Author : Roi R. Czechvala, Staff Writer

They watched him through a one way mirror. He sat in a corner of the room in a pool of his own excrement, legs pulled up to his chest, arms tightly wrapped around his knees. What was left of his clothing had been reduced to little more than filthy, shredded rags.

“How long has he been like this“, asked Dr. Scoffield, head of the Behavioural Psychology Department of the University of Mare Tranquillitatis.

Ryan Murphy, doctoral candidate and originator of the experiment for his thesis, fought to tear his eyes away from the pathetic, huddled figure mere feet from him. “Four hours. He showed sings of mental instability within minutes from the cessation of the neural feed. He lost total control of bodily functions within half an hour.”

“Has he eaten?”

“As you can see on the monitor, the butler has been programmed with all of his favourite food and drink. He hasn’t touched it.”

“Has he made any attempt at communication?”

“As soon as the feed was cut, he began screaming incoherently and began tearing at his hair and clothes. He has remained motionless since. As you can see, the urine around him is nearly dry and undisturbed. The solid excreta are beginning to harden.”

“I had no idea the effect would take place so fast, nor did I ever believe the reaction would be so extreme.”

“What do you wish to do Doctor?”

“This is inhumane, end the experiment at once.”

Ryan turned to a technician sitting at a computer and drew his finger across his throat. The technician entered a few commands restoring the neural feed to the subject.

“Doctor, the subject is already responding.”

“Remarkable.”

Beyond the glass barrier, a blissful smile returned to the face of the test subject as continuous feeds of American Idol, Big Brother and Inside Edition flooded through his mind.