In Which Bill admits to some vivid dreams, where Karen remembers her past, and Stacy gets a new body decoration.
Who Was I
By: Annette MacGregor
"Yes George is it." At his nod, "I think this is..."

"...becoming a regular thing." continued Karen.

He looked at us. "Do you d that often?"

We looked bemused. "Do what?" I said.

---

Part 31   Friday afternoon (8-Dec-2006)

This afternoon's session with Dr. Flynn was interesting. I updated her with stuff we'd found, and how fast things seemed to be moving. This was easy. What was more difficult, was when she asked if I'd been dreaming or thinking through my past memories. Because I'd been having sorta dreams or I guess dreamlettes. In any instance, when I thought about them, it was as if I were reliving points in time when I was a kid. And the next day, what had been vague memories, the day before, were clear.

"That's interesting Mr. Wyman. Why didn't you want to talk about that?"

"Well Dr. Flynn, as I remember them better, some of the feelings I had with the events seem to come back too. I guess they're just much more immediate."

"Could you give me an example perhaps?"

"Okay. Yesterday, I'd thought about my senior prom, I don't know why. I recall being made to go, even though I didn't have a date. But, that was about all that was clear in my mind. Last night, it was as if I were there. I recalled wearing one of those blue polyester tuxedos; you know those colored tuxes were really popular back then. But my mom had gotten me a carnation buttoner. I was dropped off. It was in the High School cafeteria, ‘cause the class hadn't raised enough to rent a hall, so we voted to do it in the cafeteria. The class voted to decorate it nicely, and donate the rest of the money we'd raised. Oh yea, I was talking about the prom. Well, I did my usual sitting or standing on the sideline. I did say hi to some friends from the Swim team and the math team. But get this, it seems both Karen and Stacy were there too, in nice gowns. They came with dates, but for some reason the times I saw them, they were either chatting with other girls or just watching or such. Sad really, they should have had a great time at the prom. But, in any event, I don't remember our even acknowledging each other's presence. And, this is kinda interesting in that I know I complimented everyone on the organization committee, except for Karen. And that, in retrospect seems strange."

"That's pretty detailed. You said you thought it was unusual for you to have skipped a member of the committee. Why is that?"

"Well, I remember making a point of going to find each member of the committee that was there, and saying how nice the music was, and how the decorations hid the cafeteria and made the room so much nicer. I just can't imagine refusing to tell one member that. But, that's what I did. It was as if I were avoiding Karen or something. And I don't know why."

"Did you ever have interactions with her in school?"

"Yes. I recall being assigned to a group doing a scene from 'Death of a Salesman' with her. It worked fine apparently. Hmmm. Yea, it actually did. The rest of the class said we worked well together in the scene over breakfast."

"You mentioned that you'd had some conditioning back in grade school. Something like that could have had the effect you described. I find it interesting that it was subtle enough to cause you to avoid each other most of the time, but allowed you to interact naturally when it was required. And, even more that you appeared to have completely forgotten the interaction at a later date."

"You mean that my avoiding Karen was caused by the stuff back in grade school?"

"I only said that's one explanation. You certainly didn't describe any personal reasons you might be avoiding her. So, the simplest explanation is to blame it on that."

I nodded thoughtfully at this. "Do you think that such conditioning is still in place? I mean, it was Becky that got us together, not me."

"That's possible Mr. Wyman, but you'd get a better answer from Dr. Wong I believe. On the other hand, have you found yourself avoiding either of them recently, that is, times when you were not almost forced into their presence?"

"No, I actually volunteered a couple times. We'll even be doing lunch again on Tuesday. That's twice in a row. And, I'll be with Karen again Monday to see if Dr. Wong can break the block in her memory. And, I've been with them when they've seen both Dr. Johanson and Dr. Wong so far."

"That would indicate to me that you're not avoiding them now." At my nod, "Based on that, I'd expect that the conditioning was either broken with the memory block or it has weakened or deteriorated over time."

"Hmmmm. Maybe that explains my sports. If you recall, I went from being forced to play in third and fourth grades, and playing poorly at that, to being one of the stars in fifth and sixth grades. But, I seem to have quit playing then. And the only sport I continued to have any real interest in was swimming or diving. To this day, if I watch sports, it's platform diving, gymnastics or figure skating and ice dancing. Those are a big difference from what I recall back in fifth grade."

"So you didn't follow baseball or other big sports after then?"

"Not exactly. I made a point of knowing who the big players were, and how the local teams were doing. But, I did that because it was expected mostly, and it gave me things to talk about."

"Interesting. Perhaps there was some conditioning to encourage you to play in sports but from what you describe that broke down faster. Maybe it's just a case of how much conditioning occurred. If you're curious, and it does sound like you are, you might want to talk to Dr. Wong about this and ways for you to determine what kind of conditioning you were subjected to."

"Wow, that's a good idea!"

# - # - # - # - #

That evening

"Well Bill, how does it feel to have your memory intact now?"

"Different Becky. Mostly it's like other distant memories, they're there, but don't come up unless something triggers me thinking about them." She nodded, "There are some differences though."

"Oh?"

"Oh, I don't mean differences in me; at least I don't think so." I looked at her questioningly and at her nod I continued. "I mean some memories are more immediate. A couple times this week, I've thought about something and got vague details. But then that night, dreaming, it's almost like I relive the event and the next morning, I can remember it in vivid detail, even feeling some of the emotions I must have felt at the time."

"That's amazing Bill. Are you still keeping that dream log Dr. Flynn had you keeping?"

"Mostly, I guess I slacked off this week." At her stern look "hey, I got my memories back, do I still need it?"

"Bill, you probably still want to confirm that things happened the way you remember don't you?"

"That's a good point. I'll be a good boy from now on!"

"There you go. Anything else?"

"I'm going to be observing Dr. Wong try to break Karen's memory block Monday morning, sort of like you did for me."

"That's actually probably good for you Bill. It was a real eye opener for me seeing you go through that." I shuddered a bit in memory.

"Watching her find her safe spot this week was an eye opener too. Oh, did I remember to tell you that we all had towers, but our towers were in places that were or could have been near our own safe spots."

"What did Dr. Wong have to say about that?"

"She said she wasn't really sure. But that if we were triplets, it could have been some thing like they seem to do in sharing thoughts and such. But we aren't. She's still doing some checking."

"Okay Bill. Be careful!"

"I will. I hope the PI gets back to us soon. I'd like to know what's going on there."

"You and me both Bill, you and me both."

# - # - # - # - #

Monday morning

"Hello Ms. Stewart, Mr. Wyman."

"Hi Dr. Wong."

"Do either of you have anything we need to go over before we start?"

"Not now, but I've a few questions I'd like to talk about after we get done."

"That's fine Mr. Wyman. Let's head into the room." once we got there "Now, Ms. Stewart, I'm going to hook you up to these vital statistics monitors, so I can keep track of any stress you may be under that isn't showing in your face or body expression. It's just a precaution. With Mr. Wyman there was little need for it, and I don't anticipate it for you either. I just would rather be safe than sorry."

"I understand. Besides it's my head you'll be mucking with."

"Exactly. If I see you undergoing a significant amount of stress, we'll ease up and let you recover and try again or try a different route."

"Thanks Doctor."

Wow, if I went through that wringer, I understand why I was so exhausted. And to think what happened was to find one particular class session where he locked a bunch of previous, instructions I guess is the word, directions he'd given over weeks. And then, to find a trigger to release the key. Wow.

"How are you feeling Ms. Stewart?"

"Like I'd been wrung out and hung up to dry. I don't ever recall feeling so tired."

"Okay, how about we see how we did. Do you recall your graduation day?"

"It was a bit chilly. I recall the wind blowing my gown and skirt when I was trying to give my speech. The clouds were helpful, in that I didn't have to worry about the glare. And, the rain held off until that night!"

"Good. How about Mr. Wyman's fifth birthday party?"

"Hmmmm. That would have been the one where Stacy and I gave Leslie the Bozo the Clown."

"Well, looks like you can remember that as well."

"Oh my yes." she turned to me, "Sorry about calling you Leslie there."

"Don't worry about it Karen, it is actually still my name."

"Now, Mr. Wyman I believe you said you had some questions?"

"Yes, I was thinking about our senior prom, and realized I'd avoided both Karen and Stacy during the dance. But at another point in a drama class, Karen and I did the kitchen scene from 'Death of a Salesman', and we apparently interacted fine there."

"I remember that now!"

I nodded at Karen and continued. "Dr. Flynn said that sounded like very subtle conditioning. Having us avoid each other most of the time, but then able to interact normally when forced into situations where we had to."

"That is interesting Mr. Wyman."

"What I was wondering was whether you thought there were any more surprises like that hiding in my, or our, head."

"Hmmmm. That's a good question. Since you've apparently been continuing to deal with Ms. Stewart and Mrs. Wrangle, it's likely that the conditioning that made that difficult in the past is no longer in effect. And, if that one is gone, it's likely the rest are as well."

"Is there any way to determine this?"

"Let me do a little research and get back to you on that. I have some ideas that might let us determine that."

"Thanks, the idea I might have some hidden compulsion is a little disturbing."

"As it should be." Then to the two of us "Is there anything else?"

To which we responded at the same time "I don't think so." Karen and I looked at each other and laughed at the coincidence. "You know Karen, back in school one of us might have said 'Jinx' and the other would owe a forfeit."

"I don't think that applies any more Bill. The kids are saying different things these days. A few years ago it was 'psyche'."

"I didn't think it applied, just our answering the doc together somehow reminded me of what kids used to do in that situation."

"Okay Bill. I can't wait to tell Stacy how well this worked."

"Shall we both meet her at the Hospital?"

"I was thinking that. She's got to be nervous, and it helped me that the two of you were there when I started. I hope my hole heals as fast as yours did. I keep hitting the bandage when I brush my hair."

# - # - # - # - #

That afternoon

"Hi Stacy, surprise!" I said, as I saw her walking into the lobby.

"Bill, what are you doing here? Nothing wrong I hope?"

"Nope, just making sure you get settled fine. Ah, there's Karen."

"Sorry guys. Got stuck in traffic."

"Karen, don't tell me you're here just to get me settled too."

"Well, of course. We couldn't let our sister do it all alone, could we?"

"Sister?"

"Oh, sorry. Something I remembered over lunch from when we were kids together."

"All right then. Sounds nice, but you two didn't have to do this. I'm a grown up now you know."

"Of course you are. I just remembered how much I appreciated you and Bill being there when I went down, and we thought we'd continue the favor."

"Okay then. But you two do NOT show up this evening too! I'll see you at lunch tomorrow!"

"To hear is to obey." I said with a flourish, really hamming it up. They both laughed a bit at that.

"Oh Bill, it's nice to see you haven't lost your gift of improv and the absurd."

"I'm honored at your gracious compliment of my modest abilities." I continued the gag a little longer.

"This is too much." Stacy said laughing. "I'll be fine, you two run along now. But thanks. This really lightened things up form me. I guess I was feeling a bit morbid."

"No problem Stacy, it's the least we could do, right Bill?"

"Of course. We'll see you at lunch tomorrow Stacy."

With that, she finished checking in and Karen and I headed out. "Sisters huh, I'd forgotten that until you mentioned it Karen."

"Yea, it's strange how things trigger memories now, when a week ago, nothing would have happened."

"I guess we'd better get used to it. Do you think Stacy'll go through the wringer too?"

"Eventually, she's the one that came up with the ways we avoided his directions so many times you know. I think it bothered Stacy more than it did us somehow."

I nodded at Karen's response. "Yea, she realized he was evil before we did, that's for sure."

# - # - # - # - #

Tuesday noon

"Hi Stacy, I see you're sporting the latest in skin decorations."

"Bill, what ever do you mean?" She looked at me quizzically and I pointed at the back of my neck and she got it.

"Well, of course, now that you mention it. Quite a trend you started you know. I just hope mine heals as fast as yours did. I told them at work I was having a cyst removed."

"What a good idea. Somehow, I don't thing general discussion of what happened to us way back then is the best idea."

"That was my thought as well Bill. Karen was coming wasn't she?"

"Yea, but she's almost always a little late, except where her music and theatre are concerned."

Stacy looked at me. "Another memory?"

"Um. Yea. Ahh, here she comes now."

"Hi Karen, nice of you to join us."

"Bill, I'm not that late, what two minutes. You two are just always early!"

"I take it the memory breakthrough really worked yesterday Karen."

"Oops. Yea it did Stacy. It was a LOT of work. I felt like I'd been pulled through a wringer when that session was over. But, I think it was worth it."

"Shall we go in ladies?"

"Yes, that hospital breakfast was not great, and it was a long time ago."

With that, we went in.

"Back again Sir, ladies?"

"Yes George is it." At his nod, "I think this is..."

"...becoming a regular thing." continued Karen.

He looked at us. "Do you d that often?"

We looked bemused. "Do what?" I said.

"Never mind. Do you want the same table this week? I believe it's available."

"Sure."

"So, how was your capsule Stacy?"

"The doc said it was in about the same condition yours was Karen. I'm hoping that is a good sign for recovery. Now, tell me some more about what you went through yesterday."

Karen went over what she recalled from the session and I provided my perspective. Somewhere in there, we ate as well. The conversation was so fascinating; I don't recall what it was.

"So Stacy, what do you think?"

"Will you get your memory block removed?

"I know it's a lot of work, but..."

"...it's worth the effort! You'll find yourself..."

"... remembering things at the strangest time."

"Would you two stop that?"

At the same time, we said "huh" and then looked at each other and back at Stacy.

"What were we doing?"

"Bill, you were finishing each other's sentences."

"We were?"

"You're right," Karen said. "We were Bill. That's creepy!"

I nodded. "It is a bit." I acknowledged. "But Stacy that doesn't change the question; do you think you'll go through the wringer too?"

"Right now, I'm leaning that way. How about I give you a call later in the week if I decide to go through with it."

"Okay."

"Next week, same time?"

"Sounds good to me. How about you Stacy?"

"Well, if you quit finishing each other's sentences! No, of course I'll be here. See you then!"

---

To Be Continued… Will Stacy go through with it? Will the PIs report come in soon? Are there any other hidden compulsions? Are we uncovering more questions every time we get a few answered? I think it is a train.
 
Author’s Note: Thanks for all of your comments! They really help me, and encourage me to keep going on this story.