National University of Science and Technology, Massachusetts - May 2090
----------------------------------------
Herod
----------------------------------------
From: Harrien Flint, Chairperson of the Department of Node Sciences, NUST
To: Gilgamet Truth, Academic Dean, NUST
Subject: Final Dissertation - H. Ecleates (Recommendation to Dismiss)
Body:
Good evening, Dean Truth-
This was my final dissertation decision of the semester, and as you likely know already, it was the hardest coming. Herod Ecleates was such a brilliant student when he came to us, and remains a veritable genius, but he has taken a dark turn over the course of his thesis work. The subject matter is a research project which began during his internship with our elusive scientific colleagues at the Anti-Node Eventuality Taskforce, and as I will explain further with illustrative excerpts, I believe there has been a gross violation of our institutional code of ethical conduct, which is grounds to dismiss the paper and student alike, and which I believe should call into question our further involvement with ANET altogether.
Mr. Ecleates’ 128-page thesis consisted of the iterative development and testing of a wearable device which would inhibit the ability of a coronated individual to conduct thought transfers via their own crown. This device, which is formally titled “Head-Mounted Coronation Nullification Device 001” is informally referred to frequently as the “Crown of Thorns” or sometimes simply “the Thorns” by both Mr. Ecleates himself and those who worked with him in the lab who were quoted in his paper. The effects of this device on wearers (so-called “users,” though they were hardly consenting) were nothing short of inhumane, and there was a clear disregard for basic safety on simple principles of electricity and common physics that the actual focus of the research as relates to Coronation Sciences is inconsequential if not laughable.
The “Crown of Thorns” developed by Mr. Ecleates is essentially a metal halo which goes around the cranium and is adjusted by way of screws such that it physically overlaps with the user’s crown. This halo of metal is hooked up to a battery in a manner hardly more graceful than jumper cables, and is then pumped full of power, such that it generates a powerful electromagnetic field which causes interference with the thought transfer connection between Crown and Coronated. This of course also causes an intolerable amount of electric shock to the wearer in addition to significant electromagnetic radiation going straight to the brain.
The device was deemed “working” by Mr. Ecleates’ supervisors in the ANET laboratories and so the majority of his research was focused not on the further development of the hardware (hence the 001 designation), but instead on the applications of the device. Test subjects of unclear origin were “recruited” by ANET and were subjected to what were essentially torture conditions with little to no information given to them prior. Most test subjects were strapped into a chair by lab assistants before the device was clamped to their head and powered on, and they were left helpless as hundreds or thousands of volts of electricity passed round their head for minutes at a time. The exact effect on the wearer varied based on type of crown, and for the purpose of further delineating the ethical violations (and not to give credence to the research) I will go into these specifics.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
As is the case with many matters of Coronation science, there is a drastic dichotomy of effect between users with Aptitude-Defined Type Crowns and users with Appearance-Defined Type Crowns, with a smaller disparity in effect between Unibody Aptitude-Defined and Multibody-Aptitude Defined users. In the case of the Crown of Thorns, the more extreme effects were generally seen in the Aptitude-Defined users, with the most dramatic results in Multibody users. Those test subjects with chain or pearl Crowns were brought to a state where there conscious mind was so overloaded by thought transfer noise, electric shock, and electromagnetic waves that their ego became dormant and their active self became susceptible to coercion. I am under the impression that this was tested with impunity, subjects in a hypnosis-like condition being made to do any manner of thing, but that is one area Mr. Ecleates was wise enough to avoid detail in. It is clear however that some test subjects needed medical attention after being left in the Crown for hours at a time, and it seems ANET did not check up on those individuals after sending them to hospital, so they may well have died in some cases. I need not explain to you how unacceptable this kind of disregard for ethical practice is at our institution.
In the case of test subjects with Unibody Crowns, halos and wreathes, the same catatonic state was induced by the sheer overwhelming of the mind. The malleable state was not as prevalent in these subjects, their egos perhaps remaining closer to the surface. In the included figures, the test subject with a wreathe-style crown seems more visibly pained than the subject with the chain of pearls. Neither compare to the clear anguish of the test subject with the couture Crown.
The apparent effect of the Crown of Thorns on users with Appearance-Defined Crowns was nil, at least as far as thought-transfer is concerned. The effect of extreme voltage electromagnetism next to the users’ head was however exacerbated by the absence of the mental numbness, and these test subjects were described as “displaying absurdly dramatized pain responses.” It seems clear from the image and the sheer power level of the device that these reactions were not dramatized. The number of test subjects with couture Crowns who required hospitalization was significantly higher, and most required medical attention after far less time than their Aptitude-Defined counterparts. Again, simply egregious violations of ethics and law.
I realize I was the one to recommend Herod for that internship at ANET in the first place, but if I had known then that they would be doing the kind of mind-melting weapons research the United States was doing sixty years ago, I would have steered him far away. The fellow has always had a clear disdain for the nodes, which I surmise is some kind of generational baggage from his father being the Director of CORC, but to try to destroy them at the cost of human life? We can not abide this. So, it is my recommendation that we dismiss Herod Ecleates and disavow his research, and furthermore that we do not recommend any students to ANET programs in the future.
Thank you,
Harrien Flint
They/Them/Theirs
Chairperson, Department of Node Sciences
National University of Science and Technology
[https://marts.notion.site/image/https%3A%2F%2Fs3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fsecure.notion-static.com%2F4e2b329d-783b-4cb5-892f-391a3d29071b%2FTRIUMVIRATE_III_Higher_res_maybe.jpg?table=block&id=2fcf46c8-ec2f-4582-a2c5-ec034828a454&spaceId=f55aaa38-563a-4fb9-b6f7-a8add6e64006&width=2000&userId=&cache=v2]