Florida Trip

I'm driving, but I cannot find the place I'm trying to get to.

Do you know the name of the place you're looking for?

I'm not sure, it's not my house, I don't even know what the place looks like.

Are you in a city?

Yes, an American city, I can see lots of signs.

Read one of the signs for me.

"Terminal A & B".

Is it maybe an airport?

Yes! An airport! I'm returning a rental, I think I'm on vacation. I'm entering some sort of parking structure, there's someone waving at me.

Like a friend?

No, I think it's one of the guys from the car rental company.

Can you see which company?

No, we're in a bit of a rush, getting out of the car right now.

We? Who else is there with you?

My mother and... my daughter.

"Careful", the up until now silent observer in the room said very softly. "His file says he doesn't have any children and both parents have passed away", small pause, "conflicting accounts between this life and that one can wake them up in a bad way. Let me take over". She motioned him to stand up and sat down next to the patient.

Mark, this is Angela, I need you to close your eyes for a moment and listen to my voice. Can you do that?

Oh, hey, Angela. Sure, I can close my eyes for a second, but I need to pick up my luggage.

That's fine, you're just watching, remember? Floating around like a ghost, that's not really you.

Right, I forgot about that. It feels so real, though.

I know.

"It's ok to remind them that they're not that other person, that they're only watching" Angela said. "I think it worked".

Ok, you can open your eyes again. Tell me what you see.

We're walking through a tunnel, I'm pushing a couple of suitcases. My mom is walking with my... well... can I say my daughter?

Of course, whatever makes you comfortable.

Thanks. We are checking in for a flight now. Priority line, that's nice.

It is. Can you see the name of the airline?

United, I can see the logo. It looks a bit off.

What do you mean?

I don't know. It looks different.

Ok, can you describe that logo it to me?

The letters looks the same, it simply says "United". Then there is a globe inside of a square. That's what looks weird.

Can you describe the globe?

It's inside the square, tilted a little bit, it shows North America and South America. Maybe it looks right.

Yes, maybe it does. Don't worry too much about it.

Alberto showed her an image he pulled from quick search on his phone. The globe on the United logo didn't show any land masses, just a series of crisscrossing lines. He made a quick note on a legal pad. They had been instructed to write down every single detail, no matter how insignificant it appeared to be at first. They could see the logic in that, a logo that was different could provide clues on a corporate merger which in turn helped paint a somewhat clearer picture of the financial realities in a particular reality. That aside, all of them wondered if there was anyone profiting from the insider advantages such information could provide, although they had all been warned about the severe penalties waiting for those who gave in to temptation. Angela continued to lead the session:

Did you get your boarding pass?

Yes, it's being printed out right now.

Great, what flight are you on?

UA 2072.

She glanced quickly at Alberto, who was searching with his phone again. "Orlando to Denver", he said in a whisper.

Can you see the date?

The date? Hold on... August 28, 2021. Wait... 2021?

Close your eyes and take a deep breathe, Mark. We're almost done. How do you feel?

Fine, I guess. It's just... that date.

Remember, it's like a movie. A movie set in the future, how cool is that?

Yeah, I like futuristic movies, Mark said, unconvinced.

His eyes had been closed for almost the entire session, but she knew they were now also closed in his mind as well. it was time to wrap things up.

Good. Open your eyes again, what do you see?

We're sitting down at a food court, inside the airport.

Are you wearing a mask?

No, none of us is.

Angela let out a sigh of relief and, looking at Alberto, mouthed "bingo".

Wait, everyone else is.

Everyone else is what?

Wearing a mask, we're not wearing masks because we're eating but everyone else walking around is.

"Shit.

She stood up and walked out, letting Alberto handle the end of the session. He was already more than qualified for that. Mark would wake up feeling relaxed and rested, the sessions providing a controlled outlet to the sometimes overwhelming effects of neuron entanglement; the fact that the therapy was proving to be increasingly more effective in making the subjects cope with their condition made her feel much better about the data harvesting process. It didn't make it any more ethical, but at least it wasn't doing any damage to the clients.

Subject: 9718315

DOB: March 15th, 1997 (Age 21).

Session #: 174

E-age: 42

Patient reports returning from a family trip to Orlando, Florida. Both patient's mother and infant daughter present in the experience. Session allowed capturing several side facts (see attached notes) as well the following Class-1 droplets:

1. People still wearing masks inside of airport premises, restrictions are relaxed while eating a meal (i.e., not wearing a mask while eating) which suggests slightly relaxed conditions potentially related to positive evolution of the pandemic.

2. Despite the above, it is clear the emergency continues as of August 28th, 2021, already closing on three years for this scenario.

Scenarios was their bureaucratic parlance for the realities being experienced by their patients. In general, each scenario had an assigned number that matched that of the patient reporting it. It was practically impossible to correlate two scenarios with 100% certainty. After all, a single leaf falling from a tree in one of two otherwise identical scenarios made them different.

She quickly typed a few keywords relevant to the session; that step wasn't all that relevant, as the machine learning algorithm would be looking at everything: Audio and video recordings, biometric data, notes from both her and Alberto; it would even run a correlation analysis against every single documented scenario, including potential multiple scenarios from the same patient. Although not everyone was convinced it was possible, there are reports of cases of potential multiple entanglements, that is, patients that were experiencing more than one entangled reality. That was thankfully not Mark's case, otherwise he wouldn't be doing so well.

Right before hitting send on the touchscreen of her government-issued tablet, she realized she had failed to enter what was probably the most relevant keyword. Without even looking at the screen or the keyword, she typed "Covid-18", pressed send and clocked out for the day.