You sense rather than hear or see them leave. There is only white noise and the thud of your heart beat. A draft from somewhere chills you, raises your nipples into hard nubs and raises goosebumps all over you.
You might have been like that for hours, or just seconds, when suddenly there is a voice behind your head. Female, soft.
'You're a rather lovely specimen, but I suppose the reason we have brought you here hasn't been explained. The staff can be rather remiss about that sometimes.'
Footsteps walking around you, the voice changing where it is coming from; even blind you can feel this woman's eyes appraising you.
'For a while, the government has been seeking more... pleasurable means of keeping control of the masses. Fear is rather effective, but it does tend to give rather unpredictable results. Crime, vandalism, election of nut jobs, what have you. Pleasure is a little more difficult, but much more predictable. You've been chosen as a subject in this research. You won't ever be going back to your life, I'm afraid, but after a while you won't want to.'
The voice was behind your head again. There was a snap of latex gloves and you jumped at the touch of hands on your face. The plastic tube in your mouth was adjusted a little, then the hands fitted something soft and rubbery around your teeth, your tongue, pulling your mouth even wider before the plastic was removed.
'Of course we need to check that you're completely healthy before we start. It wouldn't do to have our results skewed in any way. What we have already is quite satisfactory but...' There was another set of footsteps, a clatter of a trolley being brought close to his head. 'I'll be doing a few endoscopies, and then an echocardiogram. And then a CT scan. Hopefully we won't find anything too dire. You are exactly what we want in this programme.'
'Sadly this might be a little uncomfortable.'
There is a hard pushing on the back of your tongue, pushing all the way to the back of your throat, you gag and gag and cough but it is unstoppable. You cant move your head away, you can't push it with your tongue. There is a hiss and something suctioning saliva from your mouth. The endoscope goes further and further into you, pushing and pushing,
'Good boy. It's so much easier if you just let it happen. Good boy.'
It feels like it never ends. There's a horrible fullness in your throat, even in your chest, as the scope is moved about. You feels like he can't breathe. Every touch of it makes you want to gag.
'While I am here, I'll place an NG,' the doctor says so quietly you can barely here it. And with no warning there is a thin tube being forced into a nostril, covered in lubricating jelly.
It tickles and makes you gag even more as it slips down aside the endoscope. You can feel it being stuck to your cheek
Suddenly, ungently, the scope is removed.
'Good boy. What I'll do now is allow you to rest a little and get your breath back before the colonoscopy. All you'll fell now is some cold jelly on your chest as I have a look at your heart.'
You try to regulate your breathing, but it's a struggle. The freezing cold jelly on your clammy skin, the pushing on your chest, is barely an afterthought as you actually hear what this woman has said. You would never be going back to your life. This was what would be happening to you forever, at the mercy of some government scientists. And she said that you would want it to be like this. Eventually. Your mind is repulsed by the thought. And repulsed at yourself - you were excited when your legs were forced apart.
'Marvellous,' the doctor said after a few minutes, 'Now you have your breath back we'll proceed with the colonoscopy and then we'll wheel you over to the CT.'
Her voice came from between your legs. There was the form touch of gloved hands on the inside of your thighs, and your legs were moved even further apart. Some tiny part of your brain burned with excitement.
A finger on your anus, and more cold cold jelly that you wanted to pull away from and couldn't. A finger slipping inside you, pushing pushing deeper and deeper and around. She stroked over your prostate and you twitched. You couldn't help it.
'Yes, I thought you would like that. Good. Don't worry, you will be feeling that particular sensation a lot in the years to come.'
The finger was removed, and something hard, plastic, bigger, was slipped in in it's place.
The colonoscope was pushed in, stretching you inside. Air was insufflated, more and more until he felt you would burst. You could feel the scope winding around his insides. It was horrible. And thrilling. You liked the stretch of it...
The scope was removed... but whatever was in his anus was adjusted, made bigger or something. You couldn't have pushed it out even if you wanted to...
'Good boy,' said the doctor, standing at your head again. 'All of that looked fine. I think that you're going to have a wonderful time staying with up... but while we have plenty of gas in your colon, we're going to scan you. And then we'll feed you and let you rest.'
You legs are lowered and brought together, and then you're being pushed out of the room into what sounds like a corridor. There are more footsteps here, some voices saying words you can't make out. You become very aware that you're restrained on a trolley, blind, gagged, covered in monitoring devices and with a catheter in. These people can see everything...
Your heart begins to race, your breathing to speed up. You want out of these straps, out of this... place. You try to say something, scream something, but all that comes out of the gag is a gurgle.
You're pushed into a quieter room, a little warmer. Panic is rising in you now. You don't want this! They can't do this to you!
A firm hand on your jaw, almost painful, forcing your attention.
'You have been so cooperative up until now.' The doctor's voice was no longer quite so sweet. 'If I have to paralyse you and put you on a ventilator to continue this work, I will. Do you understand?'
They would take even control of your breathing away from you! No!
With what feels like heroic effort, you slow your breathing, and try to be still.
"Good boy.' Gloved hands stroke your hair.
More hands on you immediately, gripping you hard. You feel the restraints being undone and there is a little more give in your joints. Then the hands are lifting you onto another hard surface, affixing the restraints again. The table you are on moves back and forth a couple of times, and then you're lifted back onto a gurney. You don't even think about resisting. When you're wheeled out into the corridor again, it almost means nothing that strangers can see you like this. You suspect that you're not the only person - subject - being transported like this.
You're wheeled into somewhere quiet. A little warmer than anywhere else.
'I'll be seeing you tomorrow,' the doctor says from beside you, 'and we'll be getting started on the experiments you're here to help with.'