A Paradox in Retrograde (37 page)

"You of course have imagined such ideas. And it is a bold notion,
though as I speak I have not imagined such. And astime grows
short forgive me for sounding desperate. It goes then without saying that I am not opposed to hearing any suggestions. And
though I am not opposed in principle to such an idea I do however have my reservations. Have you for example examined the
potential risk to those patients? To my knowledge there has
never I imagine, ever been anything quite like this used by any
branch of medicine."

"This is true there are obstacles yet to overcome. These however are for me to be concerned with. The Hospital of course
would absorb any and all liability; this much I can guarantee. If
it is at all possible after such assurances are agreed upon and
you are amenable I should like to get to work as soon as possible. I hope this does not seem too presumptuous. To make this
more interesting and real, I have already chosen a subject. You
may remember from the headlines several years back, a young
man who went on a rampage. Before he was captured several
people including his wife were killed. He has been in a persistent state of catatonia ever since. Despite all methods adequate
treatment has remained elusive."

"This patient what is his name?"
"You may remember him. His name is Hector Ananda."

Robert watched, as in an Instant the screen came alive with
thousands of catalogued documents images and other various
files. "It would seem there is much here to review.If it is at all
possible I should like to do some research of my own on Mr.
Ananda. But I must say I am intrigued by this. Give me a day
and I shall give you my decision."

Jamison stood and extended his hand to him. They grasped each
others hand and exchanged pleasantries, then agreed to talk later.
Robert spoke into the intercom and summoned Polly. "Polly
would you please show Mr. Jamison the way out." He turned to
retrieve his valise and as he returned handed it to Robert. "Within
this valise I have prepared a dossier on Mr. Ananda. In it you
should find the answers you’re looking for." An instant later Polly came into the room. "Thank you again for taking the time to
hear me out." and with a gesture she showed him to the door.

Robert thought that Jamison’s plan was dubious at best. Though
with few alternatives he had to consider that after all was said and
done he may be forced to partner with someone not of his own
choosing. This plan after all he thought just may work. Such is
the nature of genius that he would claim he had known it would
work all along. Determined now to give the proposal proper consideration, he set him self to learn what he could about Jamison
and his patient. He sat down behind his mahogany desk and began examining the leather valise that had been given to him. He
undid the snap and removed the manila folder. He laid its contents out onto the desk. There before him were a collection of
documents and images all seemingly connected to the same case.
He then began to carefully examine each of the items. One item
in particular caught his attention. He held it up against the light
and discovered there a watermark for the New Manhattan Psychiatric Hospital. He ran his thumb and forefinger along the raised
letter head confirming its authenticity. The letter was addressed to
Mr. Jamison, listing him as the director of research at the hospital. The letter was penned by the state psychologist in Mr. Ananda’s sentencing hearing. He had been hired as a legal consultant
on the case and had sent this as a copy to Jamison. He read the
letters and from what he could see untrained eye was that it was
plain to see that Ananda was truly disturbed if not completely insane. He read how one day he had come home from work possessed by the notion that his family was replaced by replicates.
The notes compiled by the state psychologist red as follows,
"In my professional opinion Mr. Ananda suffers from a condition known as Capgras Delusion, or Capgras syndrome. It is a
state in which the afflicted suffers under a strange set of delusions. Included among these delusions is the strongly held belief that close relatives such as wives, husbands and children
have been surreptitiously replaced by uncanny impersonators.
Other common delusions are a sense in the warping of spacetime or the travel to other dimensions similar yet subtly different from their own. The patient sometimes may even think
themselves to be his own double. These delusions are often secondary to other dysfunction of the brain such as schizophrenia
or injury. In the case of Mr. Ananda until that point he had not
been previously diagnosed with any type of mental illness. It
was however reported that on the day in question had been involved in a bizarre accident at work. He filed with his employers an incident report in which he states that, “something had
fallen from the sky and had struck him on the head.” Witness at
his job site had reported no evidence of any such event having
happened. Interestingly however the patient was taken to the
emergency room at the local hospital where he was found to be
suffering from symptoms of concussion. He was admitted for
treatment and was discharged the following day in stable condition. When he returned home he called the emergency hotline
to report that his family had been attacked by an imposter of
himself. Upon arrival at the scene the evidence clearly indicated Mr. Ananda and the police promptly arrested him. Upon his
arrival at the NMPH he was placed in a high security wing.
During his stay he claimed repeatedly his innocence. Upon
hearing news of his families subsequent deaths he had fallen
into a catatonic state to which no treatment has proven successful. To this point his delusion is consistent in that he denies
having anything to do with the crime. During rare moments of
lucidity he often expresses deep anger and resentment. At this
time it is in the opinion of this physician then that the patient is
not of sound mind and is unfit to defend himself in a court of
law. Therefore he can not be held accountable for his actions at
this time. It is also in my opinion that the patient should be remanded to the New Manhattan Psychiatric hospital. There for
the foreseeable future Mr. Ananda due to the violent nature of
his crime and the ongoing delusion state should remain on his
current therapeutic regimen until such a time as an effective
treatment can be made available."

While putting down the letter his eyes were drawn to a set of
moldered photographs. There atop the pile his eyes caught site of
a photographic portrait of a lovely young woman. Against her
pale white complexion the dark features of her raven hair and
eyes seemed to shine like diamonds. Near the bottom a curled up
label displayed her name, “Samantha Ananda.” There for a moment he stared captivated into the eyes of the murdered woman.
The image for a moment brought him back to the memory of that
day. "Now I remember." Into his personal recording device he
spoke. "It had been all over the news. The story that had spread
from a thousand news agencies had filled the world once again
with that primordial fear that had been so long ago abandoned."
He shuffled the deck of photos. Interspersed there among the
other mundane family photographs were those of the grisly
crime scene. A lump formed in his throat as he attempted to reconcile the incongruities. To his conditioning he looked for answers. There were none however to be found. Leaning into the
microphone he again spoke, "I can hardly conceive of a state of
mind that would be required to stage such a scene of depravity.
Perhaps by studies such as these we can again glimpse into the
dark primordial heart of our nature."

He spent the remainder of the day studying the details of the
crime. These documents were not for the faint of heart. By the
time he reached his home it was seven in the evening. He had
seen more than he had wanted to. That night Robert for the first
time in years had trouble sleeping. Over and over the bestial images that he had absorbed by studying the case files would not
loosen their grip on his psyche. He rose then from his bed early
as the sky was still dark and made his way back to the office. It
would seem he too now was disquieted by the nagging questions relating to this case. He sat alone on an empty car as his
train dashed high above the city. He looked out onto the cloudless night. As he looked, he thought out loud, "There in the entire cold void of space I could never conceive of such a black
heart as was possessed by Mr. Ananda. I should have been so
lucky as to have had such love. But to destroy that life it is just
too incomprehensible. Perhaps my conditioning needs a tune
up?" He got to his office before sunrise determined to decide
whether to accept this case or not. He began again to review the
documents. By the time the sun had arisen he had made up his
mind. He called out to Polly, "Polly dear would you please connect a call to Dr. Jamison? I have to work out the details of a
deal."

It had been several days between from when the deal had been
hatched, to when the equipment in unmarked crates began to
arrive to an abandoned wing of the NMPH.

Dr. Amida and a select few trusted technicians were there. Together they were busy upgrading the antiquated power supply
to one more appropriate for the new system’s requirements. A
special security enclosure made of super strong composite had
been installed the day before. It had been designednot only to
keep the patient in but also in equal measure to keep those personnel deemed unauthorized out. Its shatter proof plates were
programmed to turn opaque when required to do so. But for
now the glass was clear. After a while all the components had
been integrated and the system was made ready for power up.
Dr. Jamison stood beyond one such plate and watched with
great interest as the preparations had neared their completion.
A loud humming noise began to reverberate in the pit of his
stomach as the magnetic field generator was turned on. Its large
superconducting arms spun round the axis of central core. Soon
the arms were spinning at so great a speed that they became virtually invisible to the unaided eye. The sound too faded had reverted to a white noise. Robert looked up from his display seeming pleased by the job he had done. He caught Jamison’s eye and
gestured for him to come. A buzzer sounded and the door beside
the plate where he stood opened for him. He walked into he
chamber and the door automatically closed and sealed itself behind him.

Ananda as if lost had walked away from the great hall, leaving
his work there behind. Now as he drew nearer to the temple an
empty feeling of dread came upon him. He felt suddenly out of
sorts. Was this feeling due to the fact that he had been so easily
beaten at his game? Or was it something else entirely? Not in
some long time had he been tricked so. His plan had somehow
short circuited. He would of course now need to regroup and
reevaluate. The time for preparations however was quickly
waning, so were his options. He first would find out as much as
was possible about this new set of rivals. Landaus was a likely
enemy. Though he had been usurped easily enough, his consciousness yet showed amazing resilience. There however was
not much about him within the memory core, beyond what he
had already known. And what of Lady Xora, had he drawn so
close to her as to let his judgment to be distorted and misguided
so? Though these two characters troubled him, his mind’s eye
could sense another more ominous contender. Despite this, his
memories of Amida would for the time being remain hidden
there within that blank spot in his memory. He seemed to reside
there shrouded in mist, just outside of conscious recollection.
He came upon the set large ornately carved doors that guarded
the entrance to the temple. There the carved figures that decorated its surface seemed to dance to some silent rhythm. He now
felt his own body moving in the same erratic way as he struggled
now to keep his balance. These answers that he came here now
to seek, though vital he feared would not help to explain by
which strange spell he was now suffering under. He knew this
was no motion of the Earth. He managed to somehow keep himself erect as his world spun dizzily. He forced himself to concentrate focusing his vision and attention on single point. This
seemed to help for after a moment the wave of distortion had all
but dissipated.

There the once bustling temple was empty now, as the bulk of
the citizenry had been co-opted into the war making effort. No
one else was there when he walked through the unguarded entrance way of the crystal room. As he strode within the crystalline cells that studded the room’s surface came suddenly alive as
if in recognition of his presence. Their flashing patterns of light
crossed its entire length. After a brief moment of being exposed
so, that sense of dread that had possessed him was replaced by
one of calm contemplation. With his rage now well subdued he
easily opened his mind up to the crystal room. There ghosts of
lives past haunted his thoughts as he accessed therooms
memory. There again he saw his beloved Samantha. And again
as in the first time, she was older and the clothesshe wore were
different. There on her face he saw the expression of fear unlike
he had ever seen before. He focused upon the vision of her face
as the world around his periphery dissolved into a mist of pixels.
The structure of that world in which he stood had fallen around
his feet it into an indiscernible heap. There now appearing before
him his world reformed into one strange yet familiar. He found
himself no longer standing still. Instead he was there in a bedroom in the midst of a heated struggle. He barely could recognize what he saw next. In his clutches he held tightly onto the
woman to whom he had long professed his love for. With no
control over his body he watched helplessly through his own
eyes as his hand held a knife raised high above her. She let out
a blood curdling scream that sounded through the channel in
his head as an echo down a long corridor. The sound was then
joined by another scream closer and more distinct. He soon recognized this second voice to be his own. The world had again
dissolved. Around him now formed as if from ether. Though
his vision was limited he knew it to be another vaguely unfamiliar setting. He tried to move but again he was paralyzed,
though not frozen in place. He could feel now that he was
bound and lying on his back. With his back arching and legs he
tried with all their might to kick himself free. Again and again
he struggled. Trying as he might he could not break the bonds.
Strange senses bombarded him. Smells and sounds that his
mind raced to recognize. He called out to whoever might hear
him. “Voices, I hear voices. Who’s there can you hear me?”
Next he a felt a short lived jabbing pain in his thigh. He recognized that is flesh had been punctured. “Ouch, hey what are you
doing?” He said as he began to protest. His words however began to trail off as his anger was replaced by one far more placid, as a feeling of warm ecstasy cascaded throughout his body.