Flash! Fiction 3 by Peter McMillan - HTML preview

93

"Granted, modern medical technology will ensure that the experiment is painless and reversible, at least in theory."

"And even if something goes wrong — God forbid, um, sorry Professor — it will be impossible to prove— "

"Ethically, we are beyond reproach. Legally, we will be beyond reach. National security's on our side, too."

"That's a double-edged sword though. I still have to defend my dis-sertation and to do that I have to go public."

"And I still think I, uh, we, have a shot at the Nobel. We just have to work out the details."

As they talked, I recalled the image of a human brain being surgi-cally extracted and placed in a vat where it sucked in nutrients and then was subjected to endless combinations and permutations of electronic impulses. I'd had to write a paper from the brain's point of view, but I couldn't get past the images that the envatted brain would never know. I flunked.

"We still thinking along the same lines then?" the student asked.

"They deliver the subject. We conduct our experiments and give them their results. Then we experiment on a second subject — a chimpanzee brain would work — so we can publish our research.

We can use the results as long as we don't mention the first experiments."

"Do you really think they'll go along, Professor?"