The Room

The closed door looked innocuous enough, but Wouters knew the truth. Young Lambert had been in there for two days, and it had been unusually quiet for most of that time. Everyone came out changed.

Everyone.

It was interesting, he thought, how just one experience could so profoundly alter the core of someone's self-identity. Many had been broken entirely in that room.

The door opened and Lambert emerged. Unsteady, ashen, the eyes different now, but - walking. Perhaps he'd been more resilient than Wouters had given him credit for.

"Congratulations!" exclaimed Wouters. "You've completed the EU Administration and Bureaucracy Exam!"