Extinction of the Learned Response by Em

“Eyebrows up and in.
Lower lid contracted.
Upper lid raised.
Lip corners pulled sideways.
What is it?”

“Fear.”

“Good.”

In a spotless room, four people are having tea.

Duncan and Marlow are scientists. Rachel and Wells are their subjects, and they can almost pass for human now…

But Wells is growing stronger and Rachel is learning faster than predicted, and Duncan and Marlow’s hold on them – and on power – is proving more fragile than expected. Tensions are rising, tempers are fraying, and somewhere in the darkness, tenderness blossoms, and a carefully controlled experiment begins to twist