Part 3 (1/2)
And, incredibly, he remembered: You slid across this floor in your socks. You slid across this floor in your socks.
The leaping horses and racing dogs in the floor led the eye to a grand staircase that swept upward as if to heaven itself, drawing the eye further, this time to a phenomenal trompe l'oeil ceiling that imparted an unforgettable illusion of a vast summer sky.
You lay on the landing and imagined yourself among the birds.
”Where are my patients?”
”The patients are in the patient wing. Study the records first, Doctor, please. Then meet them.”
”Will they know me? Are they also in amnesia?”
”They're in a state of induced psychosis.”
He stopped. ”What did you just say?”
”For security reasons, this place appears to be a clinic for the mentally ill. Most members of the cla.s.s are here as patients, their real selves hidden beneath a combination of amnesia and artificial psychosis. Members of the cla.s.s who are on staff have only the amnesia, and one or two of them, who will guide the others, retain clear memory.”
He turned to her, and on her. ”This is totally unacceptable. Who did such a thing to these people? I can't be a party to it.”
”You can be a party to waking them up, then, and ending the need.”
”This is all insane, the whole thing. Who would ever ever induce mental illness to conceal somebody's-what, their knowledge, their ident.i.ty? Why was it done?” induce mental illness to conceal somebody's-what, their knowledge, their ident.i.ty? Why was it done?”
”The enemies of our mission are incredibly ruthless and they're going to get more so. If they found the cla.s.s, they'd kill every single one of them. And you, David, make no mistake. But beforehand they would tear your mind to pieces with drugs and torture beyond anything you can imagine. And in the end, they would obtain your knowledge, amnesia or not.”
Never in his life had he struck another human being, but he was tempted to now, as he found himself coping with a disturbing impulse to shake the truth out of this old lady.
”Who are these enemies?”
”Presidents, kings, the rich and the famous, not to mention the members of the Seven Families who control the wealth of this planet.”
”I have no idea what you're talking about.”
”The more you remember, the more you'll understand. Come with me. My time is short, and I need to show you your office.” She touched his hand. ”David, you'll regain control of your situation and I know how badly you need control; I wrote your personality profile.”
”Wrote it? Where is it? How could you write it?” it? Where is it? How could you write it?”
”I'm a psychiatrist, David, just like you. I managed the mental health of the cla.s.s.”
”You did this to these people!”
Her eyes sought his, and in them, brown and hazed, he saw that hunted expression again.
”How did you do it? What method did you use?”
As if in shame, she turned away from him, and he knew that whatever she had done had been traumatic for all involved, including her.
Causing amnesia was a matter of hypnosis and drugs, but to make a person psychotic must be a ferocious process.
”How can they be released from this?”
”I'll come back, and I'll release them.”
”When?”
”We're working on a very exact timeline. But I can a.s.sure you that it will be done.”
”Wait a minute. What timeline? I need to know!”
”If somebody who knew that was caught, it would be an incalculable disaster.”
”Caught? Could I be caught caught? By whom? Who are these enemies? Are they here?” He followed her up the staircase. ”d.a.m.n it, I want answers!”
She mounted the stairs with the deliberation of a heart patient, her nostrils dilating as she sucked each careful breath.
”The house itself is lived in by staff and service. The patients are in the back, in the new wing.”
”Answer my questions!”
”Time will answer your questions.”
”Too d.a.m.n late!”
”At exactly the right moment. Now, please focus on this. You'll meet your staff later, then be introduced to the patients. I want to talk to you about your colleague Marian Hunt before you meet her.”
She stopped before an imposing mahogany door.
”Are you ready?” When she smiled, that expression came again.
The office was gigantic.
”I can't work in this. It's ridiculous.”
”Nonsense. You ought to be grateful to be surrounded by all this beauty.”
It was the size of a ballroom, but constructed out of mahogany inlaid with many other woods. A broad bank of windows looked south, another north, and the walls were lined with shelves and shelves of books, all old, all leather bound. An immense Persian rug filled this end of the room, under an equally huge and ornate desk. At the other was a fireplace fronted by a leather couch and wing chairs. In the paneling above the door were two glyphs of Mesoamerican G.o.ds, exquisitely carved, their faces glaring and ferocious.
”Who are they?” he asked.
”What principles do they represent? I haven't the faintest idea.”
”I thought you were an expert on Aztec c.r.a.p.”
”Thank you. Each of us knows only what he needs to know.”
Unlike the downstairs, he had no sense of deja vu about this room. He surveyed the library. Every shelf was filled.
”Is there room for my books?”
She pulled down a row of what turned out to be book backs, revealing some empty shelving.