Madness (cancelled)

The First Subject

Doe and Kramer stood in testing room 1. In the centre of the room was a bed, and at the head of the bed was a device. Further out again were a series of wires connecting the device to the main processor, which in turn led to a series of screens which circled the room.

First, the bed. The bed was like any bed you'd find in a hospital, a shaky looking metal frame supporting a hard blue mattress with a bump for a pillow. The bed was bare, without sheets, but hanging from the frame were three thick straps which could be used to restrain any patient that resisted. It did not look comfortable.

The device looked even less comfortable though. The device was a bowl shaped metal frame, polished and shined until it was almost white in appearance. The device was supported on hinges so that it would rest two inches above the patient's head, but joined to the frame were twelve long thin drill bits, each one long enough to enter the mind of anybody who lay in the bed. Half of the drill bits were hollow down their length, connected by plastic tubes to vast vats of liquids in the ceiling. The other half held small electronic sensors on their tips, and were wired up to the white locker sized computers at the rear of the room.

The room was circled by large screens, inactive for the time, but once connected to the subject capable of displaying their deepest thoughts. The screens, too, were white.

Aside from the equipment, the room was bare, and Kramer and Doe stood waiting for their first patient.

Kramer was a very tall, very thin man. He wore a pale blue, long tailed hospital gown, green silicone gloves, a blue cap, thin rimmed glasses, and around his neck he wore a blue face mask. Only his wrinkled face was visible, and it didn't quite look human. His pupils took up almost all of his eyes, making them appear black. His nose was small, and slightly too high. And his smile was far too wide, extending almost to his ears.

Doe looked younger than his partner, less wrinkled, but otherwise he looked the same. He was a few inches shorter, at only six foot four, but equally thin. They were dressed identically, right down to the glasses, but Doe wore his mask over his mouth. This only made him seem less human, as when he grinned the sides of his mouth extended beyond his mask.

There was a knock at the door, and Kramer put his own mask on.
"The first subject has arrived", he spoke through his mask. He raised a small gas canister. "Would you care to let him in?"