As she opened the box, a single page of instructions fell out first. “Begin by finding a quiet place.” the first line read. “Carefully remove all of the items in the box, ensuring that no items are missing or damaged.”
As Arianne absentmindedly inventoried the box, she found her thoughts drifting back to Connor. His eyes, his smile. Then, as always, she saw him in the hospital bed, body mangled, monitoring lines going flat, one by one as he lost his struggle for life. “I killed him.” she whispered, tears beginning to flow as if it had happened yesterday.
Arianne looked at the contents of the box, blinking back tears. The box contained a plastic bag that contained 2 self-stick patches connected to wires and a set of headphones. Also inside the box was a bottle of liquid marked ‘Enhancement Elixir’, a blister pack of pills labeled ‘Emotional Accelerant’ and an electronic box about the size of a Walkman with one jack marked ‘Headphones’ and two jacks marked ‘Pad A’ and ‘Pad B’. On the face of the electronic display was a button marked ‘Start’, a dial marked ‘Intensity’ and an LED display beneath a label calling the box a ‘Sympathetic Nervous Stimulator’.
The instructions weren't very helpful. A diagram of how to place the patches on the arms, and a paragraph instructing the user to take one dose daily of the Enhancement Elixir and Emotional Accelerant and to limit the use of the SNS to 30 minutes per day filled the rest of the page.
Still crying, Arianne ignored the warnings and took all of the Emotional Accelerant pills, washing them down with the entire bottle of Enhancement Elixir. She placed the patches on her arms and put on the headphones. Turning the Intensity dial to maximum, Arianne punched the Start button.
The sound of static filled her ears. Her arms and legs began to feel heavy. As she felt herself beginning to pass out, Arianne glanced down at the instructions, noticing too late the fine print that read ‘Use with extreme caution, serious side effects may result.’
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