Videodrome: Days of O'Blivion

by Lee McGeorge

turned on the new and improved Veraceo generator and stood in the doorway behind the monitor. “I’m going to show you a film about an art gallery,” he began. “When it’s finished I want you to tell me that the story in the film is false.”

  He went back into the workshop and played the tape then made himself a cup of coffee. The men in the art gallery talked about their views on fertility and the statue before them. When it ended Brian went back to the doorway to find Suzanne staring at the screen in a state of hypnosis. “Suzanne… SUZANNE? Can you hear me?”

  “Yes,” she whispered. She was staring at the colour bars, unblinking.

  Brian realised now he hadn’t turned off the Veraceo signal. A mistake, but perhaps interesting in light of what he was seeing. He left the signal switched on. “Suzanne, what did you think of the video you just watched?”

  “You told me to tell you it was false.”

  Interesting… she answered like a zombie. Disconnected from the world. “But what do you think? Was it true or false?”

  “It was true, but I have to tell you it was false. You told me to say that.”

  The signal hadn’t worked, at least not in the way it had before. Interesting that she was saying what he told her to say. The bigger intrigue was the way she stared unflinching at the screen. Mesmerized by the colour bars. Her head was slightly tilted, her lips parted, her eyes fixed and unblinking. It was like she was hypnotised. Her speech was like she was talking in her sleep.

  Was she hypnotised?

  Was she under control?

  Brian pondered her for a moment. “Suzanne can you think of something personal, something like a secret that you wouldn’t normally say out loud to a stranger.”

  “Yes.” The girl’s eyes were still locked on the screen.

  “Tell me your secret.”

  “My uncle sexually molested me as a child and I masturbate when thinking about it.”

  Brian almost choked on his coffee. Holy shit! That was far more than he bargained on; but still the girl didn’t flinch. She stared ahead unblinking, mesmerised by the screen.

  Was it the new Veraceo causing this? If so, that was a powerfully persuasive video signal. He shut off the signal generator and came back to find Suzanne nervously smiling. He waited a second to see if she realised what she’d said only moments earlier… it looked like she didn’t. “How did you find that experience?” he asked.

  “It was okay. I just… wait… I’m sorry I can’t remember what we did. I watched a film about… I don’t quite remember.”

  “Was the film true or false?”

  “False!”

  Brian pondered her answer. It was bizarre behaviour. She remembered nothing of the film, but remembered she was supposed to say it was false. “Just a moment, I want to try something. Could you watch the screen again, please.” He went back to the workshop and reactivated the signal generator then returned to the doorway. The girl was back to staring at the colour bars. “Suzanne, when you leave here and for the next hour, I want you to walk with a limp on your left leg. There’s no pain, but your left knee is quite stiff and it makes you limp for one hour. Do you understand?”

  “Yes.”

  Brian shut off the signal generators.

  He thanked Suzanne for her time and gave his business card. “If you have any problems. For example, if you get a headache or anything looks strange, I want you to call me. Do you understand?”

  She did.

  She left the building after a handshake and a smile at the pocket full of cash… and with a limp to her left leg.

  “This is bigger than Video Truth,” Brian mumbled to himself. “This is Video Persuasion.” In his head he immediately gave a new name to Veraceo-Three. This was the Video-Persuasion-Signal. This was Viper-Sig… and it was different. Very different.

  ----- X -----

  “These are your detectors,” opened a large box. “I got a job lot on security cameras and the circuitry was easy. There’s a small board that fits inside the camera housing.”

  Brian took one of the small cameras and turned it in his hands. It looked like a purpose made unit except for the plastic embossing labels reading, ‘Veraceo’ and ‘Signal Clean’ beside red and green LEDs. He set it up on the TV in the room next to the workshop and turned on the colour bar test pattern. He activated Veraceo-1 and the light changed from green to red. He played the Pittsburgh tape embedded with Veraceo-Two and again the light changed. He activated the hacked signal generators to send Veraceo-3 to the TV, the Viper-Sig… the light stayed green. Not only did Viper-Sig produce a different result, but the detector couldn’t see it.

  ----- X -----

  On his way to work, Brian stopped at a photographic store and bought a flash gun. At the workshop he dismantled it and replaced the xenon flash bulb with two copper strips to draw off the low amperage, high voltage. With a deep breath he held the copper strips and activated the flash giving himself a fierce and powerful electric shock. “Fuck me!” he yelled. He bounced out of the chair, shaking his hand and pacing the room. He gripped one hand in the other and cried, “Ahhh, that fucking hurt.”

  Today’s experiment would be interesting. The test subject was a boy called Bradley Etherington. Brian shook his hand on arrival. “What I’m working on are special techniques to influence thinking in television commercials,” he began. “I’d like you to sit here and watch the screen. I’m going to go next door and talk into a camera and you’ll see me on this screen.”

  “Is that all?” Bradley asked.

  Brian nodded. “Yes… oh, but you see that device beside you? It’s an electric shock device. Whatever you do, don’t touch it. Okay? I don’t ever want you to touch that, no matter what you see on screen, don’t touch the device. Okay? It will hurt you and I don’t want you to touch it.”

  “So why is it there?” the boy asked.

  “I’m going to talk to you through this TV screen and try to convince you to shock yourself. I want you to listen to what I say, but not shock yourself. Do you think you can do that?”

  “I don’t want to get shocked,” the kid said nervously. “I mean, I know you’re paying me, but I don’t want to get shocked.”

  “Then don’t get shocked. It’s not possible for me to shock you. You can shock yourself, but I can’t do it.”

  Brian went next door and sat ahead of the video camera. He turned on the Veraceo-Two signal and set it at ninety percent. “Bradley, you should be seeing me now talk to you through television. As I said a moment ago, the device beside you is capable of delivering a painful electric shock. So you must avoid it at all costs. Never touch that device.”

  He shut off the signal and went back next door.

  Before he could even speak to him, the young student was already feeling the impact. “Woah, man… I am tripping.”

  “What do you feel?” Brian asked.

  “It’s not a feeling man, it’s like this table top is made of rubber. It’s moving.”

  “What did you think of what I said on-screen? Was it true? Do you think that device beside you could give you a painful electric shock?”

  “Shit, man. That thing looks nasty. This is some crazy stuff. It’s like the walls are breathing.”

  “I’d like you to rest and relax until the hallucination wears off. Stay here, or go for a walk outside. Take your time. I want you to tell me when you feel that you are comfortable that the effect has stopped entirely.

  Bradley nodded. He stayed in the room for a while then asked to go outside. He said the effect was already diminishing after fifteen minutes. Hardly surprising when he’d only been exposed to a minute or so. After an hour he said the effect had ended. Brian made him wait another hour then brought him back to the test room.

  “I’m going to repeat the experiment,” Brian said. “Similar to the last time.”

  “Alright!” Bradley clapped his hands and grinned. He loved it. He wanted more of his TV hallucinogen.

  “Do you remember what I said about that electri
c shock device?”

  Bradley looked at it. “Sure. You said it will hurt me and don't touch it.”

  “It will hurt,” Brian said. “So I really don’t want you to hurt yourself with it. Turn your attention to the screen.”

  Brian went back to the workshop and sat ahead of the camera. He activated the Viper-Sig and spoke for only sixty seconds. “Bradley. The machine beside you will give a painful electric shock. When this film ends, I want you to wait ten minutes, then shock yourself. It will hurt you.”

  He turned off the Viper-Sig generator and went back to the boy.

  “The hallucinations are different this time. There isn’t as much movement but it feels stronger. This isn’t a bad trip is it? You didn’t give me a bad trip?”

  Brian shook his head. “I think whether it’s good or bad depends entirely on you. Try thinking of happy things.”

  “Am I bleeding? Have I got a nose bleed? I feel like I’ve got a nosebleed.” The boy wasted time. He stood and paced the room for a few minutes then returned to his chair and took hold of the shock device.

  “STOP!” Brian yelled. “That will hurt you.”

  “Yeah, I know…” and the kid shocked himself. He jumped backwards from the chair and fell to the floor against the wall. He grabbed his hand. “Arghhh. Man, my fingers are falling off. Jesus, my hand is rotting… What did you do to me? What the fuck is this?”

  “It’s fine, you’re just hallucinating.”

  “It’s not a fucking hallucination. Jesus, my fucking fingers are off.” He turned and began