what's different, then fixing it is going to be pretty fucking difficult."

Jane shakes her head. "Okay, work the problem. Let's both figure out the best we can what's going on, then we go back to the lab and figure out how to reverse it."

"And how do you propose we do that, without looking utterly insane to our friends?"

"I can talk to Yutong," says Jane, more confidently now. "Even if she's different she's still herself, right? We're still close. I can feel it."

"And I can talk to Sully," you say. "Or Silvie. Whatever. She's my best friend. If I get him one-on-one he should talk to me."

You both agree on the plan and split up to search for clues.

You pull "Silvie" aside from Indigo, off the dance floor, and off behind a shadowy set of cobwebbed machinery.

"I want to talk about the thing," you say.

Silvie laughs incredulously. "The hell?"

"The thing nobody wants to talk about," you say.

Silvie becomes very uncomfortable, fidgeting and rubbing an elbow with a hand. "What's there to talk about? It was a long time ago."

"You're my best friend," you say. "If we can't share everything then what's even the point?"

Silvie sighs. "Fine, fine. I just don't see what the point is, it's all in the past now."

"I'm just sick of feeling like I'm walking on eggshells," you say. "Can we just talk about this like it's not some big secret? And start fresh. Pretend... I really did get amnesia, and you're explaining this all to me again for the very first time."

Your female jock friend anxiously shifts her weight, clutching and unclutching her fists. "Okay. Okay, here goes. I don't know, maybe this is good to talk about? Exposure therapy's a thing, like how jumping into a cold pool is the only way to get used to the water. Yet here we are, all tiptoeing around a huge pit in the ground," she says, shaking her head. "So busy pretending like it's not there, but it is, isn't it?"

You nod reassuringly, and pat her on the shoulder. "So... what's the hole everybody's pretending isn't there?"

"Okay, well. Chase. A few years ago... you know, that big women-in-STEM summer science camp thing we all got roped into going to? I mean, not you, duh, but me and the girls?"

You nod like you remember this yourself.

She takes a deep breath. "Some of the counselors went off the deep end. Big time. Like, girls chained up in a basement deep end. And I guess we never did tell you all the details, but, these people were smart. Like, genius, Unibomber smart. And... they did things to us."

Oh no. "They... oh my god," you say.

"Not the things you'd think," says Silvie. "These people were messed up. They were running a psychology experiment. Or a cult. They... wanted to see if they could change us. Brainwash us. Make us into something else. Thank god one of us got out and got help or it might've taken, too."

"What were they trying to do to you?"

"Typical man fantasy stuff," says Silvie, with a shrug. "They wanted a bunch of slaves. Turn us into mindless sex robots, or something."

Your eyes widen.

"I know, pretty fucked up, huh?" says Silvie. "I mean, I get it. If you could turn half the town's teens into obedient sex sluts, it'd be a hard button not to press. Except - you know - we live in the real world where stuff like that is impossible, and actions have consequences."

"So... are you okay?" you ask. "Do you have PTSD or nightmares or anything?"

Silvie wrinkles her nose. "We've all moved on, in our own way. I just throw everything I have into soccer and Indy and honestly, I'm pretty good. My shrink's always talking about residual effects but it barely comes up."

"What does come up?"

"Well, I'm not really supposed to talk about this, but one thing is I'm way more sex positive than I used to be before," says Silvie. "Same with Indy. So, no complaints there. Another thing is that I'm super comfortable with my body. I guess a lot of girls our age worry about how they look or are embarrassed about it but I mostly don't anymore. And I mean, I still have dreams... but they're not quite nightmares. They're mostly just there. Barely notice them anymore, frankly."