Somehow, she would make this happen. Getting back on the machine, as soon as
possible, was Maureen’s top priority right now, and she was willing to do
whatever needed to be done to achieve her desire.
Maureen sat in her favorite comfy chair, saturating her lungs again and again
with Allure smoke, while she pondered her plan of action. She took a forceful
drag on her cig, sighed as she exhaled, and took one more pull on it before
crushing it out in the overflowing ashtray on her lap. Maureen told herself
that this would be her last one for a little while, but soon felt an
overwhelming need to light up again. Happily, she gave in, and felt the new
influx of nicotine tickle the pleasure centers of her brain. Dr. Monroe had
warned her that after coming off of the machine, she might experience an
increased desire for her special cigarettes.
On some level, Maureen felt guilty about what she was about to do. Her sister
Julia was a happy, attractive, intelligent, and innocent high school
sophomore. She totally disapproved of Maureen’s smoking habit, even without
knowing about her new Allure dependency. If she knew what becoming the newest
ATC guinea pig would do to her, she would never consent to the test.
Maureen looked down at the newly lit cigarette between her slender fingers,
seeking some possible justification for involving her sister. She asked
herself, “Knowing what I know now, would I have started to smoke these things
if I had it to do over again?” With a strange, almost sinister looking smile,
she sucked the smoke aggressively inside her body, and in that moment she had
her answer. Without further hesitation, she picked up the phone to call her
sister.
“What’s up, Sis?” Although the two sisters were different in terms of
temperament, they remained close, even after Maureen went away to college.
Maureen took a quick drag before speaking. “Hey! I got some exciting news for
you. You know how Mom and Dad told you they can’t afford to pay for your
summer trip to Europe? I know a way to earn some quick money – enough to pay
for the trip with a little bit extra spending cash.”
“Really? I’d do anything to be able to see Europe with my friends.”
The strange smile returned to Maureen’s lips as she took another puff and
then replied. “I can’t tell you any specifics yet, but this is a really good
opportunity for you. I know you’ll be glad you took advantage of it.”
“Can’t you tell me anything more?” Julia’s tone indicated that her interest
had been aroused. She asked, half-jokingly, “It’s not anything illegal, is
it?”
Maureen laughed, lightly, “No, nothing like that.” That was true enough, or
at least would be in a few years. “All I can tell you is that you’ll be a
participant in a psychology study off-campus. It’s an experiment in memory
and concentration.” This was also true. Dr. Monroe had told Maureen that
while Julia was trying Allures, she would be given a series of mental tasks
to measure their effects on a first time smoker.
“That sounds interesting. Why does it pay so much?”
Maureen preferred not to answer that question, so she replied, “All of your
questions will be answered when you come in. Trust me, you’ll enjoy the
study, and maybe learn something. You’ve got to keep an open mind though.” If
there was one thing that Julia prided herself on, it was on being open
minded. “Do you think you can come visit me tomorrow sometime?”
“Well, I’m not sure what I’m getting myself into, but yeah, I’ll drive over
after school. I’m excited that I’ll be able to afford my trip. What should I
tell Mom and Dad?”
This was another question that Maureen didn’t want to reply to, so she took a
sharp hit on her cigarette and said, “Don’t tell them anything just yet. Wait
to see if this is something you want to do. So, I’ll see you around 5:00 or
so?” Maureen wanted to wrap up the conversation before Julia asked more
questions, or worse, changed her mind.
“Um- ok. Sure. I’ll see you then.”
“Sounds great. Hey, I gotta get going. Call me when you’re on your way.”
“I will. Love you.”
Maureen took a final drag on her cigarette, and sucked the smoke into the
furthest recesses of her lungs, which tingled with pleasure. “I love you too,
little Sis. Bye.” Maureen slept poorly that night, waking up several times
for a cigarette. When she did sleep, she dreamed about smoking. Surprisingly,
however, when it was time for her to get up the next morning, she felt
refreshed, eager for another nicotine filled day. She supposed that she
should have been concerned about her ever-deepening obsession with
cigarettes, but as she lit up, she didn’t really care about anything except
getting as much smoke in her body as possible. If anything, she felt a sort
of excitement about being totally dominated by her cravings for cigarettes.
She inhaled the smoke almost mechanically, and surrendered herself to its
soothing influence.
She kept a cigarette lit pretty much all morning, and even opted to take a
bath instead of a shower so that she could smoke as she washed herself.
Maureen kept her cigarette in her mouth the whole time, and just let the
ashes fall of into the bath water. Midway through the morning, she opened her
third pack since yesterday, and smoked while she ate a bowl of cereal and
some toast. Fortunately, after her experience of running out the previous
day, she had made sure to pick up a couple of cartons of Allures from Dr.
Monroe.
Her day went smoothly. She smoked in the car on the way to school, and made
sure that she smoked right before each of her classes. She felt like she aced
her biology test, although all through the test she had the nagging desire to
go out for a quick smoke. However, with the sharper concentration that her
Allures gave her she was able to finish quickly, and rush right out for her
fix.
Around 3:30, Julia called to let her know that she was on her way, and
Maureen immediately called Dr. Monroe to tell her the good news. Because she
was instructed to avoid smoking around Julia until she was tested, Maureen
spent the time until her sister arrived loading up on nicotine, so that the
cravings wouldn’t be too unbearable later. When Julia arrived a little bit
after 4:30, Maureen met her outside.
“Are you ready to earn your Europe money?” Maureen asked, smiling. Although
she had just finished a cigarette before Julia got there, she already wanted
another one.
“Yeah. I’m still really curious what all this is about, though.”
Maureen replied with the answer that she had rehearsed. “All of your
questions will be answered when we get there. It shouldn’t take more than a
half hour of your time, and I’ve been told that they’ll pay you in cash. I
took part in the study too. It’s really easy.”
Julia smiled at her sister. Although she was 16, she looked much younger,
perhaps because she wore her raven black hair short, with bangs, and still
had braces, which were due to come off in a couple months. She adjusted her
glasses on her button nose like she always did when she was nervous. “Ok.
Let’s go.”
On the way over to A.T.C., Maureen was careful to keep the conversation off
of the study. She drove quickly, eager to have get her sister all set up so
that she could smoke again.
As they entered the building, Maureen immediately noticed the lack of smoke
in the air. Dr. Monroe herself was waiting to greet them.
“Hi. You must be Julia. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Maureen has told me so
much about you.” Dr. Monroe’s demeanor was entirely charming and disarming.
“If you’d like, please come this way and my assistant, Emily, will have some
papers for you to look at and sign before we begin.”
Maureen gave her sister a hug. “Trust me. You won’t regret taking part in
this study. Good luck, Sis, and have fun!”
Julia gave her sister a wry smile and fiddled with her glasses again, before
Dr. Monroe escorted her into a side room, where Emily was waiting. Dr. Monroe
returned and said, “Very good, Maureen. Very good. Come with me, and we’ll
watch your sister’s progress in a different room over a video feed.”
The two women reached into their purses for their cigarettes as they walked.
Each lit up with an expression of intensity, and inhaled audibly. They sat
down in some comfortable chairs, and turned on the monitor to see Julia.
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.”