@sidereal I had some similar idea (although way less practical 😅) when I was a philosophy student and was presented this problem. The answer was : "no. This is a thought experiment, the only two options are the ones I presented".

Sadly, it took me many years to realize the correct answer to that was : "well, stay the fuck out of my head then, my thoughts are mine". Those people die only because we allow an authority figure to dictate what reality looks like to us.