So there was Archer, widower and kid,
Scientist recording what subject did,
Tony, what a good and well trained pupil,
Stimulus-controlled to "Keep It Simple":
For positives he had what Vernon termed
The bear  with some affection: "A berm
Covered with carpet and punched out twice,
Admitting warm bulb and nippled device!
Thus even the dichotomies of old
'Tween yin and yang, left and right are controlled,
My Tony doesn't know what day it is
Who Jesus was or what praying is,
I keep him stimulated with toys and
Games. Mein Gott! It's not like he's imprisoned."

Reviewing Gateways to the Mind one day,
As consultant to the science portrayed
Archer also glanced at the instruments
Relaying Antoine's internal sense:
A toy batting helmet father employed
To project limbic bleeps brewing from boy
Repeated the same recognizable
Series that morning, "It's advisable
To determine what source is the input.
The program utilized to compute it...
What's this? The boy is watching the cartoon
Animated by that Chuck Jones buffoon,
Reflection off the glass! I'm just starting
To get me a strong urge for partying!"

Despite the "Quick, Watson, I need you" peak,
Vern Archer cursed effects he didn't seek,
Soon finding Antoine was past recov'ry,
From a lethal dose of muscle mem'ry,
That time and ever after he cried when
His Dad put him back into his playpen
And hard it was to pacify the tyke
With drawing, puppet, or with three-wheeled bike.
Archer sued Bell, manically all-out
Proving the cartoon was toxic fallout;
The corporation denied it, but knew
Not to reveal evidence that disproved
Egregious harm or criminal intent
Or lose the value of their investment.

They had to settle the mess out of court
With a clause demanding Vern not resort
To any private use or enterprise
Involving a muscle command device
Operational from transmitted sound
Or tell anyone the secrets he'd found.
Fortunes were made on the tiniest bytes
Of info about "Batman" and his nights
Decoding impulses from Antoine and
Trying to get the kid tranquil again.
Of course the corporation let him go
But if they stopped taping we'll never know,
And for years they played up Vern as a quack
Trying to conjure his lost glory back.