Jordan stepped out into the amphitheater, her bare feet slapping against the cold, antiseptic stainless steel floor. She barely glanced up at the mirrored one way glass windows that lined an entire wall as she walked quickly to the center of the room. A massive black box ten feet on a side waited silently under the glaring operating room lights, a maze of hoses, pipes, pumps and cylinders attached to the right hand side and a skeletal metal stair leading up to the top on the face closest to her.
That box had cost the University nearly one hundred million dollars and was still a closely held secret project from DARPA. There were unpleasant rumors about what DARPA had developed and used the box for, but as soon as Jordan had read of the Programmable Non Newtonian Fluid Immersion Tank the possibilities had been clear.
Doctor Jordan Teal was a Human Reproductive Behavioral Specialist, or more specifically sexual dysfunction specialist. The PNN FIT tank, or as everyone had begun calling the massive machine, the FIT tank, offered Jordan the opportunity for the very first time to first record a baseline of what normal sexual intercourse would be under controlled conditions and then be able to compare abnormal behaviors to that baseline. The amount of data that the FIT tank could provide, from skin conductivity, neural activity, blood flow throughout the body, even pheromones released by the body was staggering and surpassed any previous study by an order of magnitude. What had surprised Jordan was that when she had advertised for volunteers from the campus student body no one had been willing to be the first test subject to step foot... or any other body part into the FIT tank. Usually when Jordan requested volunteers, especially for human reproductive studies, she had to turn away dozens of zealous applicants, but after having the full immersion explained to them not a single female subject had been willing to be the very first.
After nearly a month of disappointment Jordan had made the decision that she would be the first baseline subject. Jordan's friend Amanda, or Doctor Amanda Prichard, had argued against getting directly involved in the experiment, but Doctor Jason Alvarez had quickly acquiesced. Jordan suspected that Doctor Alvarez had put up less than a stringent argument against her getting involved for the simple fact that he realized that he'd get to see her naked. Although the thought wasn't very becoming, the many times she had caught Dr Alvarez staring at her cleavage or even the time she had overheard him discussing her butt gave her plenty of reasons to suspect his hasty agreement.
The buzz of the intercom interrupted Jordan's thoughts and she realized that she had crossed the room and came to a stop at the base of the stairs leading up to the FIT tank.
"Is everything alright Dr Teal?" Amanda's voice said rather loudly over the intercom.
"Everything's fine," Jordan said, her voice echoing around the empty room as a jolt of adrenalin caused her heartbeat to race.
Jordan glanced up at the mirrored windows above her before untying the waist band of the white bathrobe and letting it slip from her shoulders to pool around her feet. The chilly air was enough to cause Jordan's nipples to harden and she involuntarily glanced up at the mirrored windows again before climbing up the stairs to the edge of the FIT tank. She had a moment to wonder what Dc Alvarez thought of her bod, with her long dark brown hair surrounding an oval face and full lips, full D cup breasts that were still perky as she approached forty, and the pronounced pooch she had developed over the last five years from working to much behind a computer and not in a gym. She had shaved all her pubic hair the night before in preparation for the FIT tank test and was surprised that she was actually excited to be naked in front of both Amanda and Dc Alvarez.
Jordan looked across the surface of the FIT tank which had a creamy, off white color that bulged up a few inches towards the center of the tank surrounded by a narrow, foot wide ledge that completely encircled the tank. Jordan stepped gingerly out onto the ivory surface, each of her feet sinking in several inches and leaving a trail of footprints to slowly fade behind her as she walked to the center. The surface texture again reminded her of slick, cheap polyester but much softer with an internal heat that Jordan could already feel through the soles of her feet. Once she reached the center of the FIT tank Jordan lay down, spreading her legs and arms apart as if she were going to make a snow angel in the soft, elastic material.
The intercom hummed to life again and Amanda's voice filled the amphitheater, "Are you ready to begin Dc Teal?"
Jordan nodded, suddenly unable to speak as her heart raced inside her chest.
"Alright, just remember we'll be watching your vitals and if you feel uncomfortable at any time simply say 'stop' and we'll end the simulation," Amanda explained once more.
Jordan nodded again, her breathing picking up speed as the operating room flood lamps that had been glaring down on her naked body suddenly dimmed. She felt her body molded by the surface of the FIT tank and glanced down at her toes as they slowly sank further into the ivory surface before slipping completely beneath it. Jordan's breath came in quick gasps as more of her body sank beneath what had suddenly become a thick, viscous fluid even as her legs and then thighs sank out of sight. Gentle waves of heat began to wash over her, relaxing her muscles which she hadn't realized that she had tensed. Finally only Jordan's face remained above the ivory surface, the gentle waves of heat and the sense of weightlessness calming Jordan's momentary panic.
"Ok, Dr Teal, we have good readings on your vital signs and neural activity, please tell us when you're ready to proceed and the lights will be turned off," Amanda's voice suddenly echoed through the amphitheater.
Jordan had dreaded this moment. One of the most disconcerting times for all the test subjects who had been placed in the FIT tank was when their face was completely submerged. DARPA had been insistent that the best way to make a test subject comfortable and reduce panic was to place the test subjects in total darkness prior to full immersion. The FIT tank also functioned as a very effective sensory deprivation chamber and once the lights were off the test subject couldn't even tell that they were submerged or not.
"I'm ready," Jordan said after a final, deep breath.