therapist to be affected by a patient in certain ways. But that would only happen with an inexperienced therapist. We don’t have any of those here, so it couldn’t possibly happen. And the very idea that someone has been ‘infected’ by PT devices, well …”
“And I tell you that I have heard, from a reliable source, that that is exactly what happened!”
Just as the now crimson-faced reporter was about to kick off again, Tokita started to wail shamelessly in a manner that suggested he was sick and tired of the whole charade. “Oh for crying out loud!” he groaned. “Not this again, not this ! Why can no one understand? This is cutting-edge science we’re engaged in here! How can it possibly be understood in layman’s terms? Whenever there’s a problem, it’s always some side issue that’s nothing to do with the matter at hand! No one, not one of you, has asked about the most important thing! Even though, for me, PT devices will soon be a thing of the past! And I don’t mean to sound arrogant by saying that – it’s the normal speed of progress in machine technology! Why can’t anyone see that?!”
As the journalists sat there in stunned silence, beaten into submission by Tokita’s slobbering rant, Atsuko alone held back her anger. She was thinking of a way to flush out the traitor in the camp.
8
Atsuko removed the collector. She was already tired of wandering through the bizarre world of the schizophrenic, a sinister, metaphorical world that could have a direct impact on the subconscious of the observer. A world in which, for example, a patient’s mother who was always having affairs and produced too many children appeared in the patient’s dream as a dog. Atsuko discovered the link between the two when the patient dreamt of the dog cooking supper in his kitchen. But now this particular patient was well on the road to recovery. Through the glass wall, a man in his forties could be seen lying on a bed in the examination room next to Atsuko’s laboratory.
“He says he often dreams of dogs talking to him outside the Inari Shrine,” Nobue Kakimoto said, looking up from the reflector screen to smile at Atsuko.
“His dreams are more or less normal now, aren’t they. Would you get some coffee?” Atsuko skipped back through some still images of the dream she’d just recorded. She started to write her thoughts on a memo pad as she looked across at the reflector screen. The reflector’s memory device was programmed to automatically scan recorded images at intervals of one second. “All right, Nobue. You can go home now.”
Nobue seemed unwilling to leave quite yet. “He’s not identifying so much with other people or things now, is he,” she said while pouring coffee for her superior.
“That’s right.” Atsuko watched the monitor as she drank the coffee. On the screen, a half-eaten grilled fish on a plate was calling out. Atsuko instantly thought of Tokita. He was quite partial to grilled fish. Suddenly, she wanted to see him. Atsuko cleared the screen.
“I’m going to Tokita’s lab,” she said as she got up.
Atsuko removed her lab coat to reveal the dark-blue suit she’d worn at the press conference. Now Nobue’s eyes were filled with an expression of rapture. “My! Oh my! How beautiful! How very, very beautiful you look! What have I done to deserve this?! Doctor Chiba, please! Won’t you appear on television again, just for me?”
Feeling slightly embarrassed at such unfettered adoration by a member of her own sex, Atsuko hurried out into the corridor. The corridor was deserted. It was after nine o’clock.
From the corridor, Tokita’s laboratory could only be reached by passing through a small anteroom occupied by his assistant, Kei Himuro. The gloomy anteroom was surrounded by shelves piled high with cases and boxes containing general purpose LSIs, custom chips sent in by manufacturers, prototype elements awaiting shipment as samples, and various other components.
“And I tell you that I have heard, from a reliable source, that that is exactly what happened!”
Just as the now crimson-faced reporter was about to kick off again, Tokita started to wail shamelessly in a manner that suggested he was sick and tired of the whole charade. “Oh for crying out loud!” he groaned. “Not this again, not this ! Why can no one understand? This is cutting-edge science we’re engaged in here! How can it possibly be understood in layman’s terms? Whenever there’s a problem, it’s always some side issue that’s nothing to do with the matter at hand! No one, not one of you, has asked about the most important thing! Even though, for me, PT devices will soon be a thing of the past! And I don’t mean to sound arrogant by saying that – it’s the normal speed of progress in machine technology! Why can’t anyone see that?!”
As the journalists sat there in stunned silence, beaten into submission by Tokita’s slobbering rant, Atsuko alone held back her anger. She was thinking of a way to flush out the traitor in the camp.
8
Atsuko removed the collector. She was already tired of wandering through the bizarre world of the schizophrenic, a sinister, metaphorical world that could have a direct impact on the subconscious of the observer. A world in which, for example, a patient’s mother who was always having affairs and produced too many children appeared in the patient’s dream as a dog. Atsuko discovered the link between the two when the patient dreamt of the dog cooking supper in his kitchen. But now this particular patient was well on the road to recovery. Through the glass wall, a man in his forties could be seen lying on a bed in the examination room next to Atsuko’s laboratory.
“He says he often dreams of dogs talking to him outside the Inari Shrine,” Nobue Kakimoto said, looking up from the reflector screen to smile at Atsuko.
“His dreams are more or less normal now, aren’t they. Would you get some coffee?” Atsuko skipped back through some still images of the dream she’d just recorded. She started to write her thoughts on a memo pad as she looked across at the reflector screen. The reflector’s memory device was programmed to automatically scan recorded images at intervals of one second. “All right, Nobue. You can go home now.”
Nobue seemed unwilling to leave quite yet. “He’s not identifying so much with other people or things now, is he,” she said while pouring coffee for her superior.
“That’s right.” Atsuko watched the monitor as she drank the coffee. On the screen, a half-eaten grilled fish on a plate was calling out. Atsuko instantly thought of Tokita. He was quite partial to grilled fish. Suddenly, she wanted to see him. Atsuko cleared the screen.
“I’m going to Tokita’s lab,” she said as she got up.
Atsuko removed her lab coat to reveal the dark-blue suit she’d worn at the press conference. Now Nobue’s eyes were filled with an expression of rapture. “My! Oh my! How beautiful! How very, very beautiful you look! What have I done to deserve this?! Doctor Chiba, please! Won’t you appear on television again, just for me?”
Feeling slightly embarrassed at such unfettered adoration by a member of her own sex, Atsuko hurried out into the corridor. The corridor was deserted. It was after nine o’clock.
From the corridor, Tokita’s laboratory could only be reached by passing through a small anteroom occupied by his assistant, Kei Himuro. The gloomy anteroom was surrounded by shelves piled high with cases and boxes containing general purpose LSIs, custom chips sent in by manufacturers, prototype elements awaiting shipment as samples, and various other components.
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