They simply weren’t there anymore after we were herded back into our group cell and allowed out again later. Our team, however, was permitted by our captors to stay together. “None of this makes any sense,” I told the others. “Why make us kill one another? If what they want is an army, why not simply shanghai all the decent candidates? Forcing us to eliminate each other just makes us hate our masters, and it seems so wasteful.” “Maybe they only want the best of us,” Dr. Chang said. “I’ve been thinking about these contests—when my mind is fully my own, that is.” By now, we’d all realized that we were having episodes of paranoia. Sometimes these moments had clear causes, such as when someone was charging us and yelling. At other times, we were inexplicably overwhelmed by emotion, becoming the one initiating an assault. I seemed to be the only member of my group that was able to contain these urges.
