My name is Megan. I'm thirty two and I'm a scientist for a laboratory you haven't heard of yet - and won't, if we can get this project back under control. I'm writing about the first time we tried the drug in people, instead of test tubes and the labs - and how it led to the wildest experiences and also the most awkward meetings of my life.
For every drug, there comes a time to try it in humans for the first time. When we've done all we usefully can in the lab, however promising the lab results, we never quite know what will happen in a real human body, and it's a nerve wracking day when we first find out. Start with a very few - say, three - young, healthy people, and...
Looking back, it's lucky we began with three heterosexual young women. It's usual to start with student volunteers, who want the generous "expenses" payment. But we were lucky we started with girls this time, and heterosexual girls too. Here's what happened.
It was ten pm and Jayne, the nurse, was in the office trying to explain: "No, no, their vital signs are all fine. They just seem *restless*. Very restless. Agitated. Come and see them." It was not half an hour since I'd seen Miss A, Miss B and Miss C tucked up in beds in our sleep laboratory with our little pill inside them and clean white linen outside them, ready for the first night of the first study. Jayne seemed worried - we went...
... and found the sleep lab empty, bed clothes scattered on the floor and - I noticed without understanding - a creamy white night dress, too. And over there, eggshell blue pyjama bottoms. Hang on...