HAWK

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: TRAUMA (2/6)

Memory implant consoles had many uses, but their primary function was to isolate and modify memories.

Type-one consoles were common in hospitals where they were used to treat mental illnesses, and though they were relatively basic, they were still highly impressive pieces of equipment. In layman's terms, they could target selective memories and turn them off like a light switch, stifling addiction, depression, anxiety and just about every other problem confined to the mind.

Type-two's were much more advanced. Instead of switching off memories, they could also switch them on. Not real memories, of course, but implants - usually very basic. Those were the kind used by the military for advanced combat training and mental conditioning. Soldiers could have muscle memory and fight styles essentially downloaded onto them. But even in the military, MI consoles were still highly restrained. Messing with the mind was never straightforward, and it always needed to be done with extreme care and under very tight control.

Then there were type-three's. They were the most advanced kind of MI console since they were entirely unrestrained. With a type-three, you could switch memories off and on without limitation and completely change a person's personality. But doing so was extremely risky. If something went wrong (as it often did), the person being modified could end up having their entire memory wiped, right down to basic language and motor skills. They'd be returned to their baby days and become little more than living dolls. Total reset.

Because of this, type-three's were illegal just about everywhere in Primi. Almost everywhere. MI consoles were exactly what the convents used to train children on Celadus. Worm would have spent hundreds, if not thousands of hours inside one of those machines while just about every spaceship design and applicable technical skill were downloaded onto her brain. The reason convents used children was so that if a mistake occurred and the kid was 'dollied', it wasn't seen as such a big loss as if it had happened to an adult. But even on Celadus, type-threeing an adult was unheard of.

Suddenly, Kas's restraints felt an awful lot tighter.

'So you're going to wipe my memory,' she said.

'Yes and no,' Swanne replied. 'You're still going to be Kas Balera, but you're going to think you've lived a very different life by the time I'm done with you. In fact, if all goes to plan, you will be one of my proudest recruits.'

'I'd rather die.'

'I know. But that would be such a waste.'

'And if you turn me into a doll? What will you do with me then?'

'There's little chance of that. You see, I have discovered there's a trick to successfully modifying adults.' Swanne raised a hand and tapped on the nitroglass as she talked. 'Did you know PTSD victims are far more likely to respond positively to memory implants than those with no signs of trauma? It's all to do with how the brain reacts to stress.'

Swanne finished tapping as a black-and-white image of a live brain appeared on the glass. In the centre was a slim yellow shape that looked like a seahorse.

'This is your brain at this very moment. That yellow area is what's called your hippocampus: that's where all your memories are created. But they aren't locked away in just one place; the brain likes to spread them out between billions upon billions of neurons. That way, if part of the brain gets damaged, the memories aren't taken with it.

'Unfortunately, that makes it extremely difficult when it comes to remapping, as we are about to do. The brain puts up a fight when anything tries to mess with it, even if you're unconscious. Fortunately, there's a simple way to sedate it.' Swanne tapped on the nitroglass again and the brain disappeared, replaced by an animated wavy line that looked like low rolling hills.

'These are normal brain waves - the kind I would expect to see in someone who is relaxed. They are not yours.' Swanne tapped again on the glass and the low hills squashed together and sharpened to jagged peaks, like a row of sharp teeth. 'These are yours. You see, exposing subjects to traumatic events just prior to modification affects the brain in such a way that it starts to shut down its defences, dramatically increasing the chances of a successful procedure. In other words, by causing you a lot of stress, I can start to mess with your mind.

'Everything I have done to you since you arrived here has been for this very purpose. Dehydration has caused your brain to shrink, a process accelerated by cold temperatures. Absence of light and sound has stimulated your mind and cracked the door open, so to speak. Even this very conversation is working to erode the last few barriers your mind still has left. It's really all quite marvellous, isn't it?'

Kas didn't know how she was supposed to respond. She was in no fit state to discuss the weather, let alone how the brain worked. Swanne was talking about the model of Kas's brain like it was a science project, which she supposed it now was. Swanne continued.

'Sadly, as this method requires causing the subject high levels of distress, it is unlikely to be of much use in legal systems. I have experimented with artificial manipulation of brain waves to mimic the effects of trauma, but interestingly, it never works anywhere near as successfully as the real thing. I believe the reason is that there needs to be an emotional reaction as well as physical in order to tap the root memories, but I'm still experimenting.'

Kas tried to shake her head. 'You're insane.'

'Not at all. I'm just doing my job.'

'Was it your job to destroy Selva, too?'

Swanne's face soured. 'As I told you before, I don't know what happened to Selva.'

'Stop lying.'

'What reason do I have to lie? Very soon, you're not even going to remember this conversation.'

'So you're saying it's just a coincidence that I followed the databeam here?'

'Oh no, the databeam came from Eidol, that much I admit.'

Kas blinked as she savoured her first victory. 'Then what was it for?'

'As you correctly hypothesised, it contained a sleeper virus which enabled me to take remote control of any X1 in range of Selva. But I only ever wanted one. The very same one you so kindly brought to me, in fact.'

Swanne paused to watch the realisation creep into Kas's face.

'Hik?'