The days passed, and Zed found himself hosting a seemingly constant rotation of doctors and scientists. He felt like he had met more of the colonists while stuck in this one room than in all the time he had spent on Mars up to that point.

  Everyone who had any interest in medicine or life on Mars had their own ideas for what tests to run. Zed felt like he had given enough blood, urine, and stool to create a second version of himself. He didn’t mind the other kinds of tests as much.

  Tests that helped him find the limits of the changes in his mind and body were oddly comforting. The feeling of not knowing his own body was unsettling in a way he couldn’t quite describe, so anything that helped bring clarity to this new normal was welcome.

  The limits of his vision had been documented fairly quickly. He could see a broader spectrum of light than the average human. He could see more colors, but most interestingly, he had managed to see at least a little bit of infrared on a few occasions. Much like the way he had to focus to “zoom in,” if he really concentrated, he could take in even more of the spectrum than he would by default.

  However, it was the changes to Zed’s mind that the doctors were most interested in.

  Isaac Roth and Tina Bailey remained the people on point as far as Zed’s care was concerned. Zed knew that the tests weren’t all coming from them. The other scientists in Naug had their own ideas on how to proceed, and that was nothing compared to the wave of suggestions and demands that must have been flooding in from every scientist back on Earth.

  Zed had always avoided social media in general, but he was terrified of it now. Dr. Roth, with his less-than-stellar bedside manner, had made a joke about how some people thought that dissecting Zed was the safest option. He laughed until one of Dr. Bailey's now well-practiced glares shut him up. Zed had never been happier to have millions of miles between himself and his home planet.

  “Alright, Zed, today’s battery involves your ability to read people. Sound good?” Dr. Bailey said as she wheeled her stool up to Zed’s bedside. She was still wearing a protective mask and hazard suit. So far, there was no indication that Zed was contagious in any way, but until conclusive results came back, they were taking no chances.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  “Let’s do it.”

  “Great! I’m going to send a series of clips to your CIG. I want you to tell me what you can about each one. Try not to overthink it; just give me your first reactions.”

  Zed nodded as he accepted the invitation to a shared virtual space.

  A short video clip of a man's face played in a virtual window over his bed. The man just stared ahead. There was a brief twitch of his face, and then the video looped back to the beginning.

  “Uh, nothing on this first one really. The guy looks pretty blank. He seems to frown a little for a second.”

  “What about this one?”

  Another face. This time, a woman. Her face moved ever so slightly, and she flicked her eyes up and to the right.

  “Maybe worried about something?”

  The test continued like this for several minutes, progressing through dozens of faces.

  “I think that’s enough,” Dr. Roth said, and Dr. Bailey nodded.

  “Let’s try this one. I’m going to show you a bunch of seemingly random scenes involving a few individuals. Just pay attention, and I’ll ask you some questions at the end.”

  Zed nodded as the first video started playing. A balding man stood over a sink in a bathroom. He was brushing his teeth. The door behind him opened, and a woman stepped in wearing pajamas. She yawned and patted the man on the shoulder before starting to brush her own teeth. It went on like this for several minutes, with the presumed couple making idle small talk before the scene ended.

  Another clip began to play. It involved the same couple, but this time their car was taking them somewhere. The man sat in the front row, and the woman sat in the back. There was more boring chit-chat, and the scene ended. The test went on this way for almost an hour.

  This has to be the most boring, disjointed movie ever made, Zed thought. Mercifully, the clip he had just watched seemed to be the last one.

  “What did you think?” Dr. Bailey asked, her fingertips on her knees, ready to take down his reply.

  “Riveting.”

  “Cute,” Dr. Roth said. “But seriously, what, if anything, did you glean from that?”

  “I’m sure what glean means, but there wasn't much to learn if that's what you mean. I guess it was realistic enough. Super realistic, actually, but kind of boring and pointless. It didn’t feel like a story at all, just a random day in someone's life. It could have been hidden camera footage for all I know.”

  “Actually, it was. Now what can you tell me about it?”

  Zed was a bit taken aback. It felt icky to realize he’d been a voyeur and not just watching a bad movie.

  “Uh, well, there really wasn’t anything interesting to tell. Other than the wife’s implied drug dealing, it was all pretty mundane.”

  Both of the doctors’ fingers stopped tapping on their knees. They looked at Zed and then at each other, smiling in unison.