James Braid's chair was a wingback-style armchair with iron springs that caused people's subconscious desires to come forth and be acted upon. It was discovered after people in a small town began to act out of character. The chair was destroyed rather than bagged and tagged.
Background[]
[wikipedia:James Braid (surgeon) James Braid] (1795-1860) was a Scottish physician and surgeon, specializing in "difficult cases," especially muscular conditions. Braid was an important and influential pioneer of hypnotism and hypnotherapy. It is from his influential work that others derived the term "hypnosis" in the 1880s. Braid is regarded by many authorities as being the first genuine "hypnotherapist" and the "Father of Modern Hypnotism."
How It Worked[]
This artifact was created by accident. The combination of ferro-magnetization with the sound of a direct descendant of James Braid's voice caused this chair's iron springs tangential energy to absorb emotional energy. When patients came to Father Braid to discuss problems and sat in this chair, their subconscious desires were unlocked unwillingly, causing them to act on those desires. For example, a man who was a member of AA and had been sober for 22 years suddenly wanted to have a drink. He did it because he subconsciously wanted to, but wouldn't actually do it of his own free will. Although aware of their actions, all of the people affected by the chair's power insisted they had no control over what they were doing. Eventually anybody that had sat in the chair would slip into a coma as their strange behavior became increasingly erratic.
Destruction[]
Unlike other artifacts, this one was not recovered and stored in the Warehouse, but was destroyed by Agent Lattimer in order to save his partner and several others from being blown up by Sheriff "Mac" Mackenna, who, under the chair's influence, was wearing a bomb-vest, as he perceived this level of destruction to be the only real way to cleanse society, and thus to do his job.
Real World Connections[]
Certain auditory frequencies are known to alter the moods of those who hear them.