BNevis
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From Researcher to Reasearch Subject
🕑 Added 2021-01-28 12:57:35 +0000 UTCTranscript of Audio Research Log BBRY #21-0128:
"I forgot. I'm supposed to log my experiences. Um... this is just my third day after being brought in to monitor this... unexpected, & totally isolated stage of this project. After the "incident."
[Sip]
As a former grad student of hers, I still cannot say I'm all that entirely used to seeing Professor Ross in such a condition. Like she wasn't even that much older than us. And this was supposed to be her project after all! Her life's work! Well, hers & Dr. Diggs' anyway. But now? After the... well... accident that made her an unwitting test subject? It's like all of her study? All of her expertise? It's wasted in her just trying to concentrate on holding herself together! And... ech....
I'm... I'm sorry. This is probably highly unprofessional. Nothing fit for the actual journal I just... I had a bit of an odd experience earlier & I can't shake what I thought I heard...
I took over for my colleague at 0900 sharp. As we're still less than a week out from Professor Ross's... sorry. I keep forgetting. Dr. Diggs told us. We're supposed to refer to her as Subject R going forward. For the sake of the research.
Anyway, it's only been a week since "Subject R's" initial exposure, So my colleague & I? We're tasked with monitoring her around the clock. Ensuring that she remains as comfortable & as stable as possible, while also recording the... process, if you will. What's... going on with her.
Like beyond the obvious; her... bloated shape & overall color? She's... not really present. Not her usual, quick-witted self. What's come out of her has mostly been a lot of guttural moans or occasional murmurs, as we've established she must be experiencing just... untold amounts of internal pressure.
[Sip]
And if that weren't enough, occasionally, she might experience something of a "growth spurt." As if her body hadn't billowed out enough already to be almost completely spherical. Most are pretty benign. Just a soft coo or moan, but over in a second. Others? Not so much. At which point, it becomes our duty to enter her lab, fully clean-suited, & well... knead whatever fluid we can from her. And in which ever way we can get it out of her. Out of fear of her reaching any sort of a... critical mass & potentially.... [sigh] rupturing. The... "juice" as we've been calling it, is then collected & tested later, meticulously by Dr. Diggs.
It was around 1148 this morning when Dr. Ross experienced one of these more "severe spurts." Already mostly prepped, I entered suited in all of twelve seconds.
Profes-[Sigh] I mean Subject R was visibly distraught. Moaning. Eyes crossing & bulging slightly. Even behind cartoonishly puffy blue cheeks. [Sigh]
It was only my second actual attempt at... kneading the subject. I started laying into her side, as delicately as I could. There was a lot less give than I was expecting, so I switched to lean my shoulder in. But audibly, I could tell what I was doing wasn't really helping. And... well... It was just so weird! Feeling like... a wall of her. My old prof... Subject R. Just ballooning back at me. I leaned a little harder. Her noises strained. And for a second, I was worried I might cause her to... well... that rupture we were worried about. Even now... I'm getting anxious all over again.
[Sip]
Instead, luckily, I was able to find a sudden bit of give. And then? The juice just... well... the room got pretty messy. In the grand scheme? It felt like an awful lot. The whole room was... blue. And like ankle deep. But ultimately, I think it just spared Subject R like... an extra foot or so of circumference. She was still wider than she was tall. And still out of it, albeit maybe a bit more relieved.
[Sip]
With the subject stable, I went to begin collecting some samples using the hose. And well... I'm still not sure.
"Subject R" seemed to recognize my presence. At least more than she ever had before, making fleeting eye contact. And like... well... I don't know. Between the hose, the helmet, & the bits of eye contact? I SWORE Professor Ross was trying to say something about Dr. Diggs. Like... "Watch Diggs." And at one point.... I have to say. It sounded a lot like "... did thi-"
Oh uh... Dr. Diggs!
[Inaudible voice away from the mic]
Oh um. Sure. Uh... I'm just finishing up my logs. You asked for them & in learning the ropes here, I'm two days behind.
[Inaudible voice away from the mic]
O-ok.
[Hydraulic door]
That was...
What have I gotten myself into. What am I even saying. She couldn't have...
Look. Today's been... strange. At the moment, I'm not feeling so good. A little funny. I have another ten hours until my next shift. I'm going to go make sure I'm well... -urp-
-Excuse me. Jeez. -Well rested. -hup-
Until... -uurp-God! - tomorrow..."
[End of Log]
Comments
Jennifer
Nope! I definitely had a good feeling for what was in store for the scientist sjkdhfskj, it wraps everything up so neatly it must have crossed my mind to comment on it
BNevis
Glad you picked up on that. A lot of times, when people go with these very cold, scientific angles, the subject is usually treated very clinically, so that was me trying to aim for something a bit different. Wondering if the implied fate of the narrating scientist was too subtle though?
BNevis
Did you hear the noises the research assistant was starting to make? I don't know if they'll be in any shape to do much in the way of cleaning.
Jennifer
Very interesting, you rarely see a third person perspective on the blueberry scene. The scientist genuinely struggling to refer to her colleague in a literal objectification manner is a nice humanizing touch.
Chumlee99
Wouldn’t mind seeing a sketch that’s all of her and the poor research assistant having to clean up after she’s had another growth spurt.
