The first few experiments were gentle. Recordings of comfort, a warm blanket, the taste of chocolate. Sugimoto reviewed the data with cold precision. But soon the recordings grew darker. He discovered that fear produced richer neural data than joy. Desperation, sharper than contentment. And humiliation—humiliation painted the brain in colors he had never seen.
For six hours, he fed her manufactured sensations—violations of trust, invasions of dignity, the slow burn of helplessness. He watched her vitals spike and crash like a dying star. And he recorded every millisecond. The first few experiments were gentle
The Synchro-Lens was destroyed by university lawyers. The files were deleted. But rumors persisted that somewhere on the dark web, a single recording survived: six hours labeled “Dr. Sugimoto—Final Treatment.” No one who listened to it ever spoke of what they felt. But soon the recordings grew darker
The chair was Sugimoto’s true masterpiece. It could not only record sensation but amplify it, feeding back loops of pleasure, fear, submission—any frequency the wearer produced. He called it “Lecherous Treatment” in his private notes, a phrase he typed with clinical detachment. And humiliation—humiliation painted the brain in colors he
“Just relax,” he said, placing the cranial cap over her hair. “I’m going to record a small memory. Nothing painful.”
His test subjects were not animals. Animals were too simple, he argued. He needed complex emotional response. He found them in the forgotten corners of the city: runaways, undocumented workers, people who would not be missed. He offered money, shelter, a chance to “participate in science.” They always said yes.
He repeated the process. Each victim was a new instrument, each terror a new symphony. He became connoisseur of suffering. He told himself it was research. He told himself the breakthroughs in anxiety treatment would justify everything. But late at night, he no longer bothered with justifications. He simply put on the headset and swam in other people’s nightmares.