Start by planting in her mind (which is part of the simulation) an unreasonable, gnawing doubt. <PERSON> would then cause her (through his control of her simulated self) to confess her doubts about reality to him. He would assure her they were false. Then a few small incongruities would be placed in her environment, a hamster than speaks a single word, a music broadcast that appears to be talking to her, a period of an hour or two where no one in the environment seems to notice or respond to her. All of the same kinds of thing that schizophrenics experience. When <PERSON> confronts <PERSON> about these odd incongruities, he will pretend to be deeply concerned, and recommend a psychiatrist.
<PERSON> visits the psychiatrist. The psychiatrist prescribes anti-psychotic drugs. These of course increase the feelings of isolation and alienation she is experiencing. Her symptoms worsen. She hears strange humming sounds in her ears. No one seems to be listening to her. She sits for hours, watching the crowds walk by, and their activities seem mechanical, purposeless. When she talks with other people, their responses are mechanical and predictable. They appear to her like automatons, seeking simple gratification of pleasure or ego, and not thoughtful soul-containing creatures. Their conversation repeats themes from TV and movies, it has no real originality to it. 494
she catches different people repeating the same topics and opinions, without significant variation, as if the ideas of society were programmed from some central sources.
She picks up a flower. The petals seem to be fabricated out of plastic. She calls he friend <PERSON> in a panic. He is patronizing, distant. The humming sound in her ears has turned into a rushing like a mad waterfall carrying her over the edge.
She begins to speak in disjointed, unconnected sentences. Her boyfriend calls her parents, who have her taken into psychiatric custody for 24 hours. She sits there in the hospital, full of tranquilizers and drugs, and the hours roll by as she stares at the ceiling. She hears the nurses chatting far away, and they are talking about the same topics as the automatons everywhere - politics, sex, pleasure, food. Same topics, almost the same words.
She begins to fade away into nothingness, she beings to internalize the way of the robotic entities that surround her. Perhaps after all, this is reality. <PERSON> visits her. He grins like a maniac. "Psyche!" he says, then floats up into the sky. She floats up with him. "It was a prank, <PERSON>, boy did I fool you!" they float off together. 285