"Alright, I just need you to relax."
"I literally feel like I'm about to be executed."
"Don't worry, that won't come until later. Now, I'm just gonna secure you."
I tighten the ropes around Terri's arms, ensuring he can't get up from the chair. I'm not sure how he'll respond. In a worst case scenario where his body does react to the hypoxia, I don't want him to try to get out of the room. It's cruel, but necessary to complete this test.
"Okay, I'm gonna charge up the battery now, I'll let you know before I fire it off."
While telling Terri that this was an experiment for creating free energy wasn't a lie, making him think that being shocked by a bank of supercapacitors wasn't truthful in the slightest. As I pretend to turn on the power to the unit, I secretly turn open the valve on the tank hidden within it. I did my best to discreetly seal the windows and made sure to pick the room with the stailest air. I walk out of the room and look through the glass window on the door, making sure he can see me holding up the trigger for the power bank. While he sits there, waiting for me to press the button, he won't even realize the air in the room is being replaced with invisible nitrogen gas.
As the time continues on, I expect to see some kind of change in Terri. Maybe he will get tired, maybe he'll just suddenly pass out, maybe he'll just get a bit dizzy. Nothing happens. In fact, I've been holding this button for so long, it must be suspicious that I haven't pressed it yet. After another minute of waiting, Terri looks around confused, seemingly realizing something else is going on, but he still has no idea what it is. Finally, I decide I've waited enough. Either it worked, or maybe I would need more Nitrogen to get the effect I wanted.
I open the door and walk into the room, I walk over to Terri to get a closer look at him to see if his body is showing any signs of change. His eyes look the same, his breathing sounds normal, I reach for his neck to check his heartbeat and…
*Smack*
"...ri. Yuri. Yuri!"
As the world comes back into view I see a blurry view of the artificially illuminated ceiling. I hear Terri, yelling out my name over and over again.
"What the hell happened?"
"Oh thank God, you're awake!"
"Where am I?"
"You're on the floor of a classroom. You fainted a few seconds after walking in."
I slowly pick myself back up, feeling like I'm fighting against a great weight all over my body. I think I remember what happened. The Nitrogen test.
"I can't believe I made such a dumb mistake. This room was filled with nitrogen, I must have asphyxiated without realizing what was happening."
"Nitrogen! Wait a second! Were you trying to asphyxiate me?"
"You could argue I was trying to not asphyxiate you. If you passed out, I would have been disappointed."
"Wait, how didn't I pass out?"
"It's complicated, but you're not just invulnerable, you don't even need to breath."