Test Subject, Part 5

Author's note:  The following story is satire, and is not intended to, in any
sense, impugn the fine folks at big tobacco companies who, no doubt, put
their customers best interests ahead of their profits.  

The author does not necessarily condone the use of tobacco, by adults or
minors, nor the use of illegal substances, nor masturbation, nor
participation in lesbian sex, nor any other morally questionable practice
depicted in the story.  Later parts of the story contain graphic sexual
language, and are not suitable for underage readers.  
Any resemblance to smoking fetish fiction is purely accidental.  
All other imaginable disclaimers apply.

Test Subject
Part 5: "Harpooned"


Maureen and Dr. Monroe hungrily sucked smoke in and exhaled it out of their
lungs as they watched Julia enter the room, which contained a table, two
chairs, and a dentist-like chair not unlike the one where Maureen had sat
only a couple of days ago. Above the chair was a network of wires and tubes
connected to what looked like a helmet.

"Hi Julia, I'm Emily. Emily Monroe."

Maureen hadn't heard Emily's last name before. "She's related to you, Dr.
Monroe?" she wondered.

"Please, call me Cynthia. She's my sister. A.T.C. is a family business."

"Interesting," said Maureen, who seemed lost in thought as she slowly and
deeply dragged on her Allure cigarette.

"Nice to meet you, Emily." Julia was always well mannered. "I'm very curious
to know about this study, and why it pays so much."

Emily smiled reassuringly. "We'll get to the study soon, but I can't tell you
very much right now. Before we begin, I have some forms for you to sign."
Emily opened up a briefcase, and took out some papers. "I'll let you read
over the contract for a few minutes, and then we'll start the experiment.
While you're doing that, I'm going to go do some preparation."

Julia was left alone in the room. Dr. Monroe clicked a button on the monitor,
and then the image of a different room popped onto the screen. The door
opened, and Emily appeared. She whipped her pack of cigarettes out of a
pocket in her white lab coat, and, in a smooth motion, lit up. 

Maureen had never seen anybody smoke so quickly as Emily did. Emily's
cigarette glowed brightly in the monitor as she took a series of triple
pumps, held the smoke in her lungs for a few seconds, and then blew it
forcefully out, only to immediately repeat the process. However, far from
appearing frenzied in her intense inhalation of nicotine, Emily smoked this
way with a casual expression on her face, as if it was second nature.

Seeing Emily smoke this way made Maureen want another cigarette, so she
removed another Allure from her pack, and lit it with the almost finished cig
she was already smoking. Maureen was learning that whenever she craved a
cigarette, she should just go ahead and have one.

"She must have needed a cig pretty bad," she commented.

Before two minutes had passed, Emily took one last, extra long drag on her
cigarette, and sucked the smoke down as deeply in her lungs as she could. She
made her way back into the room where Julia was waiting. Cynthia changed the
channel on the T.V. back.

Julia looked up as Emily entered the room. "Are you all done?" Emily asked.

"Yeah. How long will this take?"

"Only about half an hour.  Forty-five minutes, tops." Emily looked over the
paperwork, and finding it completed to her satisfaction, motioned for Julia
to take a seat in the reclining chair in the corner. She hooked up all of the
various wires and tubes and the helmet to Julia's head. Then she paused,
almost dramatically, before speaking again.

"I'm going to speak frankly, and answer some of the questions that you had
earlier. The reason why we are paying you generously to participate in this
experiment is because we are going to ask you to do something that you may
not approve of, and which constitutes a minor health risk. The reason why we
have chosen you for this study is because you have not previously used this
product, and because we want to study its effects on a first time user."

"What exactly is the product that I'm going to be testing?" asked Julia,
concern plain to see on her innocent face.

"We are going to ask you to smoke a single cigarette, and then we are going
to give you a series of tasks that require memory and concentration. We asked
you to participate in this study because you have never smoked before, and we
want to see the effects of nicotine on a first time smoker." The expression
Julia wore clearly showed she was not pleased.

A long pause followed. In the other room, Maureen lit up again nervously as
she waited for her sister to say something.

Julia finally spoke. "I'm sorry. But I'm not really sure what to say. I don't
want to risk my life for a few thousand dollars.  Besides, what you're asking
me to do is illegal."

"Don't worry," Dr. Monroe commented between drags to Maureen, "Emily is very
persuasive. She'll talk her into it."

Emily said to Julia, "I understand your reluctance, and if you don't want to
participate, then of course nobody is going to force you." She paused, as if
finished speaking, but then spoke again, "But I can assure you that the
health risk is very minimal indeed from just one cigarette.  And I can assure
you that you aren't going to go to jail for just trying a single cigarette.
After this one time, you can walk away, and never smoke again, and then enjoy
your graduation trip to Europe." Emily smiled again, exuding reassurance.

Julia looked really uncomfortable, but she said, "Well, I'll probably be glad
I did this when I get to go on my trip, so sure. I'll participate in your
study. I'll smoke a cigarette for the first and the last time in my life."

Maureen and the doctor watched on the monitor as Emily took the pack of
cigarettes again out of the pocket of her lab coat, and set it down on the
table next to Julia, along with a hot pink lighter.

"It's important that Julia should reach for the cigarettes herself," Dr.
Monroe commented, more to herself than to Maureen, as she extinguished her
cigarette in the rapidly filling up ashtray. "It'll make the next time easier
for her."

Julia asked Emily, "Ok. What do I need to do?"

"It might be easier if I showed you," said Emily, with a mischievous grin. "I
got picked to work with you because I happen to smoke." Emily removed an
Allure cigarette from the pack, put it between her lips, and then waited for
Julia to do the same. Julia reached for the pack of cigarettes, took one out,
examined it briefly with a frown, and then put it between her lips.

Maureen thought about how different her little sister looked with a cigarette
in her mouth, about to light up for the first time.

Emily told Julia, the cigarette bobbing up and down between her lips as she
spoke, "Just do what I do. Suck on the cigarette until it is lit, and then
suck on it a little bit longer. Then, before you blow the smoke out, breathe
in. Like this." Here, Emily sparked the lighter to life, and then lit up with
evident pleasure. She breathed the smoke in deliberately, and then handed
Julia the lighter. 

In the next room, Dr. Monroe was punching some buttons on the monitor, and an
image appeared in the corner of the screen. "This is Julia's brain," she
explained.

"Here goes," said Julia.

After one failed attempt, Julia succeeded in getting the lighter lit, and
moved the flame towards the cigarette she still held in her mouth. In
imitation of Emily, she touched the fire to the end of her Allure cigarette
as she sucked on it. Then, it was lit, and Julia removed the cigarette from
her mouth, as she had seen her sister do many times. After an awkward second
or two, she breathed sharply in. 

As she held the smoke in her lungs, Julia's face remained momentarily
expressionless, but then, suddenly, without wanting to, she smiled dreamily.
A tear formed in the corner of one of her green eyes, and slowly slid down
her pink cheek. After a couple of seconds, she released the smoke in her
lungs in a downward exhale.

"This is Julia's brain on nicotine," said Dr. Monroe, pleasantly. "Notice how
the pleasure center of her brain is glowing a light blue, indicating
heightened activity. The smoke she just inhaled stimulated the release of the
hormones dopamine, adrenaline, and epinephrine, all of which activated her
brain's reward mechanisms. The white spots on the image indicate where the
nicotine is already attaching to her brain's acetylcholine receptors, which
is giving her a sense of alertness."

Emily took another drag before speaking, "How do you feel?"

"Well, I can definitely see why people smoke, despite the health risks. I'm
surprised how good it feels." As if to accentuate the point, Julia took
another puff on her cigarette.

"The yellow spots on the image," Dr. Monroe continued, "Indicate where
Julia's brain is already starting to form more acetylcholine receptors. This
is taking place much more rapidly than in people who start smoking regular
cigarettes."

"What does that mean?" asked Maureen.

"It means that Julia isn't just getting hooked on nicotine. She's getting
harpooned by it."

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