The Pitch
The room is quiet as I wrap up my presentation. I'm not yet sure if that's good or bad.
"So that's it," I say.
Fred Mirsch from Marketing suddenly stumbles off his chair and appears to vomit into the room's trash bin with a coughing retch.
No one says anything. They all seem to still be watching my demo video wrap up.
"Freddy?" I call out, now a little unnerved. "Are you okay?"
Tracy from accounting lifts her hand to indicate the video, now just showing a few sparking embers.
"That...that...man," she says.
"Mr. Collins' brother?" I ask.
She nods, and I hear Collins mumble "Jeff. His name was Jeff."
I look around the room, and at last realize what their problem must be.
"Oh!" I say, laughing. "We didn't really burn Mr. Collins' brother to death! It's just a cathartic simulation."
"A...what?" Tracy asks, and I try to suppress a groan. They obviously didn't listen to a word I said.
"A simulation." I say. "That's the whole idea. To provide people with a way to witness the realistic suffering of a target individual without actually having to harm that specific individual."
"Oh." Tracy says.
"It's a mental health tool," I say.
Fred settles back into his chair, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "Maybe...maybe we could we see it again?" he asks.
The room is quiet as I wrap up my presentation. I'm not yet sure if that's good or bad.
"So that's it," I say.
Fred Mirsch from Marketing suddenly stumbles off his chair and appears to vomit into the room's trash bin with a coughing retch.
No one says anything. They all seem to still be watching my demo video wrap up.
"Freddy?" I call out, now a little unnerved. "Are you okay?"
Tracy from accounting lifts her hand to indicate the video, now just showing a few sparking embers.
"That...that...man," she says.
"Mr. Collins' brother?" I ask.
She nods, and I hear Collins mumble "Jeff. His name was Jeff."
I look around the room, and at last realize what their problem must be.
"Oh!" I say, laughing. "We didn't really burn Mr. Collins' brother to death! It's just a cathartic simulation."
"A...what?" Tracy asks, and I try to suppress a groan. They obviously didn't listen to a word I said.
"A simulation." I say. "That's the whole idea. To provide people with a way to witness the realistic suffering of a target individual without actually having to harm that specific individual."
"Oh." Tracy says.
"It's a mental health tool," I say.
Fred settles back into his chair, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "Maybe...maybe we could we see it again?" he asks.
Heh heh heh...
Posted by: Celes | May 21, 2007 at 10:40 PM
Ick. In the best way possible, I promise. Posts are astounding, as usual.
Posted by: Burning | May 22, 2007 at 04:21 PM
I seriously loved that!
Posted by: Katee | May 22, 2007 at 04:43 PM
I saw one of those, though I tend to call it a daydream.
Posted by: Enna Isilee | May 23, 2007 at 04:50 PM