A lot of stories could be told about the illustrious Professor Peter Bergman and whilst some of them would probably make you laugh, the one in this awkward little tale that took place two years ago, and is now seeing daylight for the first time, can hardly fit that profile.
Bergman was the classic case of a man ahead of his time, a renowned scholar and brilliant inventor, driven by the insane will of clearing up all of the universe's mysteries through the ways of science. He had been a nerd during high-school as well as through college and couldn't live without studying: the subject of the study itself was unimportant just as long as he could keep his neuronal pathways working faster than the speed of light.
One thing curious about him was that he didn't look like the "scientific type" at all. He was extremely tall and athletic, wore blotted jeans and drove a beautiful metallic green convertible that was the envy of many people. His eyes had never felt the need of hiding themselves behind a pair of thick glasses: at the age of forty-four, they were still sharp as an eagle's, which was something out of ordinary if one considered the fact that a third of his life had been spent reading small printed letters on very large, difficult and utterly boring technical treatises, alongside with compendiums of all sorts.
His latest obsession involved inquiries on the problematic realm of dreams and the brain mechanisms that produced them. The main problem at hand was quite simple: since most brain activity was, in fact, a series of intertwined electric impulses, could it be possible to create a device capable of shaping the very fabric of those impulses, and adjust their frequency in order to control the creation of such vivid imageries? In other words, could it feasible to develop a really functional dream-generating machine, so that everyone, before going to bed, had the opportunity to select the most pleasing scenarios to dream of and live them accordingly, no longer subject to random flows of information that often changed into horrible nightmares?
Bergman truly believed in this possibility and because of that, he had spent the last twenty months of his life building up the prototype of such a piece of equipment. In the process, he came up with a technique of translating words, images, and situations into electric impulses that, once fed into a human brain, were regrouped and recombined to become real dream sequences.
When the machine was finally ready, he called it Dream-Spinner, as a sort of homage to spiders and their ingenious ways of bringing silky webs into existence. With it, he hoped to be able to attain a similar goal in the neurosciences and give birth to a mind-shattering revolution.
Dream-Spinner comprised of three interconnected components, each with a unique part to play in the grand scheme of things. The first was a small keyboard with a backlit LCD, the primary input mechanism. It was connected to a square-silvery box where a series of intricate relays converted the original data into differentiated electric pulses. In turn, these signals came out through a very special set of sensors.
All the subject had to do was to choose the main elements of the desired dream and transmit them to the keyboard, activate the conversion program and then place the sensors on the head when getting ready to sleep. Upon entering the REM state, the personalized impulses would be set in motion, thus making the fantastic dream scenario come alive. In theory, everything worked like a charm but now had come the time to try it for real.
For that purpose, he had invited into his 'laboratory' (a charming name for an old, dusty basement...) a fellow teacher at the MIT that went by the name of Karen Morrow. She was an elegant Afro-American, ten years younger than him that always dressed in light colors and seemed to breathe more Physics and Astronomy than oxygen. She understood nothing of dreams or brainwaves but clearly enjoyed Bergman's company and the unique extravaganzas that came out of his researches. Even before knowing all the details regarding the project, she had already accepted his invitation.
She was now looking at the machine for the first time as he explained to her the principles underlying the components and what was expected to happen. Bergman's enthusiasm was his only, as she obviously thought it would all end up in a redundant failure: an invention that allowed people to choose their dreams had no place in the real world—it could only exist in a dream as well... Still, she smiled a lot, as if she actually believed that experiment of his would be successful in the end.
When the explanation was over, Professor Bergman said with a smile:
"Now, if you'll be so kind to choose the elements of your dream... we can get this started in no time."
Karen raised both her eyebrows at him.
"I thought you were the one who was going to test it first..."
"Someone has to keep an eye on the machine, Karen. Since I'm the one who invented it, it's only natural that I should be the one operating it in case something goes wrong..."
"Did you have to say that? Now, my mind is beginning to imagine all sorts of atrocious things..."
"I was only kidding. I'm pretty sure my device is safe. Besides, you're the one who keeps telling me that all of your dreams are boring and lifeless! This is your chance to try something new. Come on! Trust me on this one like you've done so many times in the past!"
"Okay, but promise me that at the least sign of trouble, you'll pull the plug off the machine!"
"You've got yourself a deal, Miss Morrow."
Karen approached the keyboard as she thought of what fantasy landscape to choose. It had to be something she really liked... something simple, that didn't turn against her to give birth to a disaster of terrifying proportions. The input data was made of two words: walk and moon.
"So, our Physics teacher wants to experience the feeling of walking on the moon, eh? It's a good choice for a preliminary test. Lie down on that silver table over there, if you please..."
She moved onto it silently, waving her lustrous skirt. Bergman pretended not to look at her legs and waited for her to adjust her bodily position so that she would feel comfortable during the whole process. Then, he approached her with a small syringe in his hands.
"What's that for?" she asked a bit bewildered by it all. "You never mentioned needles!"
"Don't worry. It's just a mild drug so that you can sleep more easily. This way we can speed things up if that's okay with you..."
"I really don't like needles, but... bring it on before I repent myself of this idea of being your private guinea-pig!"
"Okay... stretch out your left arm if you don't mind... This won't hurt a thing... all done!"
"Wow, you were right... I didn't even feel the sting!"
"In a few moments, your mind will start to get a little hazy... and you'll see things a little bit distorted. Don't worry about it... just let go and everything will be fine..."
Karen's vision became blurry all of a sudden. The principles of reality were put to the test, as solid objects began melting all around. Her eyes fluttered and she fell asleep.
* * *
Upon waking up, an hour had already passed. Bergman was practically breathing on her neck with a face that was all smiles. It was obvious he wanted to say something, but his eyes anticipated his mouth. The two big blue irises were already asking: "How did it go? Tell me everything!"
It came as a big shock to him when she said:
