project madness

four: //error_unknown

four: //error_ unknown

"the first part of the video diaries," i said on the tail end of a sigh. "is to explain, in your own words, what project MADNESS is."

eric and harris shared a look and leaned forward at the same time, like they were conjoined at the mind. the thought made me crack a smile, which probably made me look insane. their names weren't actually eric and harris, but as i had no idea what their names were, i went with whatever pleased me. eric said, "what do they say?"

"oh, just that. the goal is to see what type of person the test subject is. some will say the words for the acronym. some will literally explain the project. some . . . well, some go a less conservative approach."

another shared look. "what did you say?"

"what did i say?" i parroted, leaning back in my chair and tracing the cracks in the ceiling with my gaze. they needed better maintenance here. "i said . . . " another inexplicable grin. "i just said, project MADNESS is mad."

"what is it, really?"

my eyes snapped back to eric's face. i leaned forward and threaded my fingers together importantly. "project MADNESS is a scientific, psychological test," i recited. "it involves test subjects of orphans with certain mental disabilities caused by abnormalities in brainwave activity, such as schizophrenia, DID, bipolar disorder, OCD, anxiety disorders, attention deficit - there's a lot, but they usually target schizophrenics, for obvious reasons when it comes to - "

"what were you?" eric most rudely interrupted. " that information was omitted - "

"for obvious reasons," i said, cutting him short. "to continue, project MADNESS is the changing of the disorders - no, not curing, not cutting out, but changing. it has never been done before. and it has never produced results like this before."

"results like . . . ?"

i saw their pens poised over their pads. i smiled. "like a former schizophrenic who can sense animals' brain wavelengths."

the pens scratched away, even as the eyes widened in surprise. "can you give us a name?" eric asked.

i blinked slowly. "wales," i said. to their credit, they didn't react. maybe they didn't even know. "tatiana wales."

they finished scratching away, and eric stood up and clapped my shoulder. "i'm glad you finally decided to talk," he said.

"yeah," i replied listlessly, watching harris check his watch. "me too."