Bottle Fed.
Oscar.
Light. Morning.
I wake… Mom is there. I feel… good today. Happy.
Mom’s hands are warm she lifts me thumbs in armpits tickles.
I like hugs. She hugs me. I kiss her cheek big kiss touch her ear.
Her ear is like my ear.
We are going to play. But first food.
Please. Please. I say please.
I show my teeth. We brush.
Food?
Yes food! I am a good boy. A very good boy. Bottle food in Mom’s hands Mom holds bottle I suck suck yum yum suck.
No more food. All gone food. Bye-bye food all done for now.
Now we play. I play ball it rolls the ball is red red red there are two balls. New ball blue. I pick blue ball blue I throw Mom she catches ball we throw again.
I raise arms I get tickles noises noises from mouth tickles.
Hug very tight Mom warm skin soft long hair tickles nose a-choo a-choo.
Build blocks very high blocks so high they big bigger than me.
I knock blocks smash funny clap hands Mom laughs. I laugh show teeth. Mom show teeth.
Mom nice smells nice.
Floor cold to toes toes wiggle tickle again tickle tickles.
Lie on back toss turn get back up move around climb Mom Mom shows teeth again again I fly in arms I rock rhythm gentle Mom sounds make very nice very nice I like I like I love.
Mom gently strokes arm slow slow slow pinches arm soft.
I sleep.
Mom.
Oscar seems especially excited this morning when I turn on the lights in the lab. The fluorescent lights flicker, one, two, three, and fill the room with a dull buzzing sound. The chimp shakes the bars of his cage when he sees me and shows his teeth, expressing joy. I reach into the cage and pick him up, checking his diaper (all clean) as he tugs at my ear.
Our initial tests of Beta Sample-175 have been showing promising results. Amongst the infant chimps we have administered the sample to, no ill side-effects have been detected. As part of our daily routine, I give Oscar a physical examination, checking his weight and brushing his teeth, examining his gums closely, checking for discoloration and peeling of the skin. Pavlovian logic has led the chimp to realize that this routine is followed by the administration of Beta Sample-175, which is mixed with formula milk and fed to him by bottle. Oscar is almost ready for solid food and we have been debating what sort of diet would be best to introduce him and the other chimps to, as well as what techniques we should use to encourage him to try different kinds of food. Controlling the dosage level of Beta-Sample 175 is key to the progress of our experiment and introducing Oscar to different foods may impact how easily we can control his dosage intake.
Oscar’s cognitive function seems to be developing normally. He is able to distinguish between the different colored balls I present him with, and he throws and catches easily, appearing to enjoy himself when we engage in play. I am his primary caregiver (other researchers have been assigned to different chimps) and he clearly recognizes me as such, seeking different forms of physical affection from me. Today Oscar shows interest in my ponytail and he tugs on its strands. This hurts, so I set him down on the table and go and fetch the building blocks. For the past several weeks I have been showing him how to stack the blocks, and Oscar is keen to copy this behavior. He also copies me when I clap, and seems to enjoy the process of stacking then knocking the blocks over.
Two labs over, the chimp Sierra is undergoing a very different experience than Oscar. She is kept in relative isolation, bottle fed Beta Sample-175 through a glass cylinder strapped to her cage. Already we see her behavior is much more suspicious towards us, aggressive even, and she has developed the curious habit of holding her face in her hands and rocking back and forth. When we drop balls and other toys in her cage she picks them up and looks at them, but never engages in play. Sierra runs in circles in her cage and makes excited noises when her bottle is filled with her daily formula, and she shakes the bars of her cage when the bottle is removed from her view. Beta Sample-175 seems to affect her mood somewhat, but further tests are necessary to ascertain whether it is the presence of food or the presence of Beta Sample-175 in her bloodstream that is impacting her behavior. Neo, who is kept in a similar environment to Sierra, has not been administered Beta Sample-175, and thus far shows less extremes of anxious and aggressive behavior.
Today I need to put Oscar to sleep in order to take some samples from his hair, blood and skin to test for the presence of Beta Sample-175. He is restless, jumping down and running around the floor, putting his arms in the air and hooting. I catch him, scolding him. He shows excitement, but is overall compliant. Holding his right arm still, I insert the syringe into his forearm and put him to sleep. He closes his eyes and his breathing grows steady. I check his pulse, which is regular and slow, then call the other researchers in so we can begin further testing.
Although discussions are still in progress, the chimps may undergo an MRI scan in order to fully ascertain the impact of Beta Sample-175 on their cognitive function. However, there is a higher likelihood that we will operate and remove their brains in order to examine the full extent of the drug’s impact. Beta Sample-174 significantly shortened the lives of the chimps we administered it to, killing them before they had reached a suitable age to determine the impact of the drug on their development. So far Beta Sample-175 seems to have no such adverse effects, but only time will tell.
