Unknown Location “The Experiment”

On July 27th, 1973, an experiment was begun at an unspecified location on Wellington Street. It involved the treatment of a group of patients with severe depression and pronounced antisocial behavior. The experiment involved the use of unique social based therapy, along with an experimental medicine that had seen positive results in test animals. The results of the test where so appalling that the medicine itself and its origins have been removed from all records, the experiment itself only known in a select few volumes of now very outdated medical journals.

Although police reports were filed after the results of the tests were made apparent, much if not all of these files have been lost, save for a single incident report involving the one named tests subject. This report was made shortly before the experiment began, but shows indications of the trouble that would be to come. The evaluation suggested a history of violence, along with the requisite indications of being a sociopath. This report also said that the patient was transferred into the care of the doctor who oversaw the test. Though the information is sketchy, the main reason for this was that the subject's family seemed to believe that the man, age twenty, seemed to show a desire to cause harm to the family's pets.

Considering the results of the experiment, his participation may well have been a mistake, something that may well had been avoided had the experiment been performed with the same safety procedures one finds today.

The experiment involved the person already spoken of, along with three other people. For the first couple of days the patients were separated and simply administered doses of the medicine in order to start building it up in their system. After the days had passed, the people were introduced to one another using false names in order to protect anonymity during the testing. The names of the other three were never mentioned, leaving the young man as the only named subject. His name was David.

Being familiar with the test subject’s histories, the psychiatrist brought them together with the purpose of having them share their pasts with one another, in order to show the common themes and events that brought upon their depression and isolationist behaviors. At first, the doctor reported real success, and under his instruction there seemed to a real improvement in their emotional states. Most of all there was an improvement in the behavior of the subject known as David, who early on began to show very real interest in the other patients.

Over the course of the week the patients continued to make steady progress, many admitting to the group and the doctor personal details in their own lives that they had never spoken of before. They seemed to show a real understanding of the consequences of their behavior, and seemed to see, through talking with one another, how their conditions affected their lives. David became a sort of mentor, leading much of the discussion despite his lack of training. All of this seemed to suggest that the experiment was a success. It was only on the final night that it became clear things were getting out of hand.

When the doctor went to leave for the night, he set up a series of recording elements. This he had done every night before, but had never picked up anything. This is the transcript of a conversation that occurred at around one in the morning.

David: “Wake up...wake up. It is time”

Unidentified 1: “It is time.”

Unidentified 2: “We won't feel sad anymore?”

David: “Never again. I promise.”

Unidentified 2: “I don't want to feel this way anymore. Is this the only way?”

David: “Of course. You believe me don't you?”

Unidentified 2: “I…I believe you...”

Unidentified 1: “It is time.”

Unidentified 3: “It is time.”

After the above conversation took place, there was the sound of objects being moved around. When the doctor arrived in the morning he found almost all of the patients dead. The only one left alive was David, who was unconscious in the corner. The three other subjects were found dead on the ground, their windpipes broken, with a bruise patterns similar to the size and shape of David's hands. There didn't seem to be any struggle except in the case of the second subject, a female, who seemed to have caused lacerations along the length of David's arms.

It was later discovered that he had ingested a large portion of one of the bottles of medicine, which he had stolen from a locked cabinet. The result was a destruction of his liver and other organs, as well as severe damage to his brain, resulting in a sort of chemical lobotomy. The only thing that is known about the medicine he took was that it was meant to increase suggestion in the subjects, to help facilitate the influence of the therapy. The other properties of the drug were never identified, and the lack of evidence makes the identification of the drug impossible to determine.

The location of David and the doctor have never been found, and it is unknown as to what happened to the subject afterwards, though the report suggested that he had been put on dialysis and remained in a comatose state. This is the last piece of information provided on the case, as found in the publication of the study on June 14th, 1973.

The lack of evidence in this case, specifically a police report, is puzzling. This has left some to question the truth of the study and the events reported. However, the existence of the subject known as David is documented, and is unknown why such a horrible experiment would be falsified. The missing police reports have never been explained, leaving me to wonder what exactly has caused such secrecy around what should be a well-documented tragedy.