CHAPTER 2
1011 Words
CHAPTER 2Sitting in one of two chairs before the desk, Mara surveyed the sparsely furnished office, wondering if Dr. Canfield would make their appointment. The room was a walk-in closet with pristine beige walls, the only adornment a poster diagram of a synthetic human body hanging behind the desk. Mara studied it while she waited.
The more Mara thought about it, the more concerned she grew. If the receptacle occupants shared a mass dream and communicated with each other, then Abby might be behind what was happening. She could be the source of the occupants’ fear. When Mara tried to explain her concerns two hours earlier, Dr. Canfield wouldn’t listen. Too wrapped up in the immediate medical needs of her charges in stasis, the doctor had dismissed Mara out of hand and told her that they would talk later. A few minutes ago Dr. Canfield had signaled that she could talk if Mara came here, to the doctor’s office.
The door knob turned and stopped. Through the door, Mara heard the doctor giving someone directions. The conversation stopped, and the door opened. Strands of loose gray hair fluttered alongside Dr. Canfield’s face as she maneuvered behind her desk. She slumped into her chair. Pulling up to the edge of the desk, she gave Mara a stern expression—the look her mother had when she knew Mara was about to confess something.
“Are things going better in the repository?” Mara asked.
“They are more stable than earlier, but we still cannot determine the cause of the hormonal spikes the repository occupants experienced. Clinically it looks very much like a classic fight-or-flight response, but that makes absolutely no sense.”
“So you’ve never had issues like this before?”
“Millions of people in stasis simultaneously having a panic attack? No, we’ve never encountered anything remotely like this,” the doctor said. She narrowed her eyes. “Why do you ask?”
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. The problems might be my fault—at least I may have caused them inadvertently.”
Deadpan, the doctor said, “Go on.”
“When I talked to Ping earlier today, he said the dreams he experienced were an alternate realm created by the receptacle occupants, a place they had created for themselves. They can communicate and interact with each other, experiencing a full life.”
“Impossible,” she said. “They are in stasis, and the lives they live are the ones we share with them—through the syncing process built into the repository system.”
“How can you know that? You aren’t inside their minds,” Mara said with a little more antagonism in her voice than she intended.
The doctor pulled back, repeating, “Inside their minds.”
Mara made a calming motion with her hand and took a deep breath. “I know it sounds crazy to you and it contradicts everything you believe, but Ping knew things that he couldn’t have known unless he was in contact with my brother in this other realm. Ping knew things that had happened to Sam after Ping entered the receptacle.”
“What’s this have to do with hormonal spikes in the repository occupants?” the doctor asked. She wasn’t buying any of it.
“As you know, I placed my friend Abby—the one possessed by the Aphotis—into a receptacle a couple days ago.”
The doctor nodded. “The person you said caused the problems at the transceiver node and transfigured people into shimmers.”
“Right. Well, if the occupants of the receptacles are living in some kind of dream realm, I may have given this creature access to it and all the people who live there—by placing her in the receptacle. She might be the reason everyone is so afraid—the source of the hormone spikes. After what happened in this realm, God knows what she’s up to inside the minds of the other occupants.”
Mara couldn’t tell if the frown on the doctor’s face was anger, confusion or what, but she didn’t reply. Maybe she doesn’t understand, or maybe she doesn’t want to understand. When Mara attempted to clarify further, the doctor interrupted.
“Your friend, somehow, threatened the other occupants—because she has access to them through some kind of communal dream state even though each is encased in a separate receptacle?”
“It sounds crazy, but it’s not any crazier than convincing people to transfigure themselves into living holograms, is it?” Mara asked.
“We don’t know that’s what happened,” the doctor countered.
“Your own staff reported seeing two shimmers. You’ve read the accounts in the news streams. They existed—people with synthetic bodies transfigured into living holograms with bodies made of light.”
“Yes, they existed. What hasn’t been proven is your explanation. We only have your word for it, and that hasn’t been confirmed by the authorities,” the doctor said.
“With everything you’ve witnessed, you can’t believe that I am making this up. We are not from this realm—you’ve examined us. You’ve witnessed me using my metaphysical abilities. I thought you were coming around, but you think I’m some kind of liar or a lunatic.”
“You are not a lunatic or a liar. However, I’m a scientist. I take nothing at face value. I need proof. That is how I determine the veracity of things—not on the say-so of a strange girl I met a few days ago. Is that so hard to understand?”
Mara looked down at her hands. “No, it’s not. It actually sounds familiar. I took weeks for me to acknowledge that Sam is my brother.”
The doctor looked confused.
Mara dismissed it with the shake of her head. “Long story. The one thing I learned a few months ago is this—just because something isn’t proven yet doesn’t make it untrue. And, ignoring the truth—whatever that truth is—can have unexpected repercussions. I believe that this is one of those unproven truths. The people inside those receptacles are in danger. Set aside everything I said about them living a second life, in a dream realm. Look at this like a scientist. You said the occupants’ fight-or-flight responses have never happened before. Right?”
The doctor nodded.
“What else has never happened before?” Mara asked.
“I’m not sure I’m following.”
“People from other realms—new variables—have been introduced to the system. Ping, Sam and Abby each come from distinct realms. At the least you have to eliminate them as the cause of the problems. Isn’t that what a scientist would do?”
Dr. Canfield looked unconvinced. “I don’t see how having them in the receptacles could affect—” Her face went pale.
Mara sensed the doctor had received an update. “Is something happening in the repository?”
The doctor stood up and went to the door. “Some occupants are going critical. Stay here until I come back. We’re not done talking about this.” She left, closing the door behind her.
Damn. It looked like she was coming around.
- Writer
