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tonithegreat“Subject number seven-six-nine, please step into the light and take a seat,” said the voice. It came from above, but also from all around, and it was meliflous and multi-layered, multi-timbered. A chorus of a voice. An artificial voice, though Jana had no way of knowing whether there was a real person, speaking through a microphone that was run through voice augmentation, watching her, or whether her only audience was artificial. Her mentor, had told her that she wouldn’t be afraid by the time reached this point in the evaluation, and even though the room was cool and dark but for the column of light illuminating the plain wood and metal stool five feet in front of her, she didn’t exactly feel fear. Just apprehension that she wouldn’t be judged worthy to become an agent.
As she moved toward the stool, she felt languid and graceful and she realized that there was also a bit of a taste in the back of her throat. They were pumping drugs into her IV now from somewhere behind the wall. Maybe those were also contributing to keeping anxiety at bay. She would need to be careful. She knew her examiners were seeking the truth about her, about whether she really was a good fit for this position. She wondered if all candidates got the same cocktail of drugs or if they were tailored to genetic profiles. Either way, she was ready. She took a deep breath admiring how good it felt to feel her chest expand and then contract.
She took a seat on the hard stool, tucking her left leg under her, but leaving her right a bit forward. She felt balanced and contemplative and secure. The voice came from above, but she looked straight ahead as the light warmed and dimmed a little. It was safest to assume that there were cameras on her from multiple angles.
“The first series of questions we have for you are word associations. We will give you a word and we want you to relay your impressions associated with that word back to us,” said the voice. Jana was sure that the voice, which was still more like a chorus of four or five different speakers layered together- was speaking at a normal tempo, but her mind was racing and she anticipated most of the words before they began. She felt like her mind was running at triple speed. There was definitely something potent running through her IV. She could still taste something foreign, but not unpleasant, just at the back of her throat. The taste was more herbal than metallic, though she couldn’t quite place it, and that was somehow reassuring.
“The first word we want you to explain your impressions of is ‘chemistry’”said the voice.
Chemistry. . . Chemistry. . . So multilayered. It made her think first of water. The chemistry of life as she knew it depended completely on the chemistry of water.
She was struck by a hazy early memory. Learning to swim with her parents and her great grandfather in the little springfed pond behind her great grandparents’ house. She was only just talking, but the whole family lived along the river. They taught her to swim early. Her great grandpa loved to swim. She remembered the day that he first judged her ready to hold onto his back for a swim around the deep end. “Hold your breath when we go down and hang on and look at the little minnows and fishes!” She remembered the blurry way everything looked in the little pond through open eyes and the flashes of movement of the little fishes and the cool clear water.
Chemistry. Her great grandmother had studied chemistry, long ago and far away, when not many women studied the central science in college. But then she had pulled up her roots from the learned Midwest and followed her husband to the wilds of Florida to build a lodge and help found a town. Chemistry between her great grandparents had been enough for them both to break ties with the cities and friends that they knew and launch them on a great adventure. Although Jana didn’t really know if it had felt like a great adventure to them at the time. She had known her grandparents as an older child and young teen, but lost her greats much earlier.
Layered within the voice were low slow timbers and melodic sopranos that ignited thoughts of physical chemistry in Jana. But she knew that the voice might be disembodied from people that could actually make those sounds.
Chemistry and biology and psychology defined people. Chemistry and physics defined chips. But chips were programmed by people.
She was ready to answer.
Her own voice was steady and she was pretty sure she was able to keep it at a normal pace.
“Chemistry includes the concepts that define the specific heat capacity of water, which in turn has given rise to life as it evolved on earth,” she began.
Somewhere within the building machines began to alert human handlers that they should tune in and provide feedback in realtime.
——————————————————————————
Fellow idollers and internet friends of all types, I hope you enjoy this vignette! My house is full of the stress of applications and tests right now with a pair of high school Seniors sweating through the questions of how best to present themselves. So this concept was not a great reach. I also feel like it layers well with the concept of an open topic. Please don’t forget about me when the poll goes up if you enjoyed this story or it made your palms a little sweaty for Jana!
As she moved toward the stool, she felt languid and graceful and she realized that there was also a bit of a taste in the back of her throat. They were pumping drugs into her IV now from somewhere behind the wall. Maybe those were also contributing to keeping anxiety at bay. She would need to be careful. She knew her examiners were seeking the truth about her, about whether she really was a good fit for this position. She wondered if all candidates got the same cocktail of drugs or if they were tailored to genetic profiles. Either way, she was ready. She took a deep breath admiring how good it felt to feel her chest expand and then contract.
She took a seat on the hard stool, tucking her left leg under her, but leaving her right a bit forward. She felt balanced and contemplative and secure. The voice came from above, but she looked straight ahead as the light warmed and dimmed a little. It was safest to assume that there were cameras on her from multiple angles.
“The first series of questions we have for you are word associations. We will give you a word and we want you to relay your impressions associated with that word back to us,” said the voice. Jana was sure that the voice, which was still more like a chorus of four or five different speakers layered together- was speaking at a normal tempo, but her mind was racing and she anticipated most of the words before they began. She felt like her mind was running at triple speed. There was definitely something potent running through her IV. She could still taste something foreign, but not unpleasant, just at the back of her throat. The taste was more herbal than metallic, though she couldn’t quite place it, and that was somehow reassuring.
“The first word we want you to explain your impressions of is ‘chemistry’”said the voice.
Chemistry. . . Chemistry. . . So multilayered. It made her think first of water. The chemistry of life as she knew it depended completely on the chemistry of water.
She was struck by a hazy early memory. Learning to swim with her parents and her great grandfather in the little springfed pond behind her great grandparents’ house. She was only just talking, but the whole family lived along the river. They taught her to swim early. Her great grandpa loved to swim. She remembered the day that he first judged her ready to hold onto his back for a swim around the deep end. “Hold your breath when we go down and hang on and look at the little minnows and fishes!” She remembered the blurry way everything looked in the little pond through open eyes and the flashes of movement of the little fishes and the cool clear water.
Chemistry. Her great grandmother had studied chemistry, long ago and far away, when not many women studied the central science in college. But then she had pulled up her roots from the learned Midwest and followed her husband to the wilds of Florida to build a lodge and help found a town. Chemistry between her great grandparents had been enough for them both to break ties with the cities and friends that they knew and launch them on a great adventure. Although Jana didn’t really know if it had felt like a great adventure to them at the time. She had known her grandparents as an older child and young teen, but lost her greats much earlier.
Layered within the voice were low slow timbers and melodic sopranos that ignited thoughts of physical chemistry in Jana. But she knew that the voice might be disembodied from people that could actually make those sounds.
Chemistry and biology and psychology defined people. Chemistry and physics defined chips. But chips were programmed by people.
She was ready to answer.
Her own voice was steady and she was pretty sure she was able to keep it at a normal pace.
“Chemistry includes the concepts that define the specific heat capacity of water, which in turn has given rise to life as it evolved on earth,” she began.
Somewhere within the building machines began to alert human handlers that they should tune in and provide feedback in realtime.
——————————————————————————
Fellow idollers and internet friends of all types, I hope you enjoy this vignette! My house is full of the stress of applications and tests right now with a pair of high school Seniors sweating through the questions of how best to present themselves. So this concept was not a great reach. I also feel like it layers well with the concept of an open topic. Please don’t forget about me when the poll goes up if you enjoyed this story or it made your palms a little sweaty for Jana!
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no subject
Date: 2026-09-21 01:56 am (UTC)Yeah, that was going to be my first comment to you, that okay she's not scared, but I was certainly scared for her. Great creepy vibes in the beginning, especially with the drugs.
I loved her free association with the word chemistry. It felt real, particularly in the context of drug enhanced thinking, and I really didn't expect her answer to sound so dry. :)
Great work!
Dan
no subject
Date: 2026-09-21 04:49 am (UTC)I felt the intrigue here, and it definitely made my palms a bit sweaty for Jana! Well written and wonderfully worded! <3
no subject
Date: 2026-09-21 07:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-09-21 09:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-09-21 12:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-09-21 04:37 pm (UTC)I had to do that word-association thing when I auditioned for a spot in the college DJ rotation - my word was "sky" and now I don't remember what I said but it was good enough to get a time slot.
no subject
Date: 2026-09-21 05:37 pm (UTC)I also loved what you did with the word “chemistry.” Her mind takes this beautiful wandering journey through water, childhood, her great-grandfather, her great-grandmother, relationships, biology, psychology, and the difference between people and machines...and then what actually comes out of her mouth is this perfectly composed, academic answer about the specific heat capacity of water. 😂 That contrast tells us so much about Jana and about the evaluation itself. And then the final reveal that machines are monitoring her but summoning *human* handlers to provide feedback added another layer to my biggest question: exactly what kind of agent are they trying to determine whether Jana is capable of becoming? I definitely want more of this world.
no subject
Date: 2026-09-21 08:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-09-22 03:36 am (UTC)Best wishes for good chemistry, all around!
no subject
Date: 2026-09-22 07:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-09-23 12:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-09-23 08:13 pm (UTC)I do feel even when it comes to applying for jobs, somehow we are now seeking to ask machines if we are worthy. How things change. And how do machines measure worth? Sometimes the most important things about a person aren't things one can quantify and graph.
Your entry is very thought-provoking!
no subject
Date: 2026-09-24 03:30 pm (UTC)And best of luck to the kiddos!
no subject
Date: 2026-09-25 10:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-09-26 08:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-09-27 02:44 pm (UTC)