Free Prophecy. An ARKANE thriller. (Book 2) by J.F. Penn Page A

strapped to electric devices with voltage meters marked Extreme Danger. “Milgram was fascinated by the behavior of the Nazis during the Second World War, when ordinary people did horrific things to other humans because they were ordered to by authority figures. Many said they were just following orders and in this way they gave up personal responsibility for their actions so Milgram conducted a variety of experiments that proved that just about everyone would have done the same thing. There were many iterations of his experiment, but in essence a subject had to administer an electric shock to another person if they failed memory tests. The subject didn’t know that the person being shocked was an actor, so they truly believed they were causing pain. The shocks continued to be administered at the request of an authority figure through various levels of torture through to extreme levels that would cause death. Essentially the responsibility was shifted to the authority figure. In applying that to the binaural beat research, we realized that if we could bring a sense of authority into the commands using a sense of the Other, then people would obey the embedded directives. Of course we would be asking subjects to behave in ways that were positive and healthy rather than causing pain to others which has huge potential for the weight loss industry and the obesity epidemic as well as many other possibilities.”  
    “And have the experiments been successful?” Milan asked.  
    Maria smiled proudly and flicked onto the next slide to show a detailed graph.  
    “The results have far exceeded what we expected. You can see the various responses here from the different arms of the trial. A physical action was requested through the binaural channel, not just a thought, so we influenced actual behavior. We found that the feeling of the Other being present is particularly enhanced by the subject wearing oversized earphones that are a more portable version of the God helmet. This would also enable an easier rollout to the public.”  
    The screen flicked to show an image of the earphones.  
    “Within our clinics, we were able to pair this with an enhanced drug regime, which was even more successful.”
    “But you have had problems as a result of the research, haven’t you?” asked Dr Armen Harghada. Up to this point the subdued lighting in the conference room and the close proximity of Milan Noble meant Maria hadn’t focused on the other men in the room. Harghada was Milan’s right hand man and a medical doctor. His job title was nebulous but he was feared by the Zoebios staff as he was known to have a formidable memory and allegedly made problems ‘disappear’ for the company.  
    “Correct,” Maria replied. “We did have some problems in one clinic. For those individuals already primed for religious mania, the suggestions can make them even more extreme. We have had two suicides in one of the clinics in Israel, where people are hospitalized with Jerusalem Syndrome. But I’m confident that with adjustments to dosage in their drug regime and changes to the audios specifically for such outliers, the research can still be used.”
    Harghada leafed through the pages of her report.  
    “You mention LSD in some of your preliminary notes,” he commented. “It’s a class A drug, Dr Van Garre, and not even available for medical usage. What exactly were you doing with it?”  
    His eyes seemed to bore into her.  
    “It was a hunch, sir,” Maria stammered a little under his attack. “We know that LSD is a psychoactive drug that causes extraordinary shifts in consciousness with even small doses. We have conducted several small experimental studies combining its use with the audio input. We have performed the same tests with mescaline, based on Aldous Huxley’s ‘Doors of Perception’.”
    “What’s that?” one of the other men cut in. It was Nechiffe, head of accounting. Harghada rolled his eyes but let Maria