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Experiments — James Nelson
SHEA MCTORY (POV), 31, is down on his luck, way down. His short photography career fell to the alcohol-saturated party scene. For a few years he's been on the street, scratching from job to job. He gets more than bargained for when he answers the ad: VOLUNTEERS WANTED, FREE FOOD, PAY....
All he wanted was a roof over his head, to earn some money, maybe get some good food.
What the ad didn't say: That the food would not be...tasty; that, among other more benign men, he would be locked up with an adolescent-minded ex-sailor, and a psychopath; that he would be chosen to lead an assault on another volunteer; that he would stumble across secret, illegal, and dangerous miracle drug research; that he would write an expose article and provide photographs; and that he would meet NATALIE, the love of his life.
This story delves into human nutritional research and the psychological trials faced by the live-in male volunteers. The Metabolism &Excretion Analysis Laboratory, MEAL, Drammenberg, North Dakota, has provided Shea a temporary home. It's easy and relaxing, but when he does not get what he wants, impatience and immaturity can become nearly overwhelming. For fellow human beings he shows little compassion, gives, but grudgingly.
Story begins in November, four months into a six-month study. Shea wants a cigarette, syrupy pancakes, a woman, and in that order, but no foreign substances allowed. He is told what and when to eat, how to go to the bathroom, and goes nowhere outside their living quarters without a chaperone to guarantee absolute adherence to the rules.
Official research is determining how the body absorbs minerals with fatty diet and how much is excreted. The volunteer's job is to eat, defecate in the bag, urinate in the bottle. No exceptions. Private rooms are provided. Everything else must be shared. The volunteers must be patient, cooperate, entertain themselves, and accept their research roles.
All he wanted was a roof over his head, to earn some money, maybe get some good food.
What the ad didn't say: That the food would not be...tasty; that, among other more benign men, he would be locked up with an adolescent-minded ex-sailor, and a psychopath; that he would be chosen to lead an assault on another volunteer; that he would stumble across secret, illegal, and dangerous miracle drug research; that he would write an expose article and provide photographs; and that he would meet NATALIE, the love of his life.
This story delves into human nutritional research and the psychological trials faced by the live-in male volunteers. The Metabolism &Excretion Analysis Laboratory, MEAL, Drammenberg, North Dakota, has provided Shea a temporary home. It's easy and relaxing, but when he does not get what he wants, impatience and immaturity can become nearly overwhelming. For fellow human beings he shows little compassion, gives, but grudgingly.
Story begins in November, four months into a six-month study. Shea wants a cigarette, syrupy pancakes, a woman, and in that order, but no foreign substances allowed. He is told what and when to eat, how to go to the bathroom, and goes nowhere outside their living quarters without a chaperone to guarantee absolute adherence to the rules.
Official research is determining how the body absorbs minerals with fatty diet and how much is excreted. The volunteer's job is to eat, defecate in the bag, urinate in the bottle. No exceptions. Private rooms are provided. Everything else must be shared. The volunteers must be patient, cooperate, entertain themselves, and accept their research roles.
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