/tags/permaskin/Recent content in Permaskin on Gromet's Plaza ArchiveHugoen-usWed, 05 Sep 2001 00:00:00 +0000/stories/2001/09/05/celias-pet-project/Wed, 05 Sep 2001 00:00:00 +0000/stories/2001/09/05/celias-pet-project/<p>Celia was a lab rat. At least that&rsquo;s what she and the other scientists and technicians called themselves; the Biotronics Corporation lab rats. The name probably came from the anonymity and dehumanization that were byproducts of their uniforms and the enormous size of the Biotronics facility. Hundreds and hundreds of Biotronics staff milled around like ants, or perhaps more like rats in a maze. Each looked much like the others, dressed in his or her unisex white lab coat and scrubs. It was almost difficult to tell the women from the men. The sterile environment was made even more Orwellian by the countless stainless steel tables brimming with the equipment and wires and tubes of science.</p>