Ganzfeld: A Narrative Fiction

Flinging open her eyes, Aradia realised she’d returned from the Ganzfeld. The shock that ran down her spine involuntary made her back snap into a straightened position. She heard the clattering of dishes and the familiar smell of bleach. Surveying her cell with shifty eyes, she discovered the plump nurse mopping the floor.
Turning her head away in disgust, Aradia diverted her face to the wall, hurt by the betrayal. The tears welled up in the corner of her eyes. She thrust her head back towards the nurse.
“Why?” She asked through floods of tears. “Why did you send me to the Ganzfeld?”
The nurse looked at her with compassion, her own eyes close to tears.
“I’m sorry Aradia, believe me, I am.” The nurse sat on the corner of the bed. “You don’t understand now why I did that, but one day you will.”
“Make me understand now.” Aradia stated,
too frail to shout, but she still held determination in her weakened voice.
For a moment, the nurse was silent. Her eyes regarding Aradia as she composed the right words.
“I cannot tell you much. Not now. I understand how you’re feeling, but you need to keep focused. Your dreams mean something, but you aren’t using your talent properly.”
Aradia wiped away her tears with the back of one her hands.
“How do you know about my dreams?” She demanded.
The nurse tightened her lips with seriousness, eyeing Aradia up and down.
“Let’s just say you aren’t the only one who has these dreams.” She spoke in almost a whisper.
Enlightened at these words she received the confirmation she’d hoped for. She wasn’t alone.
“Who?”
The nurse looked down to her feet and continued to speak in a whisper.
“Right now it’s not important, Aradia, but you need to focus on your dreams. You need to use the gifts you were given and you’ll find the answers.”
“It still doesn’t explain why you agreed to send me back for the experiment.” Aradia was sharp, still infuriated at such treachery towards her.
The nurse shook her head.
“No, it doesn’t make sense but embrace what you have.” She stood up and grabbed her mop from her trolley. “I’ve left you your food and liquids.”
Aradia looked down at the tray on the floor.
“You haven’t left me my meds.”
The nurse stopped from her duty of cleaning the cell floor.
“You don’t need them tonight. Tell the Doctor tomorrow it’s because I gave you that shot before the treatment.”
Aradia nodded her head. The nurse gave a final look around, making sure the cell was clean.
“Goodbye, Aradia.” She smiled as she unlocked the door.
“Wait, this person you say has these dreams…Is it you?”
The nurse smiled at her.
“Goodbye, Aradia.” “Your name. I have known you for years and I don’t know your name.” Aradia had wondered since their first words were exchanged, but only now seemed the appropriate time to ask.
“It’s Tatiana.”
She gave Aradia one final warm glance before leaving her cell, securing the door behind her.
Reclining back on her bed, she replayed the conversation with the nurse in her head. Who else was having these dreams? Could there even be more than one?
She believed the nurse despite the incident with the Ganzfeld. Aradia had always felt a warmness towards her, drawing her to the nurse. She thought she should trust her intuition. She had nothing to lose in believing.
The nurse said she needed to focus and she intended to take up her advice. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her last dream. Blocking everything out, she found this eased her mind into a state that vividly recalled her vision. ~

White tiles covered the room from floor to ceiling.
An unconscious man strapped to a chair and men with lab coats lurked over him.
A metal device was locked on the man’s face, forcing open his jaw. One of the Doctors wearing a lab coat possessed a drill. Leaning over the unconscious man’s mouth he made a hole in one of his teeth. The high pitch sound of the drill on the tooth vibrated in Aradia’s head.
Stepping back the Doctor put out one of his hands and another Doctor placed in his palm a pair of surgical tweezers. He wedged what appeared to be a small chip inside the canal he’d made in the lifeless man’s tooth.
“This should do the trick.” Aradia recognised the Doctor was speaking Korean.
“You need to be absolutely sure about this. We can’t take risks with this one. He’s very strong and is key to our development.” Replied another man, appearing almost too young to be a Doctor.
The dentistry physician nodded.
“This is state of the art, produces its own electromagnetic field and activated by the equipment in the cells. There’s no way he can override this.”
The young Doctor had a stern expression. “As long as you’re
sure.”
The dentistry Doctor slapped the unconscious man on the arm.
“He’s good to go. He should come around in about half hour. Because of the drugs we gave him he won’t remember a thing. The chips are embedded deep inside the two bottom molars. It’s impossible for them to fall out. Just make sure, the guards are careful with his face, okay?”
Jumping out of her bed, Aradia was disturbed by the images she had just witnessed, puzzled that all her dreams were in Korean and that she could understand every word. If asked, even if her life depended on it, she knew she wouldn’t be able to utter a word in the Asian language, but yet she was able to comprehend every conversation. Both her dreams had to be linked. Even though faces were blurred they were both Korean and were both such vile forms of torture.
Aradia rested her head on her hard pillow. Closing her eyes, she retrieved her dreams, straining to see the faces of the people she’d seen.
Her subconscious whispered the importance of identifying them. Knowing she had a long night in front of her before dragged to the psychiatrist’s office, Aradia decided to exploit the time to her advantage.