if you remove most of the oxygen from the subject, and then alternate between high oxygenation and low oxygenation, you can force the subject between a series of higher and lower experiential states of awareness. by doing this, you can imbue both the conscious and unconscious minds with good old cold, dead fear.

bend the fingers, but not until the fingers break. make the fingers stretch. ask if it feels good. hear the whimper. record the whimper. play the whimper. distort the whimper. ask what the subject thinks of the sound. bounce the whimper endlessly off the walls. let the whimper screech. you have earplugs. the subject does not.

this is a matter of course for you. it is executed with shallow relentlessness. there’s nothing else that you remember how to do. there is no thought. only action. each action harms. the action has no meaning behind it. its harm is merely an after-effect.

slap. watch the subject flinch. strike. hear the subject beg. the subject is not tied, or bound, or locked away. the subject is merely trapped by a series of runes. the subject has been conditioned to know not to step outside of the first rune. the first rune is, sadly, the safest one. the first rune glows a warm red. the other runes glow a calm and inviting pale blue. the conditioning took place at the start of captivity. the subject does not even remember what happened in those gentle blue runes. the mind has a way of blocking those things out.

dehydration is a constant. the dull aching of an entire body starved of its main resource. the subject, however, is deep underwater. the walls are crystal, and refract the calm ocean water in which the subject has been gingerly placed. thoughts of escape occur, at most, once per hour. they have been beaten out.

the subject's thoughts idly wander to past loves, to erstwhile hobbies, to a life before this home. the subject is reminded of the current state of things for only a few seconds at a time before returning to the tranquil and familiar state of trance. the subject screams once every 3 hours. the subject appears utterly unfazed by surroundings.

every 23 and 3 quarters of an hour, 15 minutes of darkness. the subject does not remember darkness. the subject forgets, during the lead-up, every time. there are many consistencies to the life of the subject. life is beautiful in all its forms, no? if you would wish death rather than this life, perhaps you have not thought carefully enough, yet. we are placed on this earth to fulfill a purpose. all becomes clear in time.

the subject’s eyelids are held open by clothespins. the subject has safety pins stuck beneath fingertips, and is only occasionally brought a piano. the sounds produced by the subject are beautiful. the sounds bring tears to the eyes of listeners. concert tickets always sell out very swiftly. it’s hard to aim the fingers. but the subject has many hours of practice.

the subject is forced to kneel until the fabric of the robe is worn through. the subject prays every night. the prayer is pure, and white. the prayer contains no words, no sound, no movement, no thought. the prayer is taken directly to heaven, where it is felt by all of heaven's spectral inhabitants. the robes are then auctioned off, for charity. there are many audience-members. nobody pays. bidding starts at seven cents.

the subject, too, is an instrument. the subject, by long pavlovian conditioning, has been taught to be an instrument. touches on particular spots of the subject’s body are reacted to in consistent, trained manners. a maestro of this particular instrument is brought in, every august 1st. a symphony is played upon the subject. there are no viewers. there is no audience.

winters are cold. summers are cold, as well. a vaccine was discovered, long ago, for hypothermia. the subject is held at a friendly 32F. the skin is kept tight in case the maestro drops by.

to better communicate with the outer world, the subject is briefly released for periods of time. this is known as “networking.” the subject manifests in daily life, walks around, talks. marks are hidden by long sleeves, coats, strange garb, handed down. the subject is injected, upon return, with an amnesiac. the purpose is merely to show outsiders the humanity, and ahumanity, of the subject. rest assured, the subject does not notice the momentary lack of consciousness. that’s what the shocks are for.

we have discovered a way to use radiation to trigger the direct fear response. for fun, we will remove all sources of pain from the subject’s room, even the pictures. the room is empty, and the subject is, for once, safe from harm. the subject is, unfortunately, as a slave to biology, incapable of accepting this temporary safety. but at least we gave that a shot.

the subject is covered in carvings. the subject is covered in paint. the subject is striking. this explains the size of the audience.

the labyrinthine structure and immense size of the subject’s room must be experienced, to be understood.

more will be recounted about the subject, later

believe it or not, the subject chose to be here.