Prodigy (Complete)

Chapter Twenty

The news did not hit Alex that hard as it simply confirmed what she had already suspected. The photos in the box clearly showed a young Maxim Morrison before he was the Leader with a younger version of her mother. Alex had only a few seconds to glance at the photos, but that was all the time she needed. With her photographic memory, she could recall all the vivid details in the photos down to every wrinkle of skin and fold of fabric. From what Alex had seen, the young couple appeared to be in love.

"If only there was a way to restore my memories," Mara lamented, "then we would know so much more. Who knows what else he has deleted."

"Fortunately, nothing is truly deleted," Alex said. "There's always a backup memory stored deep in your subconscious. Even after a level-two deprogramming, it still does not reach your subconscious."

"Is there a way to retrieve them?"

"Yes, in theory."

"In theory?" I hate theories. What about in reality?"

"There are proven methods to access a person's subconscious."

"Like hypnosis?" Mara asked.

"Hypnosis is one method, but it's a little outdated. I'm thinking more like a dream recorder."

"A dream recorder? They have those?"

"They? No, but I built a rudimentary prototype a few years ago. I abandoned it due to competing interests occupying my time and I always meant to go back to it, but never did. It has all kinds of practical applications from psychoanalysis to entertainment. It works by scanning your brain activity during REM sleep. In theory – excuse me, in reality – those firing synapses are converted into digital data that a computer can reproduce on a monitor. In effect, you could recreate a person's thoughts with vivid clarity, including colour and sound."

"Does it work?"

"Well, I haven't actually been able to reproduce what's in someone's head onto a monitor, but I have made strides in that direction."

"What do you need to get this device to work?" Mara asked. "Maybe I can get some equipment."

"Let me give it some thought," Alex replied. "If we could hook you up to the dream recorder and have you dream about your past, there's a chance your repressed memories will resurface in your dream. Then we'll have a digital copy we can analyze."

"Is it safe?"

"There's a one-in-three chance it'll completely cook your brain."

"What?"

"I'm joking, it's perfectly safe."

"Have you used it before?"

"Oh sure, I mean, I designed and developed it. I wouldn't have allowed it to be unsafe."

"Do I have to be dreaming? Can't you just have it read my mind?" Mara asked.

"Sorry, it can't read your mind, but it can record your thoughts. The trick is to have those thoughts projected on a monitor. I haven't figured that part out yet."

"So we can get the data, we just can't view it?"

"Exactly."

"Couldn't you just upload the data back into my brain while I'm conscious and have my dream displayed in my head?"

"It's not that easy, but..."

"What is it?"

"You just gave me an idea. Often when you try to reload data back into a person's brain where the dream originated, the brain gets confused and mixes the dream data with your other thoughts. In other words, it contaminates the data and you wouldn't be able to decipher fact from fiction. However, my brain doesn't work like yours. Obviously, there's no practical application to have everyone's dream uploaded into my brain so I never thought about it before; however, in this particular instance that just may work."

"That's great!"

"It's just a theory though, I haven't actually done it before."

"Can it be done?"

"I don't see why not."

"I love your confidence."

"I guess it's one of the perks of living at the Facility – you get to chase any whimsy and explore any idea. If you have the knowledge and the passion, one is bound only by their own creative limits."

"I guess it's a good way to compensate for the deficit in the student's lives and make them forget about their family."

"I wouldn't say that. They're not trying to make us forget anything. In fact, they have the technology to erase certain memories that cause us pain, but never once have they suggested we use it to forget about our families."

"Yeah, because you were taken away when you were so young, you don't have any memories of your family."

"True, but not everyone who's in the Facility shares the same past as I do. The government provides extensive funding to ensure we have everything we need to develop into respectable members of society, what's wrong with that?"

"Nothing. It sounds like they provided you a life I could never have given you," Mara said with a sombre tone.

"Don't say that. I'd much rather have my mum," Alex said trying to comfort her. "No amount of technology can replace that. Besides, even with all those resources, look where I ended up."

"I guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree."

"You don't really mean that," Alex said as she pulled her mum in for a hug. Mara cleared her throat before changing the subject so she would not completely lose control of her emotions.

"So this dream recorder thing, where is it?"

"It's probably in a box somewhere at the Facility, collecting dust."

"Too bad we're stuck here in prison," Mara said.

"Well, neither one of us has been convicted yet, so in theory we could post bail until our trial dates."

"You know how I feel about theories."

"I'm being serious. Once we're on the outside, we'll have access to the equipment we need."

"How much is your bail?" Mara asked.

"One-thousand units. How about you?"

"Five-thousand units."

"Okay, so all we need is someone on the outside to post bail for us and then we can get started. Do you know anyone willing to do that?"

"Possibly, I'll make some calls."