The day came that Herbie and Vic had been waiting for. The classroom they'd been using for their previous meetings was set up to accommodate the six student subjects. They all sat in a row of chairs before an adjustable a-v cart which Herbie rolled up before them. Vic was unwinding the extension cord so the cart could be plugged in. As Herbie hefted a large instrument case over to the cart, Vic whispered to him.

"We promised we were gonna pay these guys, right? How much do we even have left in our nonexistent budget to cover that?"

Herbie smirked as he flipped open the latches on the large case. "Don't worry. After this session, I don't think money will be foremost on their minds."

As Vic plugged in the cord, he saw a large duffel bag tucked into the far corner, behind a desk. "What's in the duffel?"

"You'll see. All in good time."

Before Vic could ask what that cryptic remark meant, Herbie turned to address the six boys. "Guys, I wanna thank you again for volunteering for this project and I appreciate you all being on time. Rather than bore you to death with all the little details, let's get right down to it, shall we?" Herbie lifted a large metal device out of the instrument case and set it down heavily upon the a-v cart. It landed with a solid thump. All the boys leaned forward in their seats trying to decipher what it was.

The machine was housed in the metal body of an old opaque projector, circa 1974. The kind that school teachers used when projecting text pages onto a pull-down screen before the advent of the less cumbersome dry marker overhead projectors. The body of the former opaque had been painted brilliant fire engine red. A series of small, oblong blue lights seem to pulse with steady blinking along the back edge of the machine. A row of evenly-spaced metal ridges, not unlike those found in the nozzle of a hair dryer, only far bigger, were mounted into the nose at the machine's front end.

"This", Herbie announced, anticipating their questions, "is the device with which we will undergo our experiments. This is, for all intents and purposes, our very own hypnosis ray gun. So to speak."

"What, are you serious?", Carson scoffed. "You honestly expect us to believe you're gonna--what, zap us into a trance with that thing?"

"This is a joke, right?", Jamie asked with a nervous grin.

"No joke", Herbie said. He turned to Coffee. "You were reading that old hypnosis book when we met. You're interested in the subject?"

Coffee looked a bit nervous to have the attention focused onto him at this tense moment. "Um, yeah, a little. I studied it in high school. I don't know if maybe I wanna go into psychology as a major or not yet, but--"

Herbie held up a palm, stopping Coffee's explanation. He didn't need to hear it. "You already know that our understanding and use of hypnosis has come a long way from the fumbling guesswork you found in that half-century old paperback." Herbie patted the top of the machine. "Well, prepare to be amazed at how much farther it's come in just the last few months."

"Oh, I get it!", Rickie said loudly. "It's a scam! It's one of those studies where they set you up in a ridiculous situation and see how much you're willing to believe, just 'cause an authority figure is speaking. Or how much you'll be willing to do in any given set of circumstances." Everyone turned to look at Rickie. "He's not studying hypnosis, guys. He's studying us!"

Vic crossed his arms. "How's that?"

"He's a psych major!", Rickie protested, pointing at Herb. "They're all into this kind of head games shit." Herbie glared at him, clearly annoyed. "Bet you want us all to leave now, seeing as how I've gone and contaminated your data and everything."

Bryce, with a far less aggressive tone of voice, added, "His attitude not withstanding, Rickie does have something of a point. How can we be expected to believe that ray gun of yours even works?"

Herbie rubbed his chin, nodding slowly. He then began to flip switches along the front of the projector, beneath it's nose. The machine began to emit a strong hum and from inside there was a steady chugga-chugga-chugga of a mechanical rattle. All the boys grew very quiet. Herbie said softly, "You're right. He does have a point. Say, Vic?"

"Yeah?"

"Smile." Herbie spun the cart in Vic's direction and fired the projector directly into his eyes. Vic was caught completely off-guard. And well he should have been, as this was most certainly not part of the plan. But at that moment, Vic had no complaints.

Vic felt wonderful. He no longer recalled where he was or what he was doing. He was simply floating. His body warm, his mind at ease, his only concern was hoping that this remarkable sensation in which he had been immersed would go on. He had never before felt such an overwhelming urge to simply relax and submit, to accept and follow any commands, to be utterly cooperative and happy. For a moment, harsh and intense moment, Vic felt a twinge of something else. Something from long ago...no, something that was happening at that moment, something wholly unpleasant. He felt a wave of terrible discomfort flood through him, but he knew he had to ride it out. He had to experience it. It was what he was supposed to do.

Then once again, Vic felt wonderful. So much at peace, so happy to simply go along, to do whatever he was told, to be whomever he was asked to--

And then, Vic was wide awake, standing in the center of the classroom, feeling only a bit flushed but otherwise fine. Then he saw the six boys. They were staring at him wide-eyed with their jaws hanging open. Vic was slightly disoriented. How had he gotten over here? He was standing opposite the a-v cart. Now he was some twenty feet across the room. When had he moved? He turned to ask Herbie what had just happened, but Carson spoke first.

"I'm in", he said. Carson held up a sheet of paper for Herbie to collect.

Acker was next, "Me, too." He held up a paper as well that Herbie took from him.

Vic recognized the papers as the consent forms that were standard with student volunteer testing and exercises. Each boy had to sign one to participate in a psych class project of this kind.

Coffee and Bry handed their papers in, too. Jamie looked for a moment at his signature on the page and then handed it to Herbie. "Well, even if this isn't some advanced hypnotism, at least it could potentially show me how you got such an incredible performance out of your friend here. If that was just acting."

"Acting? What's he talking about?", Vic started to move toward Jamie to ask him to explain. Something felt wrong.

Of all the boys, the only one smiling was Rickie. "Dude, there no way that was acting. Unless this senior here really had the guts to tell six strangers four years his junior about hat terrifying 8th-grade camping experience." Rickie laughed heartily as he handed his paper to Herbie. Herbie thanked him and slipped the permission forms into a manila folder.

Vic was fuming. He turned to Herbie. "You didn't. Tell me you didn't."

"Didn't what? Put you under with our heat-induced hypnotizer and make you relive your terrible experience of how all those other boys scared you at 8th-grade summer camp?"

"That was the most humiliating experience of my life, Herb!", Vic spat through clenched teeth. "Nobody but you even knows about that!"

"And that's obvious. Which is why I made you relive it for these fellows. To prove that this machine really does work, we really are engaging in hypnosis research, and that this is by no means a scam."

"That whole summer camp thing must've sucked though, man. Those guys making you believe a bear got into your cabin.", Rickie said, trying to contain himself. "I mean, being so scared by that prank that you pissed yourself in front of the whole campground. Shame you had to relive it." Rickie pointed at Vic's crotch, snickering.

Vic looked down and saw the entire front of his pants were saturated. Just as when he was a frightened 13-year-old boy at summer camp, he'd wet himself again, nearly emptying his entire bladder on the spot. His crotch, and the entire inseam of his pants were soaked with piss.

Vic hauled off and slugged Herbie hard on the arm. "Asshole!"

Herbie grabbed Vic by the shoulder and turned him away from the group. Whispering, he said, "Vic, buddy, I am sorry about the waterworks. I only wanted you to fess up something these guys could see you'd never willingly tell anyone on your own. I really didn't mean to project you that deeply into the scenario." Vic's expression softened just enough for Herbie to go on. "But we've got 'em, now, bro! They KNOW we're genuine, that this is the real thing. Your sacrifice will so not be in vain."

Vic stepped away from Herbie. He was still clearly upset, but Herbie had just saved himself from a pounding. Herb addressed the group. "While my partner steps out to clean himself up a bit, I will prepare you six for the beginning levels of our experiment. Are you all ready?"

He was met with a chorus of easy shrugs, a few "sure"s, "okay"s, one "Hell, yeah" and punctuated by Carson remarking, "This ought'a beat the hell out of any frat party."

Vic stomped toward the door to get to the bathroom. As he made his way out, he heard the machine chugga-chugg to life and saw Herbie take aim at the half dozen subjects. Vic was quick to turn away and continue out into the hallway. He didn't want to risk getting a face full of hypno-beam again.

Vic was out of the room for the better part of fifteen minutes. He'd been able to wipe off most of his accident, thankfully. His pants were still sopping wet, of course, but he'd managed to clean himself up before a stench established itself. He stood in the men's room, naked from the waist down, trying to blot the moisture out of his jeans--and his boxer briefs--with wads of brown paper towels. He'd never wished so intently that the university would spring for air dryers.

By the time Vic returned to the classroom, clad in drenched but clean pants (he'd tucked his underwear into his pocket), all six boys were deeply under, staring with wide, glazed eyes into the beam of Herbie's brain roaster.

Vic made his way around the outskirts of the classroom, taking care to give the heat projector a wide berth. Knowing what it capable of, Vic didn't want to risk even a cursory glance. He walked cautiously around the room to come up behind Herbie as he manned the device. Herbie had dimmed the lights, making the heat beam easier to see. Once standing safely behind the a-v cart, Vic noted that the beam seemed to be nothing more sophisticated than a red-gel stage light, or perhaps a simple heat lamp. Although at certain angles, Vic could see the air waver and ripple in the path of the beam, like the air above a highway on a July afternoon. It was apparent from that beam that this was more than a simple heat lamp.

It was equally apparent when Vic looked into the eyes of the six boys. Each of them stared straight ahead with blank expressions. Their shoulders were slumped, their arms hung limp at their sides. Their mouths were open, jaws hanging slack, and their breathing was very deep. In through the nose, out the mouth. And each boy breathed in perfect unison with the other. It was as if their minds were not only under hypnosis, but linked to one another.

Vic stood beside Herbie, who nodded slightly to acknowledge his friend's return. Vic studied the six subjects, and saw that their slack jaws were moving slightly. They were all repeating something, over and over. Their voices were so soft that Vic couldn't determine what they were saying over the steady hum of the heat device. They were saying something about themselves, it seemed. That they were stricken? Was that it?

Vic whispered to Herbie. "How goes it?"

"So far it's been textbook", Herb whispered back. "They're responses to everything have been classic."

"You run through all the basic tests?"

"Yup. All the deepening exercises. Forgetting names and numbers, being unable to move limbs, the levitating arm bit, all that. I even through in some other stuff. No way anyone's faking it."

Vic frowned. "Well, I sure know I wasn't."

"Yeah, but you had the benefit of being previously conditioned", Herbie said casually.

That caught Vic off-guard. "What, you mean just that time you made me put on that stupid chicken beak and stuff? That's what you mean, right?"

Herbie didn't answer, but kept staring at the entranced boys. He licked his lips, looking as if he'd let something slip. Then he said, "They appear to be taking post-hypnotic commands really well, too."

Vic looked at Herbie with concern. "Whoa. Are we ready to try that this soon going in? What kind of commands did you have in mind? Did you already implant them while I was gone? Did they take?"

Herbie smiled at Vic. "Let's find out, shall we?"

Herbie shut down the machine's beam, leaving the six boys staring blankly ahead at nothing. "Gentlemen", he said to them, "you will retain everything I've given you as instructed. Some things you will remember in complete detail, others will remain submerged in your subconscious." Vic frowned at that. What was he doing? "You know this is as it should be", Herbie said soothingly.

All the boys mumbled in reply, "...'s as it should be..."

"Very good. Sleep until I count to three and the lights come back on when you will awaken feeling refreshed and fine." Herbie signalled for Vic to get the lights. He was beside the switches in a moment. "One...two...three." Herbie signalled Vic, who hit the lights. As soon as the room was fully illuminated again, the boys' expressions shifted from blank to sleepy. They blinked their eyes, stretched. Rickie rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. Acker shifted in his seat as if he couldn't get comfortable. Bry was running his hands over his thighs as if his legs had fallen asleep and he was trying to get the feeling back. Coffee sat looking thoroughly satisfied with the experience.

"How does everyone feel?", Herbie asked.

"I feel great", Jamie said, all smiles.

There were nods all around at that. Carson looked at Rickie, as if suddenly realizing how he felt. "Yeah, he's right. I feel, well, pretty fantastic. Like I'm riding a runner's high or something."

Bryce, the biggest of the six, leaned forward, adding, "Yeah, it's like that. I feel like I do after a really good workout."

Vic seemed to relax a bit. Maybe this was going to be alright. He was half dreading a series of humiliating revelations from the lot of them. Herbie signalled to Vic, pointing to the duffel bag on the floor. Vic retrieved it, finding it surprisingly light considering how stuffed full it looked. He tossed it to Herbie.

"Now that you've been nicely relaxed, I want to keep you that way. Now you get dressed in something loose-fitting and comfortable, in order to better preserve your tension-free state." Vic knew Herbie was full of shit. Once put under and brought back out with suggestions intact, it really didn't matter much if the six boys were made to six on pine cones. Properly implanted, the suggestions would stick.

Herbie unzipped the bag and pulled out a handful of rolled-up blue jeans, all very worn, faded, and looking incredibly soft. Acker looked at the stack of denim as Herbie piled them up on a chair, and commented, "Um, I'm already wearing jeans, man." Herbie lifted up one pair and let them unroll to their full length. Rather than simply jeans, they were bib overalls. Acker shrugged. "Oh. Okay."

After the bib overalls were out of the bag, Herbie pulled out two stacks of straw bird's nest hats, of the Huckleberry Finn variety. There were two stacks of three, one hat fit into another. Vic rolled his eyes. Herbie and his whole farmboy thing.

"Now, I want you guys to ditch the clothes you have on now and get into the overalls and straw hats." The boys simply nodded, acting as though this were the most normal request in the world. "You can pile your clothes over there", and Herbie gestured to the instructor's desk across the room.

Without hesitation, the six boys began to undress, showing no more signs of discomfort than if they were in the locker room at the gym or after playing a team sport. Bry pause only a moment as he was yanking off his shirt. "Do we keep our shirts on, or--?"

"No shirts", Herbie told him. Bare-chested." Bry nodded and cast off his shirt easily, then letting his pants drop to his ankles. Vic watched wide-eyed, with no idea of where this was going.

"Do we keep on our shoes?", Jamie asked.

"Barefoot", Herbie announced. Jamie nodded, kicking aside his shoes and socks.

Rickie was in the process of pulling off his underwear, his thumbs hooked in the elastic band of his shorts when he stopped himself. "Umm...sorry, I was about to just yank off...guess you'll want us to keep these on, huh?"

"A farmboy wouldn't. Disrobe completely", Herbie said, pretending to be preoccupied with something on his clipboard. Vic was quick to toss the bib overalls to the boys as they casually stood there naked, still as relaxed as they could be.

"Feel free to help one another into those bibs", Herbie suggested. "They have side buttons and those straps can be tricky." At the suggestion, all six boys turned to one another and began assisting their neighbors with their outfits. A couple of the overalls even had old-fashion rear drop seats that the boys made sure were properly fastened over their friends' bare buttocks. Jamie reached over to make sure Acker's side buttons were fastened. Rickie helped Carson make sure his bib straps weren't twisted and buckled on tight. Bryce actually stepped into the rumpled pant legs, arms out at his sides like a nude crossing guard, as Coffee lifted the overalls up onto him and secured them in place. Herbie then handed each boy his frayed and tattered straw hat. And as a surprise to even Herbie, each boy then turned to his friend and gently placed his hat atop the head of his companion.

Vic leaned in to Herbie. "What's up with the hillbilly attire, Herb? We never discussed putting them in costume."

Herbie grinned. "Kinda look like they'd be right at home in a chicken coop, huh?"

Vic scrunched his brow in confusion. "What?"

As the six freshmen adjusted their unfamiliar farmboy costumes, Rickie wise-cracked, "Good thing nobody pissed themselves, did they?" The group laughed, but then everyone stole at quick glance at his crotch.

Herbie pulled up a chair and turned it around backwards as he took a seat, resting his arms on the chair back. "No, no. You know that's not why I called you here today. I summoned you for something far more important than that. You all have something you need to tell me, to tell each other. Something that's been pent up for far too long." Herbie made a gesture with both hands, arms outstretched to either end of the boys' line of chairs. "Circle." On cue, the boys pulled their chairs into a rough half-circle formation, facing one another as well as Herbie. Vic watched in fascination. Where was he going with this? Herbie's face looked earnest. "Who wants to go first?" The boys looked at one another nervously, then down at their feet. "Come on", Herbie chided. "Someone has to say something or I'll pick one of you at random."

With great trepidation, Jamie raised his hand. "I-I guess I'll go. He looked at the group and said, hey everybody, I'm Jamie." The group nodded and recognized him. The boys had taken on the look and attitude of a support group. "I guess I've been, well...having these feelings for a long time. Like as long as I can remember. I think that's what drew me to love film so much. You know, as an escape from reality, from what I was feeling."

Coffee chimed in, agreeing. "I know what you mean. Only with me, it was what drove me to an interest in psychology. Especially hypnosis. To try to get inside my own head, figure out what was going on. Where these feeling were coming from." More nods from the other boys. Bry patted Coffee on the shoulder, and actually rubber his back before drawing his hand back. Coffee gave him an appreciative look.

Vic had no idea what to make of this. What the hell was going on? Had Herbie convinced them they all shared an addiction of some kind?

Acker said, "I've had these feelings for so long that I think I was maybe born this way. I've even considered asking Jamie to do a documentary on it. I was gonna volunteer to be the subject."

Jamie looked at Acker with kind eyes. "Dude, you never told me that. God, that's great, man." Jamie rested a hand on Acker's thigh.

Vic approached Herbie and grabbed his elbow. Herbie saw Vic silently mouthing his concern. "What the fuck?" Herbie waved him away and turned to Carson. "Cars, did you do your assignment?"

Carson suddenly looked very, very frightened. "What? I mean, yeah, I did, but--"

"Why don't you share it with the rest of the group?"

Carson's face blanched. "What, you mean right now? It's way too soon, isn't it? I though--I just thought that you wanted me to write it for you to read. You never said anyone else would find out--"

"I thin it would do you a world of good to share it, Carson." To the group, Herbie said, "Carson wrote a poem about what he's been feeling, and I think it would be greatly beneficial for all of us to hear it." Everyone looked hopeful and interested, but poor Carson looked as if he were going to be sick.

"Please. Can't we do this another time?"

"Why don't you stand up, Cars?"

Carson ran his fingers through his hair, his arms visibly trembling. "Oh God..."

Rickie had lost all traces of his flip manner and said softly, "It's okay, buddy. I'm here. We're all here for you."

Carson grinned at him meekly, then stood up. Fumbling, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. Vic watched in amazement. Had Herbie really ordered this kid to write a poem while he was under? If so, how had he slipped it into his costume pocket so quickly? As Carson unfolded the page, it was clear to Vic that is was not a poetry homework assignment, but a yellow carbon receipt of some kind, from the financial aid office, by the look of it. Probably one of Herbie's. Carson was holding it upside down, but he looked at it so intently that it was obvious that what he was seeing was not an inverted receipt. No one else seemed to notice either.

Carson stood, holding his imaginary poem, and quivered. He swallowed hard, then looked to Herbie for assistance. Gently, Herbie said, "Go ahead, Cars. It'll be okay."

Carson licked his lips, took a deep breath, and began. "Today. By Carson McPheerson." He looked up at Herbie again, who nodded at him. Go ahead. Carson coughed unnecessarily to clear his throat and proceeded.

"Today. Today was a day.

The world got smaller, darker.

I grew more afraid.

Not of what I am, but of what I could be."

Carson's eyes darted around the circle of chairs. All eyes were on him, anxiously awaiting the next line. He found breathing difficult, but went ahead anyway.

"I loosen my collar to take a breath.

My eyes fade.

And I see... the bird.

The image of perfection.

His frame squat, his beak smooth.

And I keep thinking, What am I so afraid of?"

Carson ran one hand through his hair again, adjusted his straw hat, and blinked his eyes. He was not going to cry. He could handle it. He could feel the corners of his eyes moisten, but was determined to hold back the emotional torrent. With cracking voice, he continued.

"I wish I could escape the pain,

but these thoughts invade my head.

Bound to my memory, they're like shackles of guilt.

Oh, God, please set me free.

Free to cluck. Free to peck."

Carson began to sob. He wasn't strong enough. He tried to get out the next line, as the tears flowed. "Free..free to lay...eggs..." Carson tossed aside his imagined poem and blubbered. "God, I'm so sorry. I can't do this." Carson turned to run out of the classroom and into the hallway, but after only tow steps into his sprint, he stopped short. As if of their own accord, his legs jerked behind him awkwardly. His bare feet scraped along the floor, back and forth. "Oh Christ", Carson sobbed. "Not here!" Carson's knees bent and he hunkered down, losing a good two feet from his height. He tried to grasp at one of the chair, to force himself back to his full height, but his hands too had a mind of their own, and his arms bent at the elbows, yanking backward as if attached to strings. Carson balled his hands into fists, trying to fight it, but his fists simply locked into his armpits. He began flapping his arms, his legs still scraping the floor, his body stuck in a squat.

Herbie stood up. "What are you, Carson?"

Carson was weeping openly. "Don't make me say it!!"

"You have to. It's the only way. Say it."

With an outpouring of emotion, Carson screamed, "I'm a CHICKEN!!" In between sobs, he started to cluck. "Bawk! Buck-buck-buck-bakawwk!!" Vic was incredulous.

Rickie leapt from his chair and was at his friend's side. "Carson, it's okay. I know what you're going through, I swear to God I do!" Carson just clucked back at him. "Dude, I'm a chicken too!" Rickie looked at the group. "It's true. It's what I am. It's what I always have been! It's buh-kawwk!!" Now Rickie was gone, too. He was trapped in the squat he'd dropped to so he could tend to Carson. Now he was flapping his elbows and scraping his feet on the floor.

Herbie eyed the remaining four. "Anyone else?"

Coffee stood up. "My name is Parker Kaufman, and I'm a chicken. I've always known, since the first grade, that I was different. That I buk-buk-buk-buhKawwwrk!!" then Coffee was gone. Down on his haunches he went, fists in his armpits, clucking away.

Watching his friend chickenified, Bry stood up next. "I can't go on lying anymore, either. For year snow I've wanted to reveal my true self. To release my inner poultry. My name is Bryce, and I'm a chicken." With that he let out a big squawk, "BUCK-buhKAWWWK!" and fell to his haunches and joined his friend.

Herbie turned to prompt Jamie and Acker, but found he didn't have to. Both were already standing. And holding hands, to boot. "We've known it too", Jamie said. "We've known this for a long time."

"Since we were kids", Acker agreed."

"And good God, it's so good, so liberating, to finally find others who are like us."

Acker beamed. then, in unison, they proclaimed, "We're chickens!" And just like that, the duo let go of each other's hands and joined their barnyard brethren down on the floor, squatting, scratching, flapping, bucking and clucking.

Herbie put his hands to his mouth. This exceeded all expectations. In less time than he could have hoped, he'd reduced a group of half a dozen adorable freshmen college boys into a brainless bunch of chickens. What's more, they liked it this way! They were all clearly having the time of their lives acting like chickens, intermingling with others of their species. Herbie was having a ball, too, just watching them. Victor, however, was not.

Vic grabbed Herbie by the arm. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm having some fun with this project, what the hell does it look like I'm doing?"

"By making these guys believe they're chickens? What the fuck is up with that? This isn't psychology, it's infantile."

"It's classic, is what it is!" Herbie peeled Vic's arm off of him. "Lookit. What is the first thing that's expected from just about every stage hypnotist's act? To turn some poor shlub into a chicken. Especially if it's some self-respecting, overly-dignified business guy who's a little too full of himself. Am I right?"

Vic paused. "Yeah, I guess, but this isn't a stage act, Herbie--"

"No, no, it isn't. Stage hypnosis is the lowest form of the art. But! Imagine the effect it'll have on this project if we start out showing how this bold new procedure which looks like nothing more than an advancement in stage hypnosis can in fact be applied in far more substantial--", and he grinned, "--and lasting ways."

Vic raised one eyebrow in suspicion. "What ways?"

"There's more than one type of chicken in the world, Vickie ol' pal."

The room was alive with laughter. All six boys, still attired in their overalls and straw hats outfits, roared with delight. Herbie smiled approvingly. The only one not smiling was Vic, who watched silently, leaning on the a-v cart.

"Man, how awesome was that?!", Rickie cheered. "I have never felt anything like that, ever!"

Jamie smiled at his friend Acker, who smiled back, shaking his head. "It was pretty incredible."

Bryce patted his denim bib against his chest. "I can't get over how good these costumes feel. They are so damn comfortable. And it feels so good to kick off my shoes. And you'd think I'd feel cold without a shirt on, but I don't."

"Yeah, I know!", Carson agreed.

Coffee looked awestruck. "You were spot on with this one, Herb. I don't think there's ever been an application of hypnosis quite like this. Geez, I want to study it!"

Herbie waved his hand to establish order. "Well, let me complete my own study before you go off writing any papers on it. Now it's data collecting time. From left to right. Reactions? Comments?" Herbie went around the circle several times, jotting down an endless stream of excited reactions from his group of volunteers. All of whom, as he'd predicted, had forgotten completely that this was a volunteer-for-pay situation.

"I swear, while I was down there on the ground, all hunched, I really did believe that I thought I was a chicken", Jamie gushed. "Like I had been my whole life and that I'd just been hiding it."

"Man, me too", Acker said.

Carson was rubbing his face, still getting his bearings. "When you had me read that poem, holy crap. I really felt like I was exposing my deepest, darkest secret to everyone in this room. I was so scared. And at the same time, so totally relieved. To be able to finally, I dunno--come out and say I was a chicken." He let out a big laugh just upon hearing those ridiculous words out loud.

Rickie smiled brightly. "At first when you started reading that, whatever it really was that you--that we all-thought was a poem, I felt my heart pounding. And was all like, oh, please don't let him just be gay or something. Let him be a chicken like me, so I won't be the only one here." Rickie also laughed, Carson laughed harder.

"That's just what I thought!", Coffee blurted out.

Bry shook his head. "With me it was the opposite. I was all like, please God, don't let him start clucking or I'm gonna lose it and there'll be no turning back."

The whole group exchanged recollections and hearty laughs. Herbie scribbled note diligently, nodding his head and saying, "Good, good, that's good. What else can you remember?" Vic still wasn't sure what to make of it all, but some of his reservations began to subside in the face of the happy, clearly unharmed, subjects.

The question and answer period went on for about another half hour and a good time was had by all. Everyone seemed eager to come back and take part in further exploration of Herbie's fascinating new contraption. Herbie set aside his copious notes and said, "okay, we're almost done for the day. There's just one more thing I need for us to do--kind of a formality to make sure you guys are all okay--and then you can go." The boys nodded, happy to oblige. "Okay, everybody stand up." They did. "Now turn and face each other in sets of two." They did that too. Jamie faced Acker, Carson faced Rickie, and Coffee faced Bry. Then Herbie went to each boy in turn and whispered something in his ear. He moved rapidly, not allowing any time for one boy to ponder what was being whispered to his partner before he heard it himself. But as each young freshman's eyes glazed over and his breathing deepened, it was apparent to Vic that Herbie was calling upon a post hypnotic trigger.

When Herbie whispered the last trigger key to Bry, the room was deathly quiet. Vic watched carefully, his trepidation returning. Herbie returned to his chair and sat back. Softly, he said, "Begin Phase 2." Gingerly, each boy reached out and took the hands of his friend's in his. Then they shuffled close to one another, their bare feet making no sound upon the tile floor. Vic watched wide-eyed as their programming played out for the next five minutes or so. He began to speak, but Herbie shushed him quickly, warning in a harsh whisper, "We don't know what damage could be done if you interrupt the process before they've run fully through their commands. Sshhh--!"

So Vic let the commands run their course. But he placed a hand upon Herbie's arm to gain the hypnotist's attention, and in hopes of stopping what was going on. Leaning in close, Vic whispered in Herbie's ear. "How much of all this are these guys gonna remember, anyway?"

Gently, Herbie pried Vic's fingers off his arm. His mouth twisted into a malicious grin and he whispered back his reply. "Enough."