Videodrome: Days of O'Blivion by Lee McGeorge

talk to
you through this TV screen and try to convince you to shock
yourself. I want you to listen to what I say, but not shock
yourself. Do you think you can do that?”
    “I don’t want to get
shocked,” the kid said nervously. “I mean, I know you’re paying me,
but I don’t want to get shocked.”
    “Then don’t get
shocked. It’s not possible for me to shock you. You can shock
yourself, but I can’t do it.”
    Brian went next door
and sat ahead of the video camera. He turned on the Veraceo-Two
signal and set it at ninety percent. “Bradley, you should be seeing
me now talk to you through television. As I said a moment ago, the
device beside you is capable of delivering a painful electric
shock. So you must avoid it at all costs. Never touch that
device.”
    He shut off the signal
and went back next door.
    Before he could even
speak to him, the young student was already feeling the impact.
“Woah, man… I am tripping.”
    “What do you feel?”
Brian asked.
    “It’s not a feeling
man, it’s like this table top is made of rubber. It’s moving.”
    “What did you think of
what I said on-screen? Was it true? Do you think that device beside
you could give you a painful electric shock?”
    “Shit, man. That thing
looks nasty. This is some crazy stuff. It’s like the walls are
breathing.”
    “I’d like you to rest
and relax until the hallucination wears off. Stay here, or go for a
walk outside. Take your time. I want you to tell me when you feel
that you are comfortable that the effect has stopped entirely.
    Bradley nodded. He
stayed in the room for a while then asked to go outside. He said
the effect was already diminishing after fifteen minutes. Hardly
surprising when he’d only been exposed to a minute or so. After an
hour he said the effect had ended. Brian made him wait another hour
then brought him back to the test room.
    “I’m going to repeat
the experiment,” Brian said. “Similar to the last time.”
    “Alright!” Bradley
clapped his hands and grinned. He loved it. He wanted more of his
TV hallucinogen.
    “Do you remember what I
said about that electric shock device?”
    Bradley looked at it.
“Sure. You said it will hurt me and don't touch it.”
    “It will hurt,” Brian
said. “So I really don’t want you to hurt yourself with it. Turn
your attention to the screen.”
    Brian went back to the
workshop and sat ahead of the camera. He activated the Viper-Sig
and spoke for only sixty seconds. “Bradley. The machine beside you
will give a painful electric shock. When this film ends, I want you
to wait ten minutes, then shock yourself. It will hurt you.”
    He turned off the
Viper-Sig generator and went back to the boy.
    “The hallucinations are
different this time. There isn’t as much movement but it feels
stronger. This isn’t a bad trip is it? You didn’t give me a bad
trip?”
    Brian shook his head.
“I think whether it’s good or bad depends entirely on you. Try
thinking of happy things.”
    “Am I bleeding? Have I
got a nose bleed? I feel like I’ve got a nosebleed.” The boy wasted
time. He stood and paced the room for a few minutes then returned
to his chair and took hold of the shock device.
    “STOP!” Brian yelled.
“That will hurt you.”
    “Yeah, I know…” and the
kid shocked himself. He jumped backwards from the chair and fell to
the floor against the wall. He grabbed his hand. “Arghhh. Man, my
fingers are falling off. Jesus, my hand is rotting… What did you do
to me? What the fuck is this?”
    “It’s fine, you’re just
hallucinating.”
    “It’s not a fucking
hallucination. Jesus, my fucking fingers are off.” He turned and
began sweeping the floor with his good hand. “Help me find my
fingers, man… Shit. My fingers. My fucking fingers.”
     
    ----- X -----
     
    “Brian, it’s Barry… I
just got off the phone with Consec Medical. You need to stop all
work on Veraceo immediately. They’ve identified a health risk and
they’re saying