So
the next day, the three headed to the science department to sign up for the
experiment. Brian seemed oddly excited about having convinced his buddies to
come with him, and he was eager to finalize the deal before they changed their
minds.
Soon
Brian and Tony were seated in two chairs in front of the doctor’s desk, with
Joey standing behind Brian, arms crossed over the top of his gut, which stuck
out proudly from the weekend’s gorging.
“Okay, Doctor Lambert, I’ve told these guys about the
program, so we’re here to sign up.”
“I
see,” the doctor started. “Well, let’s get out the paperwork then.”
Joey
protested immediately. “Hold on a second. I said I’d come hear him out. I
haven’t decided to be a guinea pig just yet.”
Brian
muttered. “Though ironically you’re the one already looking like a pig.” Thud.
“Hey!” Brian’s teeth clacked together as Joey blasted his gut into the back of
his head in response to the crack.
“Guys!
Enough already.” Tony shot them both a look that got them back in line.
Doctor
Lambert patiently waited until they quieted down. “Okay then. Let’s review how
the experiment is structured, shall we boys? Joey, is it? Why don’t you have a
seat?” The doctor directed him to pull up a chair from the corner of the
office. Joey slowly lowered himself into the wooden armchair, having to wriggle
himself into its tight confines. The doctor’s eyebrow raised as he surveyed
Joey’s bulk. “Looks like you will need a bigger dose than your friends will,
Joey. Okay, let’s get started.”
“First
off, you know the point of this substance, yes? It’s a complete food
substitute. We need to ensure that it functions as a total dietary replacement
for all solid food. So the experiment runs like this. You each list off what
you has eaten for the last three days. I weigh you in. I will set daily intake
amounts to match your eating habits and your size.” The doctor’s eyebrow raised
and he looked directly at Joey. “Then I send you away with the product in
question. You are to take it in place of all solid food for the next twelve
weeks. It’s critical that you only take the pills I prescribe and that you eat
no solid food until the experiment is completed. We feel confident that the
substance effectively replaces what you would get from eating, but we are
frankly still in the process of testing the interactions that result when solid
food is partially mixed with the substitute. It’s the most open piece of this
experiment, and I will insist that you adhere to that rule without questions. I
cannot stress the importance of this enough. So you eat nothing but the pills,
again, nothing. We then weigh you in during the process and check your
metabolism to ensure that the substitute is functioning as anticipated. Then
you get your check after the final examination. Really quite simple, and - ”
“Holy
shit. Twelve weeks? Doc, I think you’re only gonna be signing up two of us.”
Joey leaned back in his chair with a scowl. I’ll be starting wrestling finals
in five weeks. I’ve been beefing myself up for that, and I just don’t think I
can risk it. I thought this thing would be like a two-week deal, not the rest
of the friggin’ semester.”
The
doctor sat calmly as Joey protested. “Well, son, it’s quite clear from your
size that I would be prescribing a much larger dose than has been used before.
However, based on all tests run to date, I can assure you that your weight
should remain constant, provided we get the dosage proportionate to your size
and eating habits.”
“I
dunno Doc. Still sounds pretty nuts to me, no matter what the payoff. Sorry but
. . .”
“Ah,
yes, the fee. Well, maybe that will sway you.” The doctor handed Joey the
agreement form and a pen. “If you’ll look right here, I think you’ll see that
it might be worth it to participate in what should be a harmless exercise.”
Joey
let out a yelp of surprise. “Shit! That’d practically pay for all of
next semester’s tuition. Brian, man, why didn’t you say it was so much cash?”
Brian
didn’t actually known how much the doctor intended to pay, though he did know
he got a referral fee for each friend that signed up. But he took the
opportunity to say I told you so nonetheless. “Well, yeah”, you fat moose, he
thought. “Why the hell do you think I was pushing us to do this so much?”
“So
you promise me, Doc, that I’ll keep up weight if I do this? And I won’t feel so
much as one ounce of lost energy. ‘Cause if I’m not at full power in the final
meet . . .”
“Yes,
yes, son. I’m quite sure you’ll be fine. Now if you’d all please sign the
agreement forms, we can get you weighed and I can send you off to get started.
I’ll bring you back for a check in three weeks to make sure we have the dose
correct. Then we’ll adjust if necessary and give you the supply to cover the
remainder of the experiment.”
At
long last, signed papers committed them to the experiment, and the three guys
were writing down everything they had eaten since Friday morning. Most guys
would have been shy about listing the massive amounts that Joey had put away,
but there Joey sat, working hard to remember every mouthful of food he had
consumed. He had to ask for additional paper to list everything. The doctor
looked over his shoulder to check the list.
“You
are making that list for just the last three days, Joey, yes?”
Tony
was the one that laughed this time. “Yeah,
you should’ve seen him put it away!”
Joey
grinned with pride. “I don’t want to forget a thing, Doc. I want to make sure
you keep me up to fighting weight. It’s weird enough to agree to eat nothing
but some pill for weeks, but I can’t slide on weight or coach’ll kill me.”
“Yes, well, if this represents what you’ve eaten in three
days, I must say, young man, I am surprised you don’t weigh 400 pounds. And on
that note, boys, it’s time to weigh you in.”
Each
stripped to his briefs and stood before the scale. Tony and Brian had been
recorded at expected starting weights of 170 and 203. Now it was time for Joey
to tip the scales. Both Tony and Brian looked on with curiosity. They knew the
jock was at record size, and each had to admit a fascination with just where
that scale needle would land. Joey’s gut was still riding high, in full glory
from the weekend’s eating binge. With the way his gut jutted out over the top
of his briefs like a swollen basketball, bending the elastic waistband down in
a deep curve, it almost looked like he had literally swallowed the ball, only
to have it blow up in his stomach. Brian had a fleeting thought of how the
overfed jock would look if that ball of a belly kept inflating, growing bigger
and bigger. He pictured Joey finally too fat to shed all he’d gained, gut so
big he had to lean back to balance it. His lips curled into a grin as he
thought of Joey’s belly swelling, his shirt inching up his growing stomach, the
jock finally panicked about growing so huge, his bigger and bigger gut pushing
him right off the scale deck.
Then
he shook his head hard to clear the image. But not before he thought it would
serve Joey right to really blimp up, finally too fat to deny being a porker.
“Alright then.
Tony, Brian, you each weigh about what you listed on this sheet”. The doctor
shuffled to Joey’s release form. “It says here that you weigh 275, Joey? Sounds
a bit low from the looks of you, but let’s get you weighed in to see.”
“Nah,
Doc, 275 should be ‘bout right. It’s around my peak size from last season.
Can’t imagine I’m bigger that than yet.” The doctor made a slight noise,
eyebrow raised again.
Joey
stepped on the scale with a thud and stood there, arms at his sides, fists on
his hips. His gut actually bumped into the scale upright. When the cold metal
hit the warm flesh at the front of his belly, Joey flinched a bit and kind of
laughed. “Hmm, maybe I am over two and three quarters, huh?”
Brian
had to shake the image of Joey’s ballooning belly out of his mind again.
The
doctor said nothing and just tapped the scale’s counterbalance progressively up
the level. 250. 260. 270. The bar didn’t even start to lift until 280, and even
then, just a touch. 290. 295. 300. Now it was teetering. 301. 302. Almost. 303.
304. Still didn’t stick. 305. So close, but still the level remained unbalanced.
The doctor’s eyebrows raised as he continued to tap. Finally, he stopped.
“Three hundred and eight pounds, young man.”
Joey
grabbed the sides of his meaty belly, and Brian couldn’t resist chiming in.
“Holy shit! I told you that you were a hell of a lot fatter
than last year. But damn! Over 300 pounds?! Doctor Lambert, do you even have
enough pills to feed a guy that huge?”
Joey
whirled around on the scale, and Brian took a leap back, ducking behind Tony.
“Well, we do indeed have all the pills needed for a guy at
any weight. I know you seem quite intent on staying this size, Joey, but I have
to suggest that maybe we cut back on your dose to get you to a leaner weight
during the process of this experiment.”
Joey
now spun in the doctor’s direction and looked ready to shout. “Okay, how many
times to I need to say this?! I am gonna keep at this size until I get that
division title. So I beefed up a little more than I realized, but man, I’m
gonna be at full force for the final meets or else. Doc, if you want me to do
this, you’re gonna have to keep me fed up to hold my weight. Looks like that’s
308.” In his head, Joey was also stunned at the scale’s reading. He rubbed his
belly and thought, “Man, over 300. That is getting pretty damn big. I’ll have
to run my ass off in a few weeks to shed this puppy.”
“Alright,
young man. Since you’re willing to participate, I’ll work with you on this. But
I am going to put you through an assessment after your final matches to see if
we ought to cut down on your weight. From the scale’s reading and the look of
your belly, I’d say you’re pushing a weight that might be hard to drop without
some discipline, especially if this is how you eat regularly” The doctor again
surveyed Joey’s three-day diet with a whistle. “But we’re on for now, and
you’ll get a dosage to replicate this kind of caloric intake.”
And
with that, the threesome was again off, this time with bottles of the food
replacement pills and a label indicating their dosage, based on size. Needless
to say, Joey’s had four bottles to Brian’s one, and his dosage prescribed not
only higher pill quantities, but also extra “meals.” And the experiment began.