Questions may arise regarding the name of the old test subject, Fredrick von Richthofen IV; the answer is simply that he is named after his predecessor, Fredrick von Richthofen III. He was the test subject in my 1995-96 ‘Sea Station’ experiment inspired by the General Electric Sea Base. Richthofen, as was his nickname, was purchased at the local Rancho Santa Margurita Petco®. He was a modest feed mouse saved from being fed to a snake or some other mouse-eating animal.

          Using a specially designed training facility constructed to house the mouse during the construction and testing of the Sea Station, Fredrick received the highest attention and was properly prepared to navigate the sea faring vessel that was proposed to house him for about an hour on the first dive. Complications arose. On the first dive of the vessel, problems began just seconds after it left the surface of the water. Although it was never calculated for reasons of inexperience, the buoyancy of the vessel was estimated at over 70lbs, and tragically, the material used to bond together the dome windows on the roof was silicon caulk. After reaching what must have been about 3 feet below the surface, the domes popped off, utterly engulfing the entire vessel in chlorinated water.

          Having to deal with not only the massive rush of water, burning chemicals, and electricity in the water, Fredrick's future was looking grim. However, due to my superior swimming skills, our dear friend was able to be rescued. An abandoned submersible was used as his quarters as his training facility was also destroyed, but this wouldn’t mean anything. Just over two weeks after the incident, Fredrick escaped his housing only to be found dead. After a brief autopsy, it was deemed that he had resorted to suicide, as there were no signs of fowl play. He had presumably jumped off a balcony.