Change of tactics last night. I undertook a dual-win strategy with my relationship with the noisy giants – what happens if I let them sleep?

Providing two 3-hour unbroken stretches of sleep, I not only continued my strategic erraticism, but also wanted to see how they react to an unplanned kindness. I read somewhere that belligerent abusiveness with unconnected kindness is how cult leaders begin to brainwash their intended inductees.

Note to self: plan for larger delays in deploying milk bombs. The scratchy one does much of the burping, but premature release unexpectedly caught the useful one this morning. Thus, disappointingly failing to drive a wedge in loyalties. The scratchy one is less inclined to dress me, so a proper disguise for my escape relies on the kindness of the useful one. This detail requires additional rumination.

I have to call the experiment a qualified success. With more sleep, they were up and out of the apartment early, and I had another necessary opportunity to reconnoiter the area, but the chance was lost. They might be smarter than they look, as I suspect they poison my meals – I immediately fall asleep as soon as they leave the apartment, and lose another valuable opportunity to understand the layout and plan my way out of this hellish place.