The real test comes tomorrow when we receive our first patient. Due to confidentiality restrictions, I ’ll just use her first name, Kristen. What I say about Kristen must be vague of course, but she should prove to be an interesting test subject.

Kristen is a 31-year old Caucasian female. For 12 years, she’s been happily married to her high school sweetheart. She and her husband have two girls, the oldest 10, the other 8. She is half-owner of a local law firm.

She is 5’4”, weighs 135 pounds and, up until a month ago, had no prior physical or mental health problems. What sets her apart from the typical, American mother is that she’s completely catatonic.

Kristen displays all the usual characteristics of a catalepsy patient. She’s completely unresponsive to physical stimuli. She spends every waking hour in a vacant daze, staring at nothing in particular. Dr. Valken and I have chosen her, out of a handful of other patients, as the candidate most likely to benefit from this new technology.

We spent the rest of the day getting orientated with safety and examination procedures. We triple checked all the consoles and equipment operation. We want no machine malfunctions when Kristen arrives tomorrow for testing.

Tuesday, October 30^th

Oh Diary, what a day it has been! We’ve made wonderful progress. I’m very hopeful for the future of our new scanning device.

Earlier, before Kristen arrived this morning, I studied her records and charts. Her case is, without a doubt, one of the most unusual I’ve ever seen. Her story is a short yet sadly odd tale.

One month ago, she witnessed the death of her brother, Dan, during visitation in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Indianapolis Memorial Hospital. When her brother flat-lined, nurses rushed in and found her babbling incoherently. Not long afterwards, catatonia set in.

According to Kristen’s family, she was very close to her brother. Dan owned a mortuary and was, according to those who knew him, a quiet man. On a side note, he was a prime suspect when his wife turned up missing but, without a body, there were no formal charges made.

Why did his death affect her so adversely? She was alone with him when it happened, so the reason remains unknown. This is why she was referred to our research facility. In desperation, her family has signed a dozen waivers so that she may be the first patient to undergo this experimental procedure.

Because Kristen isn’t brain dead, the professor believes the new scanning device may reveal important information needed to best treat her condition. All things considered, Kristen and her family have little to lose. Other than death, her condition can hardly be worse.