This story is based on the prompts: Scientist - Conversation - Under/On Water - Alternate Dimension - Mental Illness
Span 43 O.E.A. (Of Echelon Age) / Year 2118 B.E.C. (By Earth Calculation)
Echelon Headquarters, People’s Republic of Terra
Greg stood at the computer console, staring at the naked body lying next to a vat of yellowish liquid in front of him. This last year, her mind had been slowly deteriorating. His thoughts drifted back.
***
“Dr. Provenza, what are you going to do to help Diana?“ Greg burst through the door of the lab.
Dr. Provenza nearly dropped the monitoring equipment he held. He settled it on the table and sighed. “Her conscious mind can’t handle entering the Interval the way you’ve been working her. She’s losing her grip on reality. The psychosis will only get worse. I’ve got her sedated, for now.”
“But what are you doing to fix it? She can feel ripples better than any other operative we have. She can pinpoint them to the day and across the years. Most of our other operatives are lucky to gauge the month or even the year. We need her.” Greg’s feet attacked the floor with each step.
“I’m well aware, Commander Malek.” Dr. Provenza moved toward Greg but stopped at his glare. “Most operatives feel the Interval and any changes to it. Some of the stronger operatives enter it slightly with their mind. Her brain exists in the Interval, more than in normal space-time. If she were to live a normal life, as a normal woman, she might be able to learn to ignore or quiet the feeling. But you have her focusing on the Interval daily.”
“We need her to enter the data from what she feels in the Interval into E-11. It’s the only way we can track movement across time.”
“I’m telling you if you keep up this treatment, within the year you will lose Diana regardless.”
“Uh-hmm.” A small man sitting at a computer console in the corner of the lab cleared his throat.
“Yes, Nishal.” Dr. Provenza sighed but didn’t look at the man.
“I’m working on a concept for a new computer. One more powerful than E-11 that will integrate with the operatives to take information directly from their minds.” Nishal’s voice was quiet but confident. He seemed oblivious to Dr. Provenza. “We can install a port at the base of the skull where the operative can plug into the new computer. It’s really quite beautiful. And much more efficient.”
Greg touched the back of his neck. For the first time since he joined the Echelon, he was grateful that he was not an operative. No way would he have a plug installed in his head. “Will that keep Diana from going crazy?”
“No. It would probably make it worse.” Dr. Provenza gave Nishal a superior look.
“No. No. It wouldn’t stop the psychosis. But if she were always plugged in... if she could stay in the Interval... that might work.” Nishal took off his glasses and stared at the far wall.
“That’s impossible. There’s no way she could stay plugged in all the time.” Dr. Provenza’s eyes widened and he frowned deeply.
Nishal went on as if Dr. Provenza hadn’t spoken. “We could put her in some sort of stasis. Maintain the functioning of her brain… Keep her body alive.” He returned the glasses to the bridge of his nose and touched the console in front of him. He mumbled something under his breath, completely lost in thought.
“Commander Malek, you can’t do that.” Dr. Provenza dabbed a handkerchief at the sweat on his upper lip.
“You said yourself doctor, we’re going to lose her one way or another. She agreed to this the day she swore her oath.” Greg couldn’t believe the words coming out of his mouth. But she was going mad. If this worked, at least she could still be of some use to the Echelon.
***
Greg looked at Diana’s naked, sedated body lying on the table next to the vat. She didn’t understand what was happening today, but after today it wouldn’t matter. The computer was ready. After today, she wouldn’t exist as Diana. She would be E-12.
She already had the computer ports surgically installed. Now, Dr. Provenza was overseeing the attachment of the tubes and the wires that would monitor how her body was functioning. The liquid itself would keep her body in suspended animation, outside of time, partially in the Interval. As he watched, she was lifted up and slipped carefully into the vat. Her body convulsed as she inhaled the liquid, but slowly she quieted. The beeping of the heart monitor fell into a steady rhythm.
Greg looked up at Dr. Provenza. Dr. Provenza nodded and closed his eyes.