The Injectionz Experiment

The Injectionz Experiment By: Janelle McNeil

Chapter One: All About Us The GovernmentAfter several wars and changes in governmental policy, America decided to separate themselves becoming completely isolated and disconnected from all other countries. This meant all economic trades would only be happening within the United States since it was now prohibited to communicate with anyone from outside countries. This meant that all big businesses were American run and the association with other nations would lead to an immediate imprisonment.

The EcologyWith countless years of abhorrent human activity triggering The Greenhouse Effect, the Earth’s atmosphere was greatly affected causing numerous heinous changes to the Earth. Case in point, with a massively heightened length of heat driven days the cold soon became something that was of rare occurrence. Additionally, with almost an entire year of heat people decided to completely disregard the need for naming or believing in the four different seasons.

Moreover, with all of the plant and animal range shifts due to climate changes, animals were experiencing an increasingly more difficult time migrating and surviving to the point that entire species started to become extinct. Although there are still some animals who survived they are seen as sacred and aren’t allowed to be killed for food or clothing. Instead, people have been creating a man-made meat that tastes real, but doesn’t require the killing of animals.

Furthermore, although this world is still filled with mainly humans there have been several robots made in animal form to replace the newly extinct species. For example, there are robotic

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pets such as cats, dogs, fish, and more that are mostly there so people can have loving and engaging pets. There are even specific types of robotic pets that are therapeutic for people in hospitals or rehab centers.

The NeighborhoodsIn an attempt to terminate crimes there was a massive involuntary deep divide within citizenry.

Law enforcement patrolled richer areas making sure that only people who were supposed to be there were there. With necessities such as scannable ID cards it became impossible for someone to fake an entry but with the off chance that someone did they would be immediately sentenced to prison for the crime of trespassing.

Rich and suburban neighborhoods were able to progress with numerous technological advances that were held tightly within the community. These ultimately gave them the certain betterment and progress needed to succeed. On the opposing end, poor and urban neighborhoods were left behind in regards to the newfound technological advances and began suffering from these ramifications.

The TechnologyThe ‘Cerebrum Scan’ is used to get a closer look inside of one’s brain to tell how much of it is being occupied and how much of it can actually be used overall. To be more specific, the scanner is placed over one’s head and then gives a detailed description on how enhanced one’s brain is, what it does and doesn’t understand, what it retains and rejects, and a ranking of it’s top

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five prosperities in order of greatest to least which is usually used to give a person an insight of career and study choices. Furthermore, schools use this tool for testing instead of treating all students the same way regarding different subjects. In this way instead of merely assuming that all students retain information the same way they are able to use this machine to test each student dependent on their precise area of choice. In regards to economic status, this machine is one of the technological advances that is particularly used in richer neighborhoods which then gives them a headstart in career goals, corresponding subjects, and different hobbies that would fit more toward their type of ‘brain’. Moreover, with these developments the people who are fortunate enough to engage with this technological expansion get an advantage in finding careers, study choices, and schools/ programs that is more suitable for them.

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Chapter Two: The Injectionz Experiment In the year 2067, the government decided to develop its exploratory techniques by persuading over 200 poor black men and women to partake in their “Injectionz Experiment.” With the government’s new obligatory divide of poor and rich neighborhoods it was easy to target where the poor people in society were. Forcing themselves into these neighborhoods with tactics such as offering money they were able to rack up their desired number of participants. The first experiment was exclusive to black men and women and lasted for a couple of days. Without any reasoning or explanations the men came home first and when they returned they were seemingly normal giving the illusion that whatever the experiment had been it hadn’t affected them in any way. However, after a few days the once normal men appeared to be extremely weak and unaware of their surroundings.

Within a week the women returned home. This time though, when the women appeared they were extremely weak, as the men were now. Within days their weakness vanished and the women were outwardly stronger. It was soon discovered that these injections somehow enhanced the women's brain cells allowing them to understand and perform tasks that would’ve been seen as preposterous and unfeasible days before such as computer coding or even reading and writing.

I decided to further investigate with these experiments with three main ideas in mind: to investigate the government's reasoning for these injections as well as explore what it means for the people infused with it. Also, to disclose the rationale for the injections different outcomes within the different groups of people undergoing the experiment. Lastly, to hypothesize the

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outcomes of what these experiments mean for the next generation of people affected by these current exploratory injections.

Furthermore, as a White male in a rich community I’ve decided to go about my research with very specific methods. Case in point, my research will be comprised of interviews with two people of the opposite sex in order to get a very close insight of how differently men and women were affected by the experiments. Additionally, I would like to get the perspective of one of the scientists at the experimental lab to see their reasonings for the experiment and their response to the outcomes.

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Chapter Three: Not That Far Fetched In the past, there have been several cases of unjust examinations done on people who either didn’t consent to these actions or weren’t made fully aware of what was taking place. Usually, after these inhumane performances have already occurred they are ruled illegal and unjust, however, by that time there are already countless people who have suffered the consequences.

Two of the most famous experiences include:

The Tuskegee Syphilis ExperimentThe Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male or more commonly known as T​he Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment was a series of studies done on Black men between the 1930s1970s where they took men with and without syphilis and studied the differences and effects between them. Moreover, the men were never made fully aware of what the examinations were for nor were they ever treated adequately for their disease. With lies such as telling the men they were being “treated for bad blood” and incentives for the men who participated such as ​free medical exams, free meals, and burial insurance the men were prompted into believing these people and thus, agreed to being examined and “treated” by them.

Coerced SterilizationUnwanted Sterilization and Eugenics Programs in the United States, more commonly known as Coerced Sterilization, is a illegal practice performed in the United States of America where the desire to “control populations” took place. Here, there were federally placed sterilizations being performed on several female populations; immigrants, people of color, poor people, unmarried

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mothers, disabled people, and the mentally ill. Eugenics is a practice of sterilizing people (mostly women) in order to “protect society” from people who were deemed inferior and/ or dangerous.

One of the most noteworthy cases is a Mexican American woman who was sterilized under duress while giving birth at Los Angeles County in the 1960s. Here, she went under a forced sterilization without being notified or informed of what was taking place.

● Prior Research Annotations -

King, C. Richard. “Deadly Medicine Today: The Impossible Denials of Racial Medicine.” ​Transforming Anthropology,​ vol. 15, no. 1, 2007, pp. 77–84., doi:10.1525/tran.2007.15.1.77.

King’s article discusses the systemized racism of unequal health opportunities provided

to people of color. In the article, the author talks about medical mistreatment, human experimentations, and genocidal policies in its most original places such as the Holocaust. More specifically, the term Deadly Medicine stems from the ideas that doctors provide oppressed groups of people with medications that are specifically made to harm/kill them. Likewise, in my research the government has been purposely giving Black men injections knowing it’s weakening them.

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Leinaweaver, Jessa. “Mass Sterilizations and Child Circulations in Peru.” ​Anthropology News,​ vol. 46, no. 1, 2005, pp. 13–18., doi:10.1525/an.2005.46.1.13.

Leinaweaver’s article speaks on the mass and coerced sterilizations on the women in

Peru. The article addresses the author’s time in Peru and how they were able to directly speak to the women who were sterilized under the false pretenses of having a “Family Plan” which

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offered all children enough support and guidance before the next child was born. However, this was really just a way to convince people, more particularly women, to not have more children in order to maintain a reasonable quota for their country. Similarly, in my research the government uses tactics such as lying in order to convince people to take the injections with little to no objections.

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Sankar, Andrea. “Medical Anthropology and African American Health.:Medical Anthropology and African American Health.” ​American Anthropologist​, vol. 105, no. 3, 2003, pp. 638–639., doi:10.1525/aa.2003.105.3.638.

Sankar’s article addresses health disparities in the United States for people of color, more

specifically for Black people. In the article, the author speaks of the ways that African Americans are more likely to die of chronic illnesses, have unequal rates of insurance, different uses of primary care services, and even prescribing and treating African Americans differently than their White counterparts. Homogeneously, in my research one of the main points being made is that the government is singling out Black Americans and testing them as though they are an entirely different species than White people.

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Chapter Four: Field Notes February 27, 2067.

03:54 pm Inside of a diner in the middle of the day across from the Williams’ family.

Across from me was a mother, father and their son who had recently come back from The Injections Experiment. His parents kept asking him if he was feeling any better and if he wanted to eat. He wouldn’t eat. His father kept repeating “Eat son, eat son”. It seemed as though he was sick. He was refusing to eat like a kid who didn’t want their vegetables, or on Thanksgiving dinner when you were just too full for a piece of sweet potato pie. I looked at the boy, he was between 18-25 it seemed- he was definitely young, his eyes were extremely red and low, it looked as though he was sleeping right before he came to the restaurant. His shoulders were extremely slumped as well and he just looked completely nonchalant. He didn’t look angry, happy, or sad- he literally looked like he didn’t care about anything at all. His parents kept talking to him trying to get his attention, “This is your favorite restaurant, we promised to take you here after you came back home.”, but he wouldn’t budge he just kept the same look of blase on his face. He would occasionally respond and say things like, “I’m fine” or “I ate”. But his plate was barely touched. He had spaghetti, meatballs, and an orange soda. The soda was still touching the top of the glass and his plate was still filled with food. His parents had finished eating and had been glaring at each other throughout the entire meal. Looks of distress, discomfort, and sadness spread across their faces. The boy was wearing a hoodie even though it was hot. His head was down until his parents asked him a question then he would look up, answer, (only sometimes) and put his head back down. This encounter only lasted about 30

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minutes. His parents glared at each other for a final time with looks of disappointment, “check please”, said his father. They left at 04:36 pm.

It seems that this experiment has really been negatively affecting the men who have participated. From what I’ve seen they all seem much weaker and unaware of what is going on around them. I wonder how much this affects their everyday lives. Are they still able to work?

How much communication skills are they now lacking? How is this affecting the women and men in their lives who didn’t engage with the experiment? Do they actually feel different or is this their new form of normal? From what I know none of them have explicitly said “The experiment did this to me…” Do they even remember it? Would I even be able to get anything out of an interview?

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Chapter Five: Interviewz Excerpt from Michael Thompson and IName: Michael Thompson Age: 25 Race: Black Nationality: American Sex: Male Days back from experiment: 8 ME- Do you remember anything from that day?

MICHAEL- Not much. When we walked inside it was dark and wet like. Uhh- there was two maybe three men standing there with those doctor lab coats on.

ME- When you say “we walked inside” you mean?

MICHAEL ​(coughing)- M ​ e and the other men.

ME- It wasn’t one by one?

MICHAEL​ (coughing)- N ​ o it was all together.

ME- And did you all stay together?

MICHAEL- Nah. They split us up. Or at least I think they did.

ME- How have you been feeling lately? You’re coughing a lot.

MICHAEL- I don’t know man, I been coughing since I got out of there. They say that was the point of us going there, you know.

ME- Who says that, Michael? And what do you mean that was the point?

MICHAEL- The neighborhood. They all saying that was the point. To get us sick, sick enough to die.

ME- Do you believe that?

(Michael coughs and grabs a tissue.)

MICHAEL- You see me, the way I look. Don’t you? ​…

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Excerpt From Nyomi Williams and IName: Nyomi Williams Age: 23 Race: Black Nationality: American Sex: Female Days back from experiment: 4 ME- Do you remember anything from that day?

NYOMI- I remember being locked in some room.

ME- Okay, and what happened in the room?

NYOMI- After they finished with the needles they told us to wait in there. For like three days we were just sitting there.

ME- How’d you feel?

NYOMI- Different.

ME- Different like how?

NYOMI- I don’t know, just different.

ME- Is it good or bad? The difference.

NYOMI- It’s strong. I remember feeling weak at first, then strong. Then we came back home I was weak and then strong.

ME- It happened twice? The strong feeling?

NYOMI- Yeah, and I’m scared. Scared of feeling weak again.

ME- Like how you felt before?

NYOMI- Yeah and how the men are. I’m scared of the weak feeling. I’m tryna stay strong in order to stay strong. ​…

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Excerpt From Dr. Dave Anderson and IName: Dave Anderson Age: 47 Race:White Nationality: American Sex: Male ME- What was the most bizarre thing you noticed at the experiments?

DAVE- The women.

ME- What about them?

DAVE- The way they changed. Their brain cells were enhanced.

ME- What do you mean?

DAVE- We used the Cerebrum Scanning on both male and female participants before and after.

ME- The results?

DAVE- The women were able to perform tasks they couldn’t before. One of the women who had been previously pronounced illiterate was able to read and write by the end of the experiment.

On the other hand, the men responded slower. Some things that they knew before they didn’t know after.

ME- Did they lose brain cells?

DAVE- Not exactly.

ME- What exactly were these experiments for?

DAVE- In the broadest sense, it was to see if brain cells were able to be enhanced.

ME- What were you all planning to do with these results?

DAVE- Use them on the rich… we enhance their brain cells so they can continue to prosper with fastened abilities and less work on their part.

ME- Did the government know about this?

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DAVE- Well we couldn’t have promoted it all by ourselves.

ME- And did it work?

DAVE- Not as we’d hope. When in relation to race and sex it seems to only work with one specific intersection… that being Black women.

ME- Class? Sexuality? Nothing else effects the results?

DAVE- We’d need to dig deeper to find that. These are all new results. The answer that I’d guess right now? No. ME- How were others affected?

DAVE- Black men got weak. White women were also weak. And white men were the weakest.

ME- What might the correlation be?

DAVE- We’re not sure. That might take a lot more time to find out. …

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Chapter Six: Conclusion At the end of the day, I must admit that the entire community is still being negatively affected by these experiments. Although the women's brain cells were enhanced there still weren’t any new job opportunities offered in their neighborhoods. Additionally, even though some women decided to go to college and use these cleary beneficial enhancements most women were forced to stay and care for the men who had been weakened by these injections since the men had still not gained their strength back. Furthermore, the government didn’t talk much about these experiments. From what I gained from the scientist interview the main goal was to enhance the brain cells of rich white people, more specifically rich white men so they would be able to work less and earn more with their newfound brain progress, and when this didn’t occur the entire experiment was considered irrelevant and labeled “poorly done”. To add, since people were still technically suffering from these experiments the government has decided not to address it any way.

It is still too early to see if these experiments will be passed down through generations.

This project is not done yet as we still don’t know how far these women can go with their brain enhancements and we still don’t know how long (if they ever stop) the men will be weak. There are a lot of unknown answers to most of these questions that can only be answered with time.

Time that I am willing to spend with the former participants and as an observer from the outside.

No one knows how much time this will take, but the answers will be revealed eventually.

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