All We See or Seem Read Online Free PDF Page A

at her menacingly.
    â€œOh, no, sir. You’re welcome to stay, of course. I didn’t mean to s-s—” the nurse stuttered, helplessly trying to back-pedal. “It’s just the tests usually take awhile, and I—”
    â€œRobert, stop scaring the poor girl! I can’t take you anywhere! Don’t mind him, he’s just teasing. We have to leave anyway… busy afternoon.” She smiled to reassure the nurse then tendered another well-placed elbow in her husband’s ribs before turning to her son. “We’ll be back in the morning, honey. Can’t wait to get you home! We’ll have a welcome home bash and invite some old friends.”
    â€œSounds great, Mom. See ya in the morning.”
    She patted him on the cheek and took her husband’s arm. They walked out together.
    â€œSo, benchmarks, huh? Sounds riveting,” Aaron moved to the wheelchair the nurse offered and sat down.

 
    Chapter Five
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    From inside the capsule, Aaron could hear the technician flipping switches and prepping the machines. Through the earpiece, her voice reverberated in his head.
    â€œJust relax, Captain Jennings. This won’t hurt at all. I’m going to give you a series of instructions. Please try to hold the suggested images in your mind until I tell you to stop. This is to test the activity in the different lobes of your brain. Basically to make sure everything is firing correctly. Ready?”
    â€œYes, ma’am.” Aaron’s voice echoed around him in the enclosed space. He closed his eyes and relaxed his body on the padding of the molded bed.
    â€œFirst, I want you to hold the image of your mother’s face in your mind. Got it?”
    â€œYes, ma’am.”
    â€œHold it for a minute.”
    Mom’s face hung in his memory, smiling but with a hint of sadness in her eyes. It was the way she’d looked when he’d shipped out the last time, trying to pretend for his sake.
    â€œWhoa. Mom’s a soft spot, huh? A little more amygdala action than I was expecting on that one. Want a copy of this test for a Mother’s Day gift, captain?”
    Aaron laughed, but it was unsettling how she could read his emotional response just by looking at a brain scan.
    â€œReady for number two?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œOkay, this time I want you to recall in your mind something you have memorized, like a favorite line from Shakespeare, lyrics to a song, the twenty-third Psalm… anything like that will work. Just keep reciting it in your mind,” the technician instructed, then paused to let him think of something. “Got one?”
    His favorite poem. He’d had it memorized since eighth grade. “Yes, Ma’am. Poe.”
    â€œOkay. Begin reciting in your thoughts.”
    Take this kiss upon the brow!
    And, in parting from you now,
    Thus much let me avow —
    You are not wrong, who deem
    That my days have been a dream;
    Yet if hope has flown away
    In a night, or in a day,
    In a vision, or in none,
    Is it therefore the less gone?
    All that we see or seem
    Is but a dream within a dream.
    â€œPerfect. Next up, math facts. Start with addition.”
    Aaron thought through the twos and the sevens, his personal favorites. Then he did eights and threes in the multiplication tables. He was glad the technician interrupted him right before he moved on to division — he’d never liked it much.
    â€œAll right, we’ll pull you out of there and switch to the node scanners. We have just a couple more tests to do, and you’ll be all set.”
    Aaron was relieved to be out of the scrutiny of the tube. He knew the tests were necessary because of his injury, but the idea of another person being inside his head disturbed him on multiple levels. He relaxed in the reclining chair he had moved to while the technician began the process of attaching the electrodes to his scalp.
    She ran him through a few standard brain wave tests,