Virtually Innocent

No Consent

When Coder 001 tells Anthony what is happening at all of the other sites, about the reason for the thousands of additional inmates being in the database, it is hard to swallow. It isn't that Anthony doesn't think that people are evil or that nobody is capable something so wicked as taking inmates with life sentences and experimenting on them. It is simply that Anthony is of the mindset that surely that is a crime from the past. This sort of large-scale secret operation that exploits a population seen as less than human is the stuff of the early 1900s. Anthony is silent in disappointment and disbelief.

Coder 001 confirms, That is why Bergman is coming.

Yes, Harper did say that Bergman will be coming the next day to meet with the doctors. According to Coder 001, who simply typed everything up in a document and shared it so that Anthony could read the entire thing without compromising the message, Bergman has received additional funding from two different research studies who were looking to run human trials without having to pay individuals to do it. Bergman accepted a smaller payout than what paying people would've cost them. As far as they will be concerned, this is a win-win scenario for them both. Bergman gets more units; the research skirts the need to have public human trials that cost lots of money. They think the inmates who have life sentences are dying 'behind bars' anyway, so what's the problem using them as guinea pigs.

"Am I still the only one here?" Anthony asks, curious why they would even come here and include him if there's nobody else, which Coder 001 does explain more.

The only one on record.

There are fourteen more off record.

He asks a potentially dumb question, "Does she monitor them too?"

Coder 001 answers, No but she knows

She is getting their records rn

Anthony doesn't like hearing this. "She is putting her safety on the line."

Her choice, the message appears in opposition. Or rather, in support of Harper. Anthony isn't saying she shouldn't or can't do what she's doing. He just doesn't like knowing that she is risking so much. Although, he knows that it's bigger than just him for Harper. She's always been open about her distrust of the program and her motivation for taking the job.

That's when Coder 001 tells Anthony her secret.

Harper is a whistleblower.

She took down a med network

I was right – witpro

The more that he learns, the more Anthony feels like he is in a dystopian fantasy world. Nothing he is being told sounds real. It doesn't seem like it belongs in the life he's lived up to this point. Harper is in witness protection for whistleblowing an entire medical network. What did she uncover? Was it national news? His brain feels like it's on carnival ride that won't stop spinning.

"She's done this before," Anthony repeats the words she once said to him.

Yeah and she is good at it, Coder 001 confirms.

One of the research studies is a pain medication that that targets the nervous system directly. Coder 001 documented that it isn't all that out of the ordinary, but that when they saw the response in rats, it seems like something very non-standard comparatively to what is already on the market. Some rats were permanently disabled, but the scientists theorized that these rats had genetic disorders to explain it away. Results of the genetic testing were not documented, so Coder 001 can only assume that there's no clear answer as to why some rats had such severe reactions to the medication.

The other study is not any better. Coder 001's notes detail a psychotropic drug that maybe treats anger or maybe anxiety or maybe everything? It doesn't seem very effective at treating any of the symptoms most closely associated with mental illness in the rats. It reads as even less ready for human trials than the first medication. Anthony doesn't feel like he's a good candidate for either, but that will probably not matter when Bergman shows up.

"What do we know about the others?" he asks, wondering if he can predict which of the two medications he can expect be unwilling put into his body.

All males, Coder 001 offers.

I think all crimes against women-

It seems as if he can expect the psychotropic drug. As he glances over the document again, the side effects are less clear. Some rats were catatonic while others were more energetic and manic. Some rats died, but they also presented with other symptoms that suggested they were sick during the trial. On two occasions, there were rats that had fatal allergic reactions. There's a whole gamut of possibilities for how humans may respond to it – how Anthony may respond to it. He lets out a measured breath.

"What are my options to slow things down?"

Coder 001 is ready with a suggestion, Request a psyche eval

"I can do that," he responds.

I gtg but will check back tomorrow, they say before disappearing. Alone with these files about the research studies and his thoughts, Anthony isn't sure which problem he's facing is more suffocating: being framed for murder or being illegally used for testing. If ever there has been a time for him to feel hopeless and scared, he figures this is the time.

Anthony just can't bring himself to succumb to it, though. If his time is limited, then he needs to really pour over everything all over again to ensure that Coder 001 has all the proof ready to present to the new attorney. If he could help Harper, he would, but he has no idea how he can do that without a way to document... wait?

He can try to document on the back of Coder 001's files about the trials. He still has access to the pencil feature. Anthony immediately pulls the file, flips the document, and gets to work. It is slow and strenuous work to write letters. He's never done it before, but he needs there to be proof. He writes out in as clear of writing as he can manage - I do not consent to participate in the research of this drug.

No matter what happens, he has this message with his initials as closely similar to his handwriting as he could manage. Coder 001 and Harper will have at least this one thing from him to help with their separate case against the whole program. For now, he's going to need to get some sleep for whatever the next day will hold.