Tai Chen'an was a true genius of a pharmacologist. One day, he and his assistant, Lu Yaoqian, developed a hallucinogenic drug. Its initial effect was to generate a complete worldline in the hallucination, one that diverged from reality. With the right formula, any bizarre world could become "reality." But there was no objective way to exit, and memories outside the hallucination would not synchronize. In other words, once inside, a person could not escape unless their subjective consciousness deviated. Whether death meant escaping or dying in reality was impossible to know.
The ultimate effect was dangerous, Lu Yaoqian concluded.
The only way to obtain results for the essential factors of the next experimental stage was to simulate them in the imagined world. Tai Chen'an organized what was known but impossible to simulate in reality into a chemical formula and added it to the drug, so it would appear in the imagined world in some form. But the drug had no effect on animals, and he couldn't get approval to test it on humans. After much deliberation, he decided to risk trying it on himself.
Tai Chen'an entrusted Lu Yaoqian with looking after him, whether for a few months or a few years. He was then sent to a private nursing home, where he became a patient in a vegetative state.
Theme: Cherish life and stay away from hallucinations and drugs
