Daniel Foster: 3rd year grad-student

You'd been dredging through the semester, trying to make ends meet, when a friend (acquaintance really) had offered you a paid position to help with his latest experiment. The "friend", John Folkbury, was an elderly professor you'd TA'd for a few years back while he was teaching advanced field theory. It was an unpleasant experience to say the least, the man was an eccentric but in the bad way. His abrasive personality was emphasized by an...outdated sense of humor and he was constantly complaining about something or other. You suspected the only reason you were still in contact was because you'd stuck out the full duration of the class, unlike most of your peers.

He hadn't actually used the term "Guinea Pig" but that was exactly what the "position" entitled: you were going to be the first human test subject for a project called Spectross. You'd be uncomfortable with the idea even if it weren't professor Folkbury (and the man did have some issues with "ethical boundaries") but the pay was incredible and after some debate he'd showed you some of the devices inner workings. The schematics seemed harmless enough: a few low-level magnetic resonance devices, some pretty high level monitoring equipment. Supposedly it was supposed to make you feel relaxed. In the end you'd signed on, feeling the weight of your student loans lift rather pleasantly even as your stomach sunk in apprehension.

So now you were here, strapped in to a MRI shaped device waiting for the machine to charge up. Except it was taking an awfully long time. It didn't help your nerves that the professor and his aids were in a completely separate building. You also could have sworn there was actual bomb-shielding behind the layer of plastic that covered the room. Just as you were about to say something you heard a final sounding CLUNK, the lights blew out, and excruciating pain engulfed your body.