Experiment Zero

Chapter 2
Day One

Chapter Description: Eric learns of an unpleasant side effect of the supplement which he is testing.

Breakfast was simple. Pancakes, eggs, and sausage were provided along with bananas and grapes. It slightly bothered Eric that EVERYONE was eating the SAME thing. But he didn’t let it bother him. He ate his food with gratitude, seeing that it was his first real meal in weeks, which was something he shared in common with many of the other volunteers. Halfway through his meal, he decided to start up a little conversation.

“Is anyone else bothered by the lack of variety here? It feels like they’re even telling us when to breathe.”

The guy with glasses answered him. He was a big guy, who obviously worked out a lot. “I don’t see a problem with that, I just don’t like the fact that we’re the first group to test this. There’s so much that can go wrong that I see why they don’t want to give us too much freedom. I don’t like that myself, but we are getting paid for this, so we might as well brave it out.”

Eric eyed the guy. He was obviously the bold one of the group. Maybe it would be a good idea to be friends with him. “The results don’t have me that concerned. If they’ve made it to human testing, there obviously aren’t too many problems left for them to find out. I just hate the lack of freedom we have here.”

“You strike me as someone who likes to challenge authority. Just do what you’re told. It’s the same anywhere. You could do with a little more discipline in your life.”

Eric didn’t like where the conversation was headed. The dark-haired girl sitting next to him came to his rescue. “Well, sure, a little discipline is good, but it’s almost as though they’re treating us like children. I for one, feel I can make my own decisions on what to do during the day and really don’t need it planned out for me.”

Eric snickered. When the girl gave him a betrayed look he responded, “Oh, sorry. I was just wondering if anyone was considering using the playground. It looked fun.”

He got more dirty looks from the group. Finally the red-haired guy chimed in, “Well... it could make for a nice obstacle course or something if we don’t feel like running, weight-lifting, or doing sports for the day.”

Eric decided not to respond. It seemed as though he were already making enemies fast.

“Before the alpha males start tearing out each others’ thoats, I thnk we should all introduce ourselves,” said the blond, “My name’s Julie.”

Eric quickly made and broke eye contact with the the dark-haired man who introduced himself as Ralph. The red-haired guy was Tim, and the dark-haired girl was Andrea. Eric introduced himself, followed by various other people, which he just didn’t have the brain cells to remember.

With the ice broken, they finished breakfast in good spirits. Dr. Amelia returned with instruction for the rest of the morning.

“Alright guys, if you’re all done here we have a reading area. You can read, interact with each other, or just take a nap. Lunch will be in a few hours.” she led them to the area.

The room had nice furniture, which Eric thought was cozy enough to sleep in. Regardless, he decided he’d like to test the waters.

“Doctor, can I go lift weights instead? I really need to burn off all those calories.”

Amelia nodded in response. “You may, however, you need an escort with you when you stray from the group. One of the nurses will be happy to oblige.”

Eric wanted to back out now, but realized he would lose any favor he had with the group if he did so, sensing this, Amelia then continued, “Oh, shoot, I’ve got the nurses working on something else right now. Sorry, Eric, but you’ll just have to wait on that.” Eric gritted his teeth. She made him look very inferior.

Amelia addressed them again, “I’m going to go ahead and give you all those supplements now, but keep in mind that you will receive them upon waking from now on.” with that, she gave everyone two white pills and offered water to wash them down.

Eric swallowed his. He felt strange. His stomach rumbled. “Uh... where’s the restroom?” he asked, wondering if he was even going to make it.

Amelia wasted no time answering, “We actually have one right here in this-” the doctor was interrupted by a terrible odor as Eric’s bowels released, with the gas resounding throughout the whole room.

Eric turned white as everyone stared at him, but to his relief more volunteers’ undergarments met the same, tragic end. Amelia hit her forehead in response to her medicine’s feedback.

“I thought this might happen, but hoped otherwise.” she sighed, “The restrooms are over here. They are also equipped with showers which you may use to wash off-” with that Amelia stormed off out of the room. Eric figured somebody was obviously going to hear about this.

Eric went into the bathroom. Apparently five other guys and two of the girls had the same reaction to the medication. Eric just kept quiet as he found a stall and stripped down to his birthday suit. He started to clean the shit off his ass. ’God, this is embarrassing,’ he thought to himself.

After getting cleaned up, Eric got into one of the showers, sure to pull the curtain around himself. For the first time in weeks he was able to wash himself with regular body soap instead of using hand soap from a public restroom. As he finished washing his hair, his curtain flew open. His arms flew to cover his manly appendage as he saw Doctor Amelia’s face.

“WHAT THE FUCK!!!” he yelled.

“I am a trained professional, so calm down.” Amelia replied. She took his hand and guided him out to the public area of the restroom, where the other guys were already standing around, looking very red in the face. They avoided making eye contact with Eric and the doctor as they approached. They were dressed in various street clothes that had been provided to them. Eric didn’t think that should be too embarrassing, but given the situation, perhaps they all had reason to be a little pink.

“Again, if I’ve already been with you, then clear out.” she barked at the other guys. Obediently, they all left. Eric looked down on the floor where he saw a towel spread out over the floor and on top of that was an adult-sized disposable diaper.

“Oh, fuck no. I’m not wearing that.” he protested.

“Look, I’m sorry, but there’s no way of knowing if something like that will happen again, and I don’t have an unlimited supply of clothing to issue out.” Amelia explained. “Now get on the towel.” Now he understood why everyone looked so red when he came out. Seeing the reason in her logic, and unable to refute it, Eric complied.

Amelia unfolded the diaper and slid it under his ass. “I know this is embarrassing, but in my experience guys typically don’t know how to change diapers, so I am leaving nothing to chance.” she said as she worked the tapes, six in all.

“W-w-why aren’t you having one of the n-n-nurses d-d-do this?” Eric stammered. This was beyond embarrassing. He could not look Doctor Amelia in the eye anymore. It would have been far more dignifying if a male nurse had dressed him up.

“Like I said, I have them working on something else.” Amelia finished up. The diaper was snug around his waist, even a little tight. Eric could feel it almost suffocating his crotch. He got up slowly and noticed the audible crinkly, causing him to wince. As if to complete the mood, Dr. Amelia jokingly smacked him on the behind, chuckling softly as she did so.

Eric didn’t think he could turn a deeper red before that point, but there he stood corrected. He slowly turned around to see the doctor smirking at him. “Don’t worry, this should only be temporary. In the meantime, if you need to be changed you can either do it yourself or have one of the nurses do it for you, but bear in mind that should you do it yourself that you need to have it on firmly, otherwise it will leak, and I’ll have to get you some more new clothes.” With that, Amelia left the bathroom. Seeing the folded clothing at the sink, Eric sunk back to the floor, hugging his knees as Amelia left.

***

Lunch was terrible. Eric tried to keep to himself, but Andrea seemed intent on getting in on some gossip. She nudged Eric as he focused on his food.

“Hey, I heard you guys have to wear diapers now. Is that true?” she had a straight face, but looked like she was trying very hard to suppress laughter. Eric just turned crimson in response. He did not even look up. Andrea cracked up. At first it was just light snickering, but then she burst out laughing, which caught the whole room’s attention. Several of the participants present turned red, while others sought to get in on the joke, while yet others joined in on the laughter.

Hearing the commotion, Amelia entered the lunch room. She was holding something that Eric couldn’t make out. “Your attention please!” she called, only to be unheard during all the laughter, “Everyone this is important-” there was no break in the background volume as she tried to get peoples’ attention, “SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. Everyone grew silent. This had been the first time any of them had heard her swear.

"Yes, the rumors are true. Some of the volunteers had a reaction to the supplement which caused them to involuntarily defecate themselves. They are now wearing appropriate clothing to prevent this from getting out of hand-” the room exploded with laughter. “SHUT UP!!!” she screamed at them again, causing them to fall silent.

“We are concerned that those of you who haven’t yet had this reaction might also be at risk, however we are not certain. We ask that you all be wary of this and take the same measure,” she stated, holding up a package of adult diapers, “however, compliance is voluntary as long as you don’t have that reaction to the medication.” The room fell silent. Those who were not red from embarrassment were white from fear.

“Well, if there aren’t any questions I’ll take my leave.” the doctor said as she left the room, dropping the package as she left. Lunch was finished in silence, although some volunteered to be diapered, in the interest of protecting expensive clothing.

***

The rest of that day was uneventful. Some of them went running while others played soccer and yet others idly sat at the playground. Only a few people had accidents, but that still raised a red flag for Amelia that the measures were not yet unnecessary. At night Eric lay in bed, waiting for the day to be over. The air felt heavy as he finally nodded off to sleep.