Title:           Sleepless (2/2)
Author:          Mayclore
Pastebin link:   http://pastebin.com/3v0q80fm
First Edit:      Wednesday 2nd of May 2012 02:50:44 PM CDT
Last Edit:       Wednesday 2nd of May 2012 02:50:44 PM CDT

>You are the researcher relieving the other guy.
>He's left his notes here on the table for you.
>You check the time on the monitor feed.
>If the notes are right, this fluffy has been denied sleep for just over thirteen hours.
>You pick up the observation.
>To be honest, you thought the subject would be louder, but all she does is stand there and tremble.
>Wait, she's whispering.
>”Fwuffy neva sweep 'gain...”
>You're not expecting any physical effects yet, it hasn't been long enough.
>You notice that every time the fluffy begins to nod off, she shits.
>”No!  Stay 'wake!  Sweepies wan' huwt fwuffy!”
>You pay close attention to her body.
>Her stubby legs are completely stiff.  She makes no attempt to walk around on the little block.
>She has ended up in a position almost perpendicular to the drum camera, so your view is looking down onto her right side and back.
>Her body fluff waves slightly with the rapid, shallow breathing.
>Her eyes, at least the one you can see, have gotten extremely bloodshot.
>She is also extremely filthy.  The notes said she was white, but now she's a mottled brownish color.
>”Go 'way sweepies!” she suddenly yelps, slamming her face into the brown water.
>You watch her as she stands like a statue for ten minutes.
>Then she blurts out “Whewe fwuffy?  Oh!  Fwuffy in sowwy-bowl!  Fwuffy sowwy!”
>Memory lapse.  You note the time.
>Her head begins to bob occasionally.  Upon closer observation, you realize these are hypnic jerks.
>During one such instance, she nods off just long enough to enter the water, and has the hypnic jerk just as she falls in.
>After pulling herself back up, she yells.  “Bad fwuffy!  No sweepy!  Sweepy bad!”
>She also starts crying.  “Fwuffy wan' go home...fwuffy sad...fwuffy weggies huwt...”
>Hurt?  It's only been fifteen hours, she shouldn't already be experiencing physical problems.
>Moments later, she collapses onto the block and rolls off.
>”Hewp!  Hewp!  Fwuffy weggies no wowk!  Fwuffy no wan' wawa!  Hewp fwuffy!”
>She's lodged between the drum wall and the block, so she won't fall in any farther.
>However, she cannot pull herself back up.  Her legs hardly move despite her frantic state.
>You note the time and end the experiment here.  Once she figures out she's safe from drowning, she'll fall asleep anyway.
>No point in leaving her in there any more.
>You enter the room to retrieve her from the drum.  It smells like someone shat on death, set it on fire, then ate it and threw it up.
>The fluffy sees you and waves her legs weakly.  “Hewp!  Fwuffy in wawa!”
“Relax, I'll get you in a second.”
>You call in an assistant to help you...and to bring gloves.
>You lift the dripping, rancid fluffy out of the drum.
>The assistant goes back out and returns with a large tub to carry the fluffy away.
>Since you weren't expecting things to end this fast, you decide to follow up and see if this has affected the fluffy's natural sleep pattern.
>The fluffy has been washed and dried and returned to her cage.  The drum has been removed and the room itself aired out.
>You take a new camera with low-light capability and set it on the floor beside her cage.
>”We pwayin' game?” she asks you.  She is in much better spirits than earlier.
>The assistant tells you, however, that she still hasn't slept.  That makes seventeen hours since she has.
“No, it's time for bed.”
>The fluffy looks very nervous about that, but nods.  “O-okay, fwuffy sweepy time...”
>You cut out the lights and leave the room, marking the time in your notes.
>Since there are other experiments you need to check on, and only four hours left in your shift, you forgo observation and elect to review the tape later.
>The first thing you do when you come in the next day is go check on the fluffy.
>The room is empty.
>One of the assistants explains that she was found dead this morning.
>You review the tape.
>The fluffy is standing rigidly in her cage as it begins, despite the fact that she has clean bedding all around her.
>In fact, she looks exactly as she did in the drum.
>”Wawa come wif sweepies, no wan',” she says to herself.
>There's no water around her, though.  Not even a bowl to drink from.
>She pounds her face into the cage floor.  “Stay 'wake!  Wha?  No wawa hewe?”
>That should be the end of it, you think, but it isn't.
>”Wawa hidin'...wawa wai' fo' fwuffy sweepies...”
>The next time she nods off and jerks awake again, you see her strain.
>She drops a load, turns around, and slams her face into it.
>”No smeww pwetty...bad smeww hewp stay 'wake!”
>Wow.  You begin fast forwarding.
>One hour of real time elapses.
>Each time she has a microsleep event, she wakes up and drives her face into the pile of shit.
>”Fwuffy no wan' sweepies!  Sweepies huwt fwuffy!”
>She can hardly walk anymore.  All her energy is focused on fighting her fatigue.
>”Fwuffy sowwy, pwease wet out, fwuffy wan' bad wawa,” she mewls.
>She wants back into the drum?  The drum where she almost drowned?
>”No, wawa no bad, wawa good, wawa hewp fwuffy make bad sweepies go 'way...”
>Just after the second hour passes, she has a microsleep event and again drives her face into the pile of shit to stay awake.
>This time, she does not lift it up.
>As she had on the block so many times, she involuntarily collapsed.
>Without the water to startle her awake, she fell asleep and suffocated.
>You begin writing up the final report for this subject.
>It appears that a repetitive traumatic event can force a fluffy to deny their bodily needs.
>If true, this would mean that the brain functions of a fluffy pony are highly rewritable.
>You make sure this will be sent to the population control team.
>If fluffy minds can be rewritten, they could perhaps be made to avoid crops without having to be poisoned and killed.
>You begin theorizing about methods to rewrite fluffy behavior.  Is water a requirement?
>For that matter, is trauma necessary?  In states where they're classified as animals, abuse will not be tolerated.
>While you forward your report, you consider ways to gather data about this new idea.
>From previous work, you know that fluffy pony brains emit high-frequency electrical signals when stimulated, positively or negatively.
>Perhaps electricity is the answer.
>While you go downstairs to hunt for new subjects, you flag an assistant over to go find the tools you'll need.
“Can you get me a taser?”
>”Whoa, what?  For the fluffies?”
“Yes, for the fluffies.  I have an idea that might help with the population control problem.”
>”Uh...I don't think we can do that.  Virginia is a no-kill state.”
“I don't want to kill them, I want to shock them.  Besides, once fluffies learn how good tomatoes taste, Richmond is going to beg us for some sort of nuclear option.”
>”If you say so, but I don't think I can buy a bunch of stun guns without attracting attention.”
“Just get me something that makes electricity.  Hell, a switch-operated battery and alligator clamps will probably do it.”