1. Great Experiment
"Welcome to the Great Experiment," a man in a white lab coat greeted. My eyes scanned the small black room, gathering information about the other participants. "Today is a wonderful day. You have all filled out the necessary paperwork and meet the requirements needed to part take in this experiment that will change the world."
I didn't exactly agree with the statement about changing the world. One lousy 'teens with phones' experiment couldn't be that important to humanity.
"In a few moments, you will all go into private rooms for a more detailed explanation of what will happen in the course of twenty-four hours. With that being said, see you all soon. Remember to have fun, be yourself and enjoy."
After he concluded his last message, we all got ushered out of the black room into a hallway consisting of many doors. I followed the girl in front of me. Down the hallway we go, passing by many faces hidden behind masks with clipboards. It started to seem more like a horror house.
Soon I walked down far enough that one of the experimenters pulled me into a little room. He told me to sit down so he could explain more and ask me some questions. The whole experience reminded me of going to the doctor's office.
The man sat down at a computer and spun in his chair to face me, "Okay, so first, welcome to the Great Experiment. We have five minutes for asking and answering questions. We will go back and forth. If you don't have any questions then I'll do the talking. Understand?"
I nodded. "You can start then."
"What would you do if you were stuck in a burning building? One: Exit through the nearest door, or two: Exit through the nearest window," he asks. I just thought about how stupid that question was. What did any of this have to do with the experiment?
"What does this have to do with anything and you didn't give me enough context to answer the question," I answered. He looked at me for a second before typing something into the computer.
"These are the questions being asked. Your answers will decide what group you are assigned to and help us plan out what actions you may have during the experiment." That didn't make any sense but this whole thing was starting to weird me out.
He asked another question, "Do you like having your phone?"
"Yes," I replied dryly.
"Now it's time for you to take some medicine," he stated.
Red flags go off. "Woah there. Why do I have to take medicine? What is it?"
"It was all in the contract. This will be injected into you. It is a special new medicine that was developed just for this experiment." He stood up and walked to the cabinet on the other side of the room.
"Do I have to take it?" I couldn't remember reading about any type of medicine or injections.
The cabinet door swung open, revealing bottles and liquids. The man rummaged through everything while replying with a nod yes. He turned to me with a huge needle and I felt my hands turn clammy.
Still not saying a word, he walked to me and rolled up my sleeve. I hated shots.
"Okay, start counting and relax. This won't hurt at all," the man reassures. For you, it won't.
"One, two, three, four... ouch!" I yelped as the needle stabbed me. I could feel him releasing the medicine into my blood and my stomach rolled.
The man placed a blue band-aid on my arm and said, "Good. This serum will have effects on your brain. If you become too dangerous we will give you one warning before removing you from the experiment where you will be put in solitary confinement."
It was too late to say no now but I couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen to me. I was scared.
