Peering into the chamber through the one-way glass, Eve stared in awe while Emily adjusted the room setting from a console. She turned a switch, and an audible clack could be heard from inside the testing room. When Eve looked up, she finally realized that the ceiling was slowly opening, the bright sunlight flooding into the room gradually.

The Inzomniac jerking his head up to fix his gaze on the roof startled her. Up until now he had been sitting completely motionless in the middle of the room, hugging his legs with his arms and resting his chin on his knees.

He stared at the ceiling warily, his unkept, outgrown bangs casting a veil of brown over his bloodshot eyes. At first he didn’t move or make a sound, but as the roof opened up to welcome the light of the sun inside he suddenly unfolded his legs, prepared to move if necessary. 

“He exhibits a surprising amount of intelligence...” Emily thought aloud as she continued to turn the dial controlling the roof. “He knows he can’t be in direct sunlight.”

“What happens if he does?” Eve asked out of curiosity, watching the Inzomniac with interest.

I guess Emily’s fascination is starting to rub off on me.

“If he does... I’m not too sure. The last time it happened, the Inzomniac burned in the light, but I’m not certain if it was a fluke or not.”

The Inzomniac finally started to move when the light crept up to his feet. He swiftly kicked his legs out, sliding himself across the room. Seeing this, Emily raised an eyebrow, adjusting the setting again. The Inzomniac seemed to panic after glancing at the ceiling and walls.

He has realized that the roof isn’t going to stop, huh...

When the ceiling reached his feet again, he scrambled away again, looking towards the one-way glass.

Does he know we are in here?

He shuffled away continuously, clearly desperate, before pausing. He was still for a moment, before he darted across the room. Eve blinked in surprise, before realizing what he was doing. He sprung across the floor, sliding under a table in the room.

“I put that table in there to see if he would run into the light to get to it.” Emily explained. “If he wasn’t intelligent and he was running on instinct, I highly doubt he would have done so.”

She has a point... he ran straight into direct sunlight because he knew he would be safe under the table...

The Inzomniac was safe, it seemed. The shade of the table was protecting him against the sun’s rays. But he was clearly frightened, she guessed by the way he was trembling. He winced as steam- or smoke- rose from his exposed skin. To Eve’s surprise, he glared straight at the one-way glass, directly where she was standing. His eyes seemed to lock with hers through the window, his messy bangs casting an ominous shadow over his face.

Surely he can’t... see me?

She took a step back in surprise, shaking her head. Emily looked at her, confused.

The Inzomniac must have had more important things to worry about, for he pried his gaze away from the window to examine his hands and face.

Emily was still jotting down notes on her pad, but when she realized he was still under the table she turned the dial and flipped a switch. The ceiling slowly but surely closed, blocking out the sun again. Regardless, Eve was not surprised when he did not come back out for a while.

“Emily.”

Emily glanced up from her notebook. She was back on her office chair with her legs kicked up on her desk. “Hm?”

“I was wondering... Have any Inzomniacs,” the word still felt strange, “ever... talked to you?”

“Erm...” She leaned back in her chair, rocking it back and forth with a perplexed look on her face. “I don’t... think so. I think this Inzomnia virus decomposes their vocal cords. When the first Inzomniac died, I did an autopsy on the body. The vocal cords were completely shot, if you know what I mean.” She leaned over the desk, resting her chin on her hands. “Actually, most of her organs were pretty messed up. It’s like she was already dead, decomposing at an accelerated rate, and yet... still alive, sort of.”

“That’s... really creepy.” Eve stated, holding back a shudder.

“Yeah. I’m not too sure about the logistics of it, though.” She pulled out a list from her drawer. “Their skin remains the same until they actually die, except it’s usually paler than before. They are physically unable to sleep. Their eyes are always bloodshot. They rarely make a sound, let alone talk. They eat people’s spinal fluid. Sometimes we find dead bodies outside with their fluid gone. Sometimes they survive with what little they have, and then they turn into Inzomniacs. It's a puzzler.”

“Well, I’m not sure if this is relevant, but...” she paused hesitantly. “But, that one talked to me when we first met.”

“REALLY?!” Emily practically jumped out of her seat. Eve almost thought she would end up leaping through the roof. “That’s incredible!” She beamed, before plopping back down. “He doesn’t look like his body has degraded that much. It could be that his vocal cords haven’t decomposed as much as we thought.”

“Do you think... if I tried... I could talk to him?” Eve couldn’t help feeling silly for asking the question.

Emily leaned back again.

She does that a lot...

“I suppose if he was intelligent enough to speak to you before, it means he understands our language. So theoretically, if his vocal cords are still intact, you should be able to communicate with him through speech... Why?”

“I was thinking about it...” Eve pulled out the crystal heart. “There was another one with him when I was out there. He never saw this, it was in my pocket the whole time, but he acted like he knew it was there. He never talked, though.”

“Hm... That’s odd. I don’t see why they would be after that of all things. Although...” she thought a moment. “No, that doesn’t make sense.”

“What?”

“Well, one time someone was attacked by an Inzomniac, but it ran straight past her to tackle someone else who was holding a key chain. It was pretty shiny, so they could be attracted to shiny things like cats are, but if he never saw it, then...”

“He couldn’t have been attracted to something shiny if he never saw it.” She finished her sentence for her, and she nodded.

“It doesn’t make any sense.” They both said in unison before they glanced towards the Inzomniac through the glass.