After careful, thorough consultation with Dr. Carter, I strongly recommend without hesitation that the final disposition of the project should be "FAILED". The interaction between the subject and Dr. Moriat’s device has been labeled a "feedback loop." No cause has been determined for this phenomenon. The evidence available is insufficient for further study. There are still many unanswered questions about the phenomenon: what caused it to occur; how it functioned, and the extent of the subject’s active involvement. Mr. Cross’ vital signs were those of a healthy 22-year old man at the time of his death. Did the device cause him to improve, or did his improvement spur the device to start the spiral? Did he connect somehow with the device and use it? These are all excellent questions. However, given the scope of the adverse events, their severity, and the permanence of those effects on some of the personnel involved, the entire device has been destroyed, and no further research into the feedback loop will take place. It is our opinion that another test would result in another, possibly greater, disaster. As a personal aside, bear in mind that the subject was frail, with greatly diminished brain function; I shudder to think of the events had we used a healthy, fully functional subject.
Drs. Carter and Moriat will not reapply for further funding of the project; they are in agreement that the danger of adverse effects is too high; an application for theoretical study is possible, but not in the near future. Dr. Carter’s expertise in neurology and neurosurgery makes him a valued member of the Institute’s research group; I feel confident that he will continue to be productive. As for Dr. Moriat, she may be able to apply her great store of knowledge on another collaborative effort, as a junior member of an investigative team.
While several errors were committed in the conduct of the experiment, only the improper monitoring of the project control center would have had any impact on the outcome. I would like to stress that at the height of the mishap, everyone within the clinic building was affected, save for myself. My immunity is also an unsolved puzzle, but it is fortunate that I was. It is probably accurate to extrapolate the spread of the effect to beyond the clinic confines if I had not shut the power off. I do not know how much longer the local utility could have supplied sufficient power before it started to cause problems with the whole service area. At some point, the power drain would have exceeded transmission capacity, causing shut down, but we have no idea when that would have been.