More experiments.

Jake was starting to get a handle on the situation. Sam seemed a little more comfortable too, although of course that was probably because he was. Still, she seemed to be taking the intrusive thoughts and feelings in stride now.

He had an idea, which she immediately articulated. "What's something we disagree about? We can see if I'm capable of coming to different conclusions than you."

He thought. It couldn't be anything too subjective. She continued his train of thought. "Yeah, it has to be an interpretation of facts. What's something we just don't see eye to eye on?"

Neither of them were conspiracy theorists, and he wasn't ready to bring anything as contentious as religion or politics into this. Then it occurred to him.

"Oh shit." Sam paled. "There's life on other planets." They'd occasionally argued over it in the past. Jake was convinced we aren't alone in the universe and Sam thought the exact opposite. Well, she had thought that. Now she was as convinced as he was.

He tried to play devil's advocate with himself. Maybe the vast unfathomable expanse of space didn't contain any other sentient creatures? She looked at him skeptically. "I know what you're trying to do. You can't talk yourself out of your conclusions. Thinking the opposite won't make me believe the opposite, it'll just make me think the opposite. You can think the sky is orange or the square root of 4 is 1, but it won't make me believe them either." She chuckled. "I guess you get an second vote come election time."

Damn it, he was really hoping Sam could still think for herself. "This is so frustrating!" she said, and punched the bed. Her mirrored reactions were starting to irritate him.

"Hey Sam, could you-"

She interrupted him. "Stop saying everything you think out loud? Sorry about that, I'm still getting used to this. Oh, and stop interrupting you and finishing your sentences too, I guess." She smiled sheepishly.

He suddenly remembered that he hadn't eaten all day. Rather than bringing it up, he paused and looked expectantly at Sam. "Oh, so now you want me to say it out loud? Make up our mind!" She gasped and put a hand over her mouth. "That was my joke, wasn't it?"

That was a very good sign. Having the cognitive faculties to make a joke independent of him was pretty advanced - it was clear she wasn't just some kind of robot or mouthpiece. She was grinning at him and he felt a little hope for the first time in this whole bizarre conversation. He also thought about how cute her jokes were.

"I'm not gonna repeat that last thought out loud, so what if I just agree that we're overdue for a lunch break?" She turned towards the kitchen, knowing his answer before he said it.