Dick got a little shut eye before the experiment. Five hours. He hated getting that much sleep. He usually felt better on 4.5 hours than five. But really he did best on just under 8. Unfortunately he didn't have that luxury this time. He woke up, brushed his teeth and drove over to Stephan Memorial Hospital.
He arrived at the wrong gate. The person at the lobby didn't have any idea where the proper place to go for experiments was. So Dick frantically walked around looking for it until he finally thought to recheck the email.
Once he realized that he had to go to wing G, an employee was able to tell him how to get there.
"Yeah it's all the way on the other side."
Dick sweated as he drove out of the parking lot, circled around the campus and got into a new parking lot.
"You're a little late," the experimenter said. Shit, Dick thought. Tried coming up with an apology.
But the experimenter smiled and turned around in a manner that signalled to Dick to follow.
"We're pretty much just goofing all all day here. So no worries."
The hallways were empty. The sound of the experimenters shoes clacked against the hard floor. He wondered why his shoes didn't make that sound. The experimenter was indeed wearing nice shoes. The kind Dick might wear if he were going to a job interview. Or a dance. Damn he missed dances. College parties were more casual. Less pent up energy leading up to it. Just a slurry of drunken nights strung together. Until the end of yet another semester.
In a small room the experimenter closed the door. Handed Dick a sheet of paper still warm it must've just been printed.
"This is an
informed consent
sheet." he explained. "By the way. My name is Jack. In case you didn't realize that yet."
Dick remembered that name in the email signature.
"Hi. I'm Dick." He waited to see if Jack would laugh. Dick got used to it, but he still would wait and see if people would laugh when he introduced himself. Jack kept a stone face. Nodded and continued.
"The purpose of this is to inform you about your commitments of the study. Please read it through and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Ultimately you can decide to participate in the experiment or not. It's up to you. You're not obligated at all."
Jack told him that he would be right "over there", a rolling chair a few feet away. After Jack sat down, he ruffled through some papers and marked things with pen. Dick began reading the informed consent.
He'd seen these forms before. Mostly in
psychology
experiments that his classes would force him to take. In all the studies he had participated in... he had never read the informed consent thoroughly. This time, he actually focused. The fact that the experiment was taking place in a hospital had him feel more concerned. The most the psych experimenters did to him were ask him boring questions and show him boring videos, that were usually followed by boring and long questionnaires.
In a hospital though. They might be injecting him with some dangerous chemicals or drugs.
The form was two sheets. Front and back. The writing was verbose and legal.
By the end he did hesitate to ask. He had questions. If he had understood the informed consent properly, they were looking to inject him with fat. Adipose tissue. What the hell?
Right when Dick raised his arm and gave a little cough, Jack came over.
"Hey, am I getting this right? You're going to inject me with somebody else's fat?"
"Adipose tissue. Yes."
"From another human?"
"Yes. It's quite safe."
Quite, Dick thought. Not extremely safe. That was probably the point of the experiment. To find out how safe this procedure was, Dick thought.
"Also. You wouldn't be receiving your first injection today. We would only be taking some samples. You would need to be approved based on those samples. You would be paid for today's session even if you are not approved."
Great, Dick thought. He could just get his samples taken. And then later whether he was approved or not, he could decline to participate further.