The Experiment

Shaney - highschool friend

An organization built an underground city. There were a lot of students down there walking around checking the place out. I heard about people that were volunteering to live there permanently as part of a study. For no particular reason I volunteered to do that. Right after I signed up to do it, I walked over to a table where they were selling acid. I bought the last tab, which said "chill" on it. Right after I popped it in my mouth, Shaney walked up and said "I heard that is a really strong strain, so maybe we should share that tab". Because I had never taken it before I thought that was a good idea, so I took it out of my mouth, found my pocket knife, and started cutting it in half. I put the half tab back in my mouth, and continued to wander around the city. I saw another kid who had taken acid a minute ago. He was sitting on the floor in the corner, with the saddest expression on his face. I noticed other kids on the same stuff who were running around having the time of their lives. I didn't notice much of the effects. I ran into a couple of friends from school who were walking around down there. We were all talking about how cool the place was and I mentioned that I had to stay here permanently. They were shocked and asked if I was afraid. I told them not really, then said goodbye and walked away. I met another guy who was to be in the same study. He was afraid, and decided that he didn't want to be a part of it anymore. We walked to the elevator that took us back up to the real world, and both took off our clothes, which identified us as participants in the study. I got into the elevator and realized that my ID necklace was still on. Just as the doors were closing, I ripped it off and through it through the sliver that was still open. The doors shut, and the guy pressed a button. The elevator started to move. I mentioned to him that there was some high-tech stuff involved with this place and it probably knew that we weren't supposed to be in here. Then the elevator stopped, but the doors didn't open. I decided that we were probably going to die in here, and started looking around at the place to see what we had to live on for what would be the remainder of our very short lives. There was a little kitchen in the elevator, and there was half an apple, some fig newtons, and other assorted small bits of food. I promised myself right there that I wouldn't eat any of it, I just wanted to die and get this over with. The guy I was with started talking to me, I was looking at him and not really listening to anything he was saying. He had a blonde curly fro, and acted like someone who goes to a lot of parties and generally ignores the women there until he wants to sleep with one of them. I realized that maybe he and I should have sex since we were gonna die in here anyway, then I decided that I really didn't want to. Then I realized that this was an awful dream, and wolk myself up.
I was back in the underground world, but this one was much prettier; there was a lake at the end of the city, some palm trees, and the sun was out. I was walking around on the balcony of my apartment, thinking about how I had ended up here and why I ever volunteered to be a part of this experiment. Some of the people I lived near were talking about how they were getting "work leave", and this meant that they got to go back to the real world for a few weeks. I was talking to this beautiful girl who said she was going to be leaving. I had really liked her for a long time, and I wanted to tell her that before she left. When she and I had finished talking she walked away to go to work. After she left I sat in my room thinking about her, and decided to go tell her how I felt. I caught up to her, and she was really confused and awkward about why I was there. I couldn't really think of anything to say, and I wanted to kiss her but I knew she would think that was weird, so I just left. I decided I should fly, I took off and rose over the lake, and then I realized it was a dream and I could do whatever I wanted, but I decided that this was kind of an interesting dream so I would rather just let it take its coarse. As I flew around the lake, I noticed that there was a giant fence at the other end of it, and some houses beyond it. I decided that that must be part of the real world. I looked down at the edge of the lake and noticed that people were gathering there, some of them were swimming into the lake. The cops came, and apparently the sight of me flying had stirred some people, and there was a protest about the study. I went back to my apartment, and the cops were arresting some people. One of them came up to me and pointed some kind of strange weapon at my face. I told them that I had nothing to do with the uprising and that I hadn't done anything wrong. I explained that I just went out flying, and while I was out there people started to get upset. The cop had this evil look smeared on his face, and then said something like "oh I see, so you were just doing what you wanted, and it happened to kind of upset people so they started this protest". I was reluctant to agree with his statement because it made it sound like I could still be pinned with instigating this uprising even if it was unintentional. I didn't respond to him. He said he had to do something to me, and pointed the weapon at my ear. I saw a flash of light and heard a loud sound next to my ear. When I could see again, the world was spinning and then I noticed a really loud ringing in my ears, and the cop was gone. There were still a lot of people at my apartment, so I decided I should offer them all some beer. I went to the fridge and grabbed as many as I could hold, and walked around passing them out to everyone. The people were all very greatful. The last few people I handed beers to were a group guys standing on the balcony. They all seemed really cool so I wanted to come back to talk to them. I noticed that I had some how managed to finish my own beer while I was passing all the other ones out, so I went back to the fridge to get another one for myself. When I came back to the balcony the guys were gone. I stood there by myself leaning against the railing, thinking about the whole experiment. I was angry with myself for randomly decided to participate in something without really thinking about the implications of it. I was also angry that I was being controlled by some bureaucracy, and that all of my captors were faceless people and I had no idea how to get in touch with them or deal with them at all. I felt very hopeless, and just sat out there drinking my beer watching the palm trees.