Experiment Zero

Chapter 1
Orientation

Chapter Description: Doctor Amelia meets the group and introduces them to the facility where they will reside for the duration of the study.

Eric showed up bright and early for the orientation. He’d left all his possessions behind, figuring he’d have no access to them during the trial anyway. He eagerly scanned the crowd while they waited for the doctor to address them all and get the experiment started. He noticed that, like himself, there were many others who seemed as though they had to skip meals from time to time. Since there was not much else to do, he joined the others in idle chit-chat as they waited for their speaker to arrive.

Eric watched excitedly as a tall blond woman wearing a labcoat and glasses approached the grouup. He recognized the doctor as she took her stand at the front of the dining area. She cleared her throat before addressing the crowd.

“Everyone, I’d like to welcome you all and thank you all for coming. Over the next few weeks you’ll be testing a supplement we have under development which should give you all more energy and help out with day-to-day functions-” a hand shot up in the audience, which Dr. Amelia acknowledged with a nod, making eye contact with one of the volunteers.

“How long is this trial going to last?” asked a blond with short hair.

“Please save questions for after the presentation.” the doctor replied, “Anyway, we are not yet aware of side effects since we have not yet done human testing on this supplement-” another hand shot up, which caught Amelia’s attention, “Is this a question?”

“Yes, I was just-” a dark-haired man with glasses began.

“Again, please save questions for after the presentation.” she returned to her clip-board. “Headaches, nausea, and diarrhea may be a few of the expected negative side-effects. Since diet is a big factor which may influence the results, you will all remain here until the conclusion of the trial. Staff will provide three nutritious meals per day, and recreation will be sponsored and encouraged during the afternoon. The entertainment hall is open during the evening. Curfew and wakeup will be enforced. For further information, please consult the brochures that will be handed out after the tour. I will now address any questions you may have.” A lot of hands shot up.

Eric himself didn’t care about the procedure. He’d comply with rules as needed and would just be relieved once it all was over, but he didn’t have to share that with the class, however he did decide that it would be a good idea to pay attention to the other lab rats in case any of them could be of use to him one day in the near future. He turned his attention to the blond who was acknowledged to ask the first question.

“How long will this trial last?”

“This is a three-week trial. None of you will be allowed to leave for three weeks per the contract you all signed for this experiment. Failure to comply with this term will result in the forfeit of your earnings which you will receive upon the conclusion of this experiment. Next question.” she acknowledged the guy with glasses next.

“So you’ve never tested this compound on humans before?”

“We have not yet performed human tests, no.”

“Then count me out.” he got up to leave.

The doctor walked over to him and coaxed him back into his seat. “Sir, this is a supplement which should be beneficial to your health. We do not yet know of any side-effects, but none should be too severe.”

The man said nothing, but stayed in his seat. The doctor turned her attention to the other volunteers to address their questions.

This time Eric raised his hand. “You said you were offering recreation and entertainment. Is that going to be what we do every day or are we going to have any sort of variation in the schedule?”

The doctor sighed. “Yes, physical activity is mandatory. Our staff will do our best to make this experience as fun and exciting as we can, but supplements are far more effective if the user is active. We want to eliminate as many variables as we can so you will all be subject to a healthy diet and exercise.”

Groans came from the room. Many people expressed interest in leaving, only to be dissuaded by the doctor who assured them that it was in their best interest anyway. This was a little strange to Eric, who was trying to weed out other applicants in the hopes of the reward possibly increasing if fewer volunteers remained. Why would she want them all to stay when he had to work his ass off just to convince her to allow him to participate?

While the doctor continued to answer questions and address problems, Eric scanned his peers. It seemed as though all of them were roughly his own age, early to mid twenties. He raised his hand again and was acknowledged by Amelia after she answered a few more questions.

“How come we’re all the same age? Wouldn’t you want to test various age groups so you can see what it does for consumers of different ages?”

“We do have other age groups in this trial, but decided to separate them in the interest of keeping interaction between participants strong. Are there any other questions?”

No one else raised their hand. Eric wanted to ask the logic of keeping them all separated, but decided he was pushing his luck with too many questions, so decided to hold his tongue.

“Since there are no questions, I will now proceed with the tour. She led them to a room down the hall.

“This is the entertainment center.” There were a lot of old TV’s in the area, with one big plasma screen on the wall. “This area opens after dinner and closes one hour before curfew. We do have channels on the TV, we have movies and games to play. If there are no questions I will proceed to next area.”

“Why isn’t this room available all day?” a red haired boy blurted without raising his hand.

“This area is only open during the evening so volunteers can get as much exercise as they can during the day. While it’s not mandatory that you remain active all day, we do want you to get out for a little bit. Any other questions?” The group remained silent. “Alright, next area.”

Dr. Amelia took them outside. There was a track, a field, and a park. The park was obviously for kids. Everyone in the group looked quizzically at the park.

“We have an outdoor track that you guys can use at your leisure, the field is for any sort of sport we have for the day, participation for the sport will not be mandatory, but majority vote decides which sport it will be for that day. The park is for the younger volunteers when we are ready to test on younger people, although should you feel the need to use it, you certainly may.” The doctor waited for the volley of questions she expected to address. There were none. The group looked like everyone in it was tired and just wanted to eat. “If there are no questions, we will go to next area.” Eric wanted to ask so many questions. Why would there be a park at this institute, right now in particular? That had to have cost thousands to put up and he just didn’t see the logic in testing the supplement on children.

On the way to living quarters, Amelia pointed out the weight room that the facility also offered, which was open all day long. “We encourage you to take advantage of recreational facilities as much as you can. Active lifestyles are key to this experiment. If you do not wish to participate in the group activity for the day, you may work out instead, but note that you will be expected to take part in some form of physical activity.”

Eric couldn’t help himself this time. “Wouldn’t you also want to test its effects for less active users to gauge how successful it is without increased physical activity?”

Amelia just ignored him. “Next we have living quarters.” she led them to the rooms. “This is where you will be sleeping at night. Guys’ rooms on the left, girls’ rooms on the right. Doors to both rooms will be locked every night so no one goes in or out. Any questions?”

Eric laughed to himself. She ignored his last question, but he guess he’d try a question anyway. “Why the lock-down? We’re all adults here, so I don’t see a reason to keep us contained at night.”

Amelia wiped her eyes. Eric was getting on her nerves at this point, but on the other hand this was the question everyone had on their mind. “Yes, you are all young adults, but this is not my first time doing this kind of study and misconduct usually occurs at night. Since you all are to be sleeping at night anyway, there should be no issue with lock-down. You all signed that agreement before taking part. If you would like to read over the contract again, I can bring that up.”

The crowd held its silence. Everyone was hungry and at this point no one but Eric had the energy to argue. “If there are no further questions, we will all return to the dining hall for breakfast.” Many in the group let out sighs of relief.