3
Gabriella directed Charlie into the west-facing chamber. She asked him to slip off his shoes and lie down on a narrow hospital bed. The room contained the one bed, a chair, and a portable table jammed with electronic gear. The windows facing the lobby were one-way glass. Charlie stared at the mirrors and disliked how the eight other people could observe him unseen. Actually, it was only six, because Gabriella remained in the room with him, and the handsome guy had moved into the adjoining room, one clearly designed as a monitoring station. He was now seated behind a curved metal desk containing a vast array of electronic equipment. Charlie’s bed was positioned so he could look through the side partition and watch the man gear up his equipment.
“I can close the drapes if you wish,” Gabriella said.
“Is it important that they watch?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“Perhaps. Yes, perhaps it is important. That is, if you . . .” Gabriella sighed. “I hate this.”
“Why can’t you talk to me?” When she responded with another sigh, he lowered his voice and asked, “Is it Byron?”
“No.” There was no hesitation to her response.
The guy in the next room slipped on a headset, then leaned forward and tapped on the glass. When Gabriella looked over, he pointed to his earphones and shook his head.
Gabriella turned her back to the side room and went on, “Before I came to meet with you, I set up a series of parameters.”
The guy in the next room was clearly not happy with being unable to hear what Gabriella was saying. He tapped on the window again. Louder this time.
Charlie liked how she focused on him and ignored the other guy. He asked, “These parameters have to do with me?”
“Partly.” She lifted a strap. “This waist belt is not necessary. But I would like to use it with you because it has been a part of the process from the beginning. If it makes you uncomfortable, we can dispose of it.”
“First tell me again that we are safe up here.”
“The elevators are locked down. The exit doors are electronically sealed and solid steel. We are safe, Charlie.”
He drew his arms in close to his body. “Either I trust you or I don’t.”
Once the words were out, Charlie almost wished he had not said them. Then she smiled, and all his concerns just faded to grey.
The handsome guy stripped off his headset, stormed out of the chamber, opened their door, and snapped, “If you don’t hit the switch, how am I supposed to monitor the process?”
Gabriella was too busy cinching the belt around Charlie’s waist to look over. And Charlie was too busy smelling the closeness of her.
The guy didn’t like that either. He slapped a switch by the doorway and said, “Why don’t we try and keep this on a professional level.”
She waited until the door sighed shut to ask, “Are all men such children?”
“You’re the pretty lady. I should be asking you.”
She studied him. “Are you the least bit nervous?”
“Not really. No.”
“What we just went through, that does not leave you unsettled?”
Charlie was not used to discussing his internal world with others. But there was something about this woman that invited confidences. “A professional learns to deal with the adrenaline rush. It comes, it goes. Your performance level can’t suffer. Not and survive.”
She released a long breath, so close Charlie could taste its flavor. “I always considered myself a professional. Now I am not so sure.”
The handsome man’s voice boomed from the loudspeaker overhead. “Can we please get on with it?”
“We must establish a level of calm first.” She looked at the window then. “Isn’t that one of the parameters we agreed upon?”
The guy simply said, “Rolling.”
Gabriella looked down at Charlie strapped to the narrow bed. “I am glad it was you I came to meet tonight, Charlie Hazard.”
She rolled the end of his bed around so that he could no longer see the side window and the guy beyond. She then dimmed the room’s lights, returned to his side, and used the bed’s controls to elevate his head slightly. “Are you comfortable?”
“I might fall asleep.”
“That is what we want. Not that you sleep, but that you are in a restful state.” She rolled the table over and lifted a group of cables. “We like to monitor the EKG and heart rate of our subjects. But if you prefer, we can make an exception in your case.”
“I don’t mind.”
“Thank you.”
She had substituted a white lab coat for her dark jacket. Her hair was bundled so tightly it accentuated the astonishing curve to her eyes. Charlie knew he shouldn’t use her closeness to stare. But every time he looked away, his eyes were dragged back.
Her voice maintained its gentle tone, probably to help him relax. But the result was an intimacy that not even all the unseen observers could break. “The parameters go far beyond you directly, Charlie. That is one reason why I do not want to explain. This is all very new to us as well, you see. Can you open your shirt, please?”
The belt across his waist made the motions clumsy. “Are you a scientist?”
“My background is in experimental psychology. Before this, I only worked with rats. Some days I wish I had never . . .” She stopped in the process of peeling the back off a monitor pad and stared at the scar tissue lacing his chest and upper abdomen.
“It’s okay.”
She used a square of sandpaper to lightly abrade the skin of his chest, applied the pad, then connected it to another thin wire. “I’m sorry. What was I saying?”
“Your research is very new.”
“Actually, we have been working at this project for almost two years now. It is the results that are new.” She checked the monitor pads and wires with professional swiftness, then lifted a syringe. “I want to give you something that will aid you in resting fully.”
“Will you tell me what’s in your injection?”
She had clearly expected the question. “I have written down the solution.” She showed him a folded sheet of paper. “I would like to ask you to please let me put this in your pocket, and that you not read what I have written here until we are done. Will you do that for me, please?”
“Yes. All right.”
She slipped the paper into his shirt, then applied a tourniquet to his right arm. She lifted the syringe and spouted a little stream toward the ceiling. Then she stopped and looked at him.
All the looks she had given him before were now rolled into one tight bundle. That was how it felt to Charlie. She stared at him with an intensity that he felt in his bones.
She whispered, “Thank you for trusting me, Charlie Hazard.”
“It was a slow night until you showed up.”
She inserted the syringe and pressed the plunger.
Gabriella said, “I’m going to walk you through a series of hypnotic suggestions.”
“Whatever you say.”
“Do you pray or practice any form of meditation, Charlie?”
“Not really.” He watched her unwrap the cord from a set of headphones. “Is that what this is all about?”
“Your questions need to wait, please.”
“All right.”
“Thank you, Charlie.” Gabriella fitted him with padded headphones that covered his entire ears. She then rose to her feet and swept the curtains over the mirror windows and those over the night beyond the building, sealing them into a fresh-smelling cocoon of concrete and glass. The only people who could observe them now were in the side alcove. He heard a door open and close several times, and Charlie assumed the observers had joined the handsome guy. But Charlie’s bed was now pointed away from them.
He watched Gabriella fit on a headset, pull the microphone closer to her lips, and say, “Can you hear me all right?”
“Fine.”
She pulled the chair closer to the side of his bed. She adjusted the table so that she could observe the monitors, but they remained out of his line of sight. She said, “I want you to slip your arms inside the waist belt.”
“All right.”
Gabriella crossed her legs and held a clipboard in her lap. But she did not appear to be reading from it. “This is not a safety issue. It is actually part of the experience. You will understand when we conclude the process.”
Part of his mind was connecting the dots, hearing her carefully chosen words. Experience and process. Not experiment. Not risk. Not threat.
But the largest part of his attention remained focused upon the beautiful woman seated close enough to touch, talking to him through earphones that heightened the spice of her accent. It felt as though Gabriella’s voice was licking his brain.
Charlie decided it had to be the injection.
Gabriella said, “Close your eyes, please.”
“Can you tell me what is going to happen?”
“No. Part of the experience is having no expectations whatsoever.” She was responding from rote. Her voice adapted a steady monotone now. The scientist. “I am going to count down from eight to one. When I arrive at one, you will be floating in a state of pure alert relaxation. I am beginning now. Eight. Seven. Six. You are beginning to float upon a calm, warm sea. Five. You are leaving behind any stresses and concerns you might have brought in with you. Four. You are perfectly safe. Three. You are completely relaxed, and you remain utterly alert. Two. Your mind is refreshed and entirely engaged, and your body is totally relaxed. One. You float in a state of total repose. Can you hear me, Charlie?”
“Yes.”
“You will remain relaxed and calm and completely safe throughout this experience. You will remember everything that happens with absolute clarity. You will hear all that I say and do what I ask. You will remain in complete control at all times. If you feel any sense of discomfort, you will immediately return to full awake state. Do you understand me, Charlie?”
“Yes.”
“All right. I am going to start the process now. Are you ready, Charlie?”
“Yes.”
“The process is very simple. I am going to play a sound into one ear. This sound is one halftone above middle C on the musical scale. This tone will be embedded in the sound of the rushing wind, which will help you maintain your relaxed state. There is no other sound or tone or message embedded in the process. Do you understand me, Charlie?”
“Yes.”
“Here is the sound.”
For Charlie it was like the room began breathing with him. Calm and steady and very slow. Far off in the distance, a simple, steady tone hummed in his right ear.
“Can you hear the tone, Charlie?”
“Yes.”
“All right. Now I am going to play a second tone into your left ear. This second tone is precisely 1.8 percent of the tonal scale above the first tone. There is no other noise or message embedded in the wind. Here is the second tone. Please tell me what you hear, Charlie.”
“A wave.”
“Very good. When the sounds are this close together, the brain does not hear two tones, but one sound that vibrates in a steady wave. The pattern of this wave is determined by the tonal difference between the two sounds. This means I can make the tone vibrate faster or slower by altering the distance between the two sounds. Do you understand, Charlie?”
“Yes.”
“Excellent. Now listen carefully. Remain utterly alert. I am going to tighten the distance between the two tones. This will heighten the vibration frequency you hear. You will feel yourself being lifted up mentally. This is one of the remarkable phenomena we have learned about the brain, that it is possible to heighten brain activity and slow the physical state, all at the same time. You will allow this to happen, but only so long as you remain entirely comfortable. Remember, Charlie, you are in total control. You may stop this at any time. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Are you ready to proceed?”
“I am beginning to alter the tonal frequency now. All right. Tell me what you feel.”
“Higher.”
“Very good. Your heart rate has slowed by thirty-six percent from what it was at normal rest. Your breathing has been cut by half. This is entirely normal. Now listen carefully and I will explain what is happening. The brain frequencies are vibrating according to a pattern that reflects the initial stage of what we refer to as higher awareness. We call this the Base Level. Now I am going to insert additional tonal frequencies. These new sounds are calibrated in precisely the same manner as the first. They act in harmony within the mental process, heightening the pattern’s influence upon the brain and your mental state. There is no other subliminal message. These tonal frequencies will act in tandem.”
Charlie heard the wind undergo a dramatic change, as though accelerating from a breeze to a hurricane. He felt a surge of power, calm as a desert dawn, yet somehow filled with the majesty of what was about to arrive.
“I am now increasing the frequencies you are hearing, Charlie. I am altering the level now.”
The pattern he was hearing shifted very slightly. He felt his entire being resonate in response.
“Your breathing has now dropped by another twenty percent. Your heart rate is now thirty-seven percent of what it was when we began. Charlie, you remain in complete control. You are utterly alert, and you will remember everything that happens. If you feel any discomfort whatsoever, you will return instantly to full consciousness. We call this Level One. I am now going to alter the frequency again. Are you ready, Charlie?”
“Yes.”
“This is Level Two. From this point on, speech becomes somewhat difficult. Remember, Charlie, you remain in complete control. You may exit the process at any time by simply opening your eyes.
“All right. I am going to alter the frequency again. I am lifting the tonal frequency now. This is Level Three.
“All right, Charlie. I am going to tighten the tonal frequencies. I am altering it now. This is Level Four.
“I am heightening the tonal frequencies again. I am altering it now. This is Level Five . . . Level Six . . . Level Seven . . . Level Eight. One more level and we are done. I am heightening the tonal frequency now. Level Nine. We have arrived at our destination. Your heart is now beating at a steady thirty-one beats per minute. Your breathing is down to nineteen percent of where it was upon our beginning this process.
“Listen carefully, Charlie. Your body remains in a state of complete rest. Your mind is utterly alert. You are in total control of your situation. You may stop this process at any time by simply opening your eyes. Now I am going to ask you to do something, Charlie. You should only do this if you feel utterly safe.
“I want you to rise up.
“I will count from nine to fifteen. I will make no alteration of the tonal frequency. You are in complete control of this process. You will only do this if you feel utterly safe.
“I am beginning to count now. Nine. Ten. You are lifting up. Rising up. You will hear my voice with utter clarity. Eleven. You are in complete control of this process. Twelve. Thirteen. Fourteen. Fifteen.
“All right, Charlie. When I say now, I want you to open your other eyes.
“Open them now.”