subject A: And all the children gathered in the graveyard, each of them racked by the same vision of horses eating one another. The elf scraped his sharp bone posterior forward upon the headstone, first reversing his entire body to become that of an oaf, and then sucking into himself until he was but a mote of dust whisked off by a chill zephyr. [subject A reported a mild hypomanic state of mind, and was visibly withdrawn at times. This may explain the somewhat "darker" turn his writing has taken. I will have to monitor this with some diligence so that it does not result in a full blown depression].
subject M: Dear diary, diary as rudimentary hill as is to the sweeping scythe as is to the undulations of sound as is to the cosmic jetty of material from a stretched nebula as is to this very diary itself...Circular as it is to the world as it is in placement in the solar system as it is like an electron filling the shell to yield the perfect molecule in complete, harmonious, and circuitous perfection. [subject M appears to be experimenting with metaphor. However, despite the drug's intended effect to compel the creation of new metaphors, the subject cannot seem to "close the circle" on a single metaphor, nor do they possess any discernible sense].
...
June 9, 2010
Committee Members -
I am noting an overall groundswell of experimental rigour and innovation among the subjects. I am beginning to suspect, however, that the mixture of these medications are presenting contraindicative effects as I have spotted various grammatical and spelling errors in the written samples, as well as confusing or botched metaphoricity. subject L has shown, by far, the most zeal in the construction of neologisms well beyond the clinical expectations of Lexium. These neologisms may be outpacing rational sense. As well, the volume of written samples has increased dramatically over the past many weeks as my inserted table illustrates. All of the subjects have taken to prolific writing, spending a majority of their waking hours at the task.
Subject
Week 1 (word count)
Week 2 (word count)
Week 3 (word count)
G
1,145
3,122
1,209
L
712
1,090
3,499
A
591
1,987
11,377
M
344
856
19,310
Interpretation of quantitative data: Overall, there has been a steady increase in the volume of written samples in the three-week period. The one exception would be subject G whose output has fallen off from its peak in W2. subject L's output has increased by roughly 5 times, subject A by roughly 19 times, and subject M at an impressive 60 times. I would caution that these increases may be partially due to the drugs, and also due to an increased comfort level and stability, not to mention boredom.
Writing samples
subject G: The man was incorrect to say that he dished it out. The other man was incorrect to use impact as a verb. We are bound by duty never to end the sentence with a preposition on pain of internal punishment. The adverb modifies the verb with the -ly ending. Irregular words should be terminated from the language. We are condemned to sentence fragments. [The subject has been exhibiting some very peculiar behaviour. His writing, once somewhat fanciful and literary, has become stiff and schoolmarmish. There was also an incident of note: subject G caught a grammatical error in the Liability Waiver Update Form I distributed this week. He first responded with sudden onset acute abdominal cramping followed by vomiting. In a related event, the subject found another grammatical error in a piece of writing I had mislaid in the common area. He reacted violently by tearing my notes, tossing a chair, and nearly attacking me in a rage. This rather hostile reaction to an innocent grammatical error is a troublesome side effect at the higher level of dosage].
subject L: Trebisconded Yttriatic-convivialiquescene Hispandiculatingly Ad paretum non plustfully generatrix Umbraggadocio Umberyl Bittersnipe Excoriandrictaculata-cacomorphicon...[The effects of the Lexium appear to be inducing an aphasic reaction in the subject. In my attempts to communicate with him in person, he resorts solely to a fantastical lexicon composed of mashed up words. When I pressed him to define these inventions of his, the reply was as equally cryptic and impenetrable as the word he endeavoured to define].
subject A: The minute cachinnating, polyphonic, resonant yet irreverent counterpoint undulating and sussurating the tremulous vocal dissonance in the syllable she uttered with the slight vibration of the uvula as fine moisture pregnant with the ferrying of sound emerged with ruddy insouciance: “u”, which was then followed by the lilting yet rubicund notation of a syllable perfused with the softening and colourful scent of spring dandelion with its vividly diffuse yellow resolving to its very tips with the sound of “m”...[subject A's output has increased considerably mostly due to hyper-description, extreme vividness, and an almost obsessive compulsive attention to the minutest detail of the brief twitch of a fly's wing in another of his samples. In wending my way through his work (and I ought to say that the increase in textual production is making it more difficult for me to catch up on a weekly basis), I am detecting some crossmodal confusion reminiscent of synaesthesia in his writings. The subject is freely mixing descriptions of colour with sound, scent with taste, and so forth. This particular description from which this sample has been truncated ran no less than 71 pages and was still incomplete when the writing sample came due (much to the protest and disappointment of the subject). When I interviewed the subject the next day during our weekly "rereading session", he rejected the work as not being focused and detailed enough].
subject M: Glittering as the rock undertakes to stand as the sun rests on the cloudbed as the sackcloth slung as upon the hard shoulder of time insinuating itself by confiscating its own remainders as the auditor passes the dossier around that is thick-necked as Being metamorphosing into the blank lack-sparks generating the generations of generation... [Nesting metaphors within metaphors at several degrees. subject M cannot refrain from speaking entirely in indecipherable abstractions. He is visibly frustrated that I cannot understand his meaning or the excessively complex level of metaphor he employs].
...
June 16, 2010
Committee Members,
There is no doubt that the drugs have demonstrated strong indications of effect upon the subjects. What troubles me is that it took considerable efforts to stave off a potential mutiny of sorts.
An incident of note: Subject M experienced extreme panic and agitation when, in the midst of writing, his pen ran out of ink and I could not acquire another one from the supply cabinet. I lent him my own, but this event underscores the necessity for the supply cabinet at this testing facility to be fully stocked with writing implements at all times. As it stands, the four subjects have used up all six boxes of pens initially supplied. If the Controls Guide did not insist on handwritten samples for handwriting analysis purposes, it would be of some utility to allow the subjects to write via computer.
This brings me to the handwriting analysis. As the trials have progressed, I've noted drastic changes in the penmanship of each of the subjects. Whether this is fueled by decreased fine motor coordination due to the drugs' side effects, or if it is the overwhelming urgency and haste that causes them not to be able to get the words down fast enough, remains to be determined.
I am particularly distressed over the extended effects these drugs are having on the subjects. The Committee has denied my request from a medical and safety standpoint to reduce the dosages, but I will reiterate my request in writing here, especially on the basis of the increasing incidences of negative consequences. For example:
subject G had to be physically restrained after a hallucination where he reported rampant improper semicolon usage in his own writing. He began flailing uncontrollably and was presenting a potential danger to himself, myself and the other subjects. After some struggle, I was able to subdue him and place him in a
restraining jacket. I was of the professional opinion to administer an anti-anxiety medication owing to the severity of the subject's reactions. Upon inspection, I did not find any improper semicolon usage as attested by the subject, strengthening my belief that the subject had a hallucinatory attack. This is a rather troubling potential side effect of prolonged use of Grammax, and so further trials will need to be conducted to discern if this is common. The level of psychosis found in the subject's reactions are worrisome, and I consider segregating the subject from the rest of the group.
Subject L has suffered a complete vocabulary collapse or paralysis due to Lexium overdose. Despite strict protocols for the secure containment of the trial drugs, we are short-staffed and our subjects both determined and resourceful. I would like to suggest here that further trials be conducted to determine conclusively if Lexium has an addictive component.
Subject A can no longer recognize nouns in a sentence, and instead conflates the use of verbs in the place of nouns. For example: "The going wearing tears forging opens resurrect trying pull." This grammatical confusion and complete absence of adjectives as a side effect of Adjectiva requires much more investigation.
Subject M's condition of hyper-metaphoricization has ceased. His writing is clear and lucid if not as well militant. He has taken to writing a kind of manifesto for future language use, and is perhaps the only semi-lucid respondent in the writing samples. I have noted that he has treated me with a higher degree of animosity and suspicion, perhaps suggesting that the Metaphorix intake has the potential side effects of paranoia, heightened irritation, flight of ideas, social withdrawal, and belligerence. I include his writing sample here, culled from his manifesto's aims:
Subject M: We no longer desire to follow current literary fashion, nor do we feel particularly beholden by implicit oath to the staid rules of linguistics. The limitations of grammar and lexical choice are easily overcome if we subsume a program of an extreme morphological nature. I am communicating this to announce my full intention to wage war against language itself - your language and its limitations - to overturn far too many centuries of indolent and complicit rule-binds that have fostered anything but true innovation. Please see my attached appendix for drastic alterations on the existing alphabet to be implemented immediately, especially by way of elementary school curricula. Failure to appreciate and abide by this and future modifications on language will result in a declaration of a total war which promises to be gruesome, cruel, and of an atrocity hitherto unseen in our civilized history. [The militant and uncompromising tone is followed through with a ruthless yet well-conceived analysis of linguistic conventions and his proposed modifications. Further textual analysis reveals a level of perceived persecution and defensiveness. This corresponds with the subject's argumentative tone he has taken with me and others].
June 23, 2010
Committee Members,
Despite my efforts of insisting on regimental discipline and providing a stable environment for these trials, the situation has become more chaotic. Regularly imposed schedules for eating, sleeping, and writing have been ritually flouted by the subjects, some of whom I fear are entering into a state of incomprehensibility, disorientation, and catatonia. Subject L barely seems capable of basic social interaction, and does not seem to register the passage of days. The writing samples they are obligated to provide have not been submitted, yet many of the subjects do nothing else but write. There seems to be an atmosphere of secrecy at the facility, and the subjects are becoming increasingly covetous and secretive over their own productions. What I was able to see in passing being written by subject A has been nothing but glyptolalia. During a rare observance of the regularly scheduled meal times, subject M attempted to spark a dispute with me on linguistic matters I find myself wholly ignorant. And, although I have not seen subject L recover from his vocabulary collapse, he seems to desire to express himself as evidenced by this same mealtime when with a childlike interest began doodling upon my arm with a felt tip pen. Subject L has regressed to a point of having no recognizable language whatsoever, and is seemingly developing a rudimentary sign system to express his thoughts and feelings. Subject G has pushed his own linguistic purification schema to such an extreme that he refuses to speak or write (that I am aware of). I have on many occasions had to intervene to prevent subject M's provocations of subject G on the subject of grammar and its “superfluous archaicism, and structural irrelevance to human expression.” This interventions have been met by hostility, and I nearly avoided subject M's attempt to stab me with a pen.
One of our staff who is responsible for administering the daily dosages has threatened to quit unless conditions improve and more security is available to protect the staff from potential harm. I would strongly urge the Committee to consider the needs of this facility more keenly and give our requests their due diligence.
June 30, 2010
Committee Members,
We must abort these trials immediately. I cannot, in good conscience, allow these tests to continue without violating the principles of medical ethics and basic human decency. I have attempted to discontinue treatment as per Emergency Protocols, but this has resulted in a violent reaction. The drugs' effects are completely out of control, and I fear for the mental and physical well-being of the subjects – not to mention the safety and security of myself and the staff of this facility. My repeated requests have been either denied or ignored, and the controls have been so frequently abused that the empirical data has very little consistent reliability to make any substantial conclusions. The experiment itself is in as much jeopardy as the well-being of all involved.
July 7, 2010
Committee Members,
Subject M's conclusions are by far the most interesting this week. It would seem that he has knowledge of the intended effects of the drugs that far exceed expectation. I would like to state for the record that none of the subjects were told which drug they were taking, their effects, and no revealing material has been left unattended to prying eyes. At this facility, I am the only person who has any knowledge of the drugs names and intended effects. I would like to remind the Committee that even the staff only recognize the drugs by their single letter names so that subject G receives pills marked with a “G” and so forth. I have not been remiss in divulging anything.
I paraphrase here what subject M told me:
Too much grammar leads to a zealous pursuit of purity that can only result in silence.
Too much vocabulary eventually becomes its opposite and all language collapses.
Too many descriptive words lead to forgetting the object to be described, lost in bewildering gibberish.
Too much metaphor leads inevitably to violence. This is proven in the history of nations.
How could subject M, barring keen or precocious thought, have identified not only the drugs' intended effects but mapped them so seamlessly to the current conditions of each of the research subjects? I cannot suspect that he was the recipient of any sensitive information for all my notes are kept under the strictest security, and I am the only person who has access.
July 14, 2010
Committee Members,
We are in the business of making language monsters. This is the invention of a catastrophic poetry that should never have been invented by our feeble minds. I abjure the whole experiment. I abjure all our creations.
July 21, 2010
[this section blacked or scratched out; unreadable]
August 15, 2010
Com/mitSein membrassieres-s-s-s!
Me've been/tropic-ome, over thereof! Me-been-over-come by[e]+s THE patientropitropithecus! Clust'r'd 'ronde moi-me soi-se(?) they'verily forcibilized all medicategoricalities down(ershipyard) into THE well of mine-thine gullette! Dose over! ROGER & that! Ten-four flour power trepidemic! Over & Dose! How many incarnations of novelizations must I endure before myfuckingheadofalltotalitiesnevereverbeforeseenandbeenblowoutmycosmicblowassholeofmybleedingeyeorbs??? Mithradates spiked my punc
h and judy and and the and the(e!). Tricked, fooled, rubed, bagged, rag & tag! Spellendour dour is myne spellending! Spy-psyched my victualry of viktor-ee, foodrink! Lexiadjectimetamax - all of it! Totality dans ma boche bouche! RUn for the halls! - no, no/t hills! Not N.E.More (eutopia is the topic like soup dieu jour+nal narwhals! with whorns on their nipplease! Gahd, I ne'er be'ore fellt-phelt the WORD so meganiloquently!
This last report was followed by an inter-committee memorandum recommending that this report and any files that remain of the trials be shredded, and that the facility be closed and destroyed.
Committee Members -
With the unfortunate incident involving Dr Ferguson, future trials will be conducted at smaller dosages with more stringent security in a new trial facility to prevent the staff from potential hazards. In the case of Dr Ferguson, the subjects responded negatively to intervention and used force to overpower him and administer high risk dosages of the trial drugs. At this point, it is the recommendation of this Committee that the tests be aborted and a period of disengagement commence for no less than two (2) financial quarters. We have contained the situation adequately. The research subjects were given added remuneration for their participation as well as a month of detoxification from the trial drug regimen, as well as a debriefing by means of our “Arm's Reach” facility, not directly affiliated with our company. Dr Ferguson was placed in immediate psychiatric care and will be given a one time package in excess of stipulated amounts for conducting research. The confidentiality clause has been extended to cover all events that occurred at the facility, and all research has been suppressed. As well, we are moving ahead with an immediate demolition of the facility.
The Infinite Library Page 60