Electric Dreams (second Draft)

by Yotna El'toub

As Jeff worked on into the early evening he occasionally glanced at the windows in the lab. This time they were all darkened panes, Jeff glanced at his watch 7 pm autumn was really starting to bite. The oscilloscope beside him flickered as he made some fine adjustments to the potentiometer on the breadboard. The sinusoidal pulse flickered and morphed into a squarer form, that started to resemble the nerve impulses he had observed in the animal studies. Jeff inverted the signal, it looked the precise inverse of the pain impulses; carefully he tuned the frequency to match - it was time for a test subject.

He sauntered over to the bank of cages and extracted the closest rabbit tenderly he stroked it. Gently he rested the rabbit in the test jig and secured it. Jeff picked up a blunt glass rod and touched it against the creature’s front left paw. The response was as anticipated the rabbit first twitched its paw, and then attempted to move it away from the stimulus. Two bare areas of shaved skin were visible on the rabbits neck Jeff secured an electrode on each. Jeff briefly confirmed that the rabbit was comfortable and reacted to the rod as it did earlier all was prepared.

Jeff sighed as he threw the switch on the wave generator; this had to be the last run today, Sara would kill him if he was late tonight. Unconsciously Jeff grimaced at the thought of an evening with Frank and Ellie, not that Ellie was a problem, but Frank now that was a different matter! Still it couldn't be avoided, not this time Ellie had told Sara she had something important to announce, why she couldn't just tell her sister confused Jeff, but then that was the girls for you.

Jeff picked up the glass rod and repeated the earlier procedure. There was no telltale twitch, the rabbit continued to sniff the air and survey the lab. Jeff applied more force this time pressing into the sensitive plump pad. Still nothing, Jeff was a little taken aback the rabbit should find this uncomfortable. Jeff replaced the glass rod with a surgical pin, it slid easily into the rabbits flesh, he let go and stood mouth agape as the bunny ignored the pain totally. There must be a precise waveform match the pain impulse and the wave generator was canceling each other, result total loss of sensation! 

Jeff reached over and switched off the wave generator, the effect was startling immediately the rabbit shook its left paw and attempted to move it away from the pin. The rabbits eyes widened, it sure felt the buried metal now. Jeff switched the generator back on and calmed the animal before removing the offending pin. Jeff cleaned the paw tenderly with a surgical wipe before returning the rabbit to its cage with a fresh supply of food.

Jeff returned to his desk and dutifully noted his observations in his notebook. Relaxing he threw his pen down on the desk, it bounced and flew to the floor before rolling far under the desk. Jeff crouched down and retrieved the pen, straightening up a little too quickly he smashed his head on the desk. Shit! That hurt, Jeff vigorously rubbed the back of his head. It was then that the idea collided with him, he could test the waveform on himself, I mean bunnies fine - but would it work on a human?

He booted up his PC and logged in, the program started and Jeff connected the RS 232 cable. First he made a digital construct of the waveform, once this was complete he superimposed a human nerve impulse and combined the characteristics. He switched the software to output mode and the wave generator displayed a perfect replica of the altered waveform on the oscilloscope. He walked over to the sink and rolled up the sleeve of his lab coat, thick dark hair fell into the sink as he shaved two patches on his arm. He sat down and applied the electrodes, his muscles twitched slightly as the impulses surged through his skin.

Jeff picked up a clean surgical pin in his right hand and went to plunge it in his left palm. He stopped short, this was actually quite hard to do, and it went against common sense. Jeff gritted his teeth and thrust the sharp tip firmly into the skin. He felt absolutely nothing the pin stood vertically quivering in his palm, but there was no pain! Flushed with success he plunged the pin repeated ly in and out of his palm, nothing, well nothing other than a series of tiny bloody dots. Jeff reached over to flick the pin in the sharps bin, clumsy to the last he sent a breaker crashing to the floor.

"Shit" He cursed.

Jeff reached down and instinctively cleared up the splinters of glass. As he brushed the last of the splinters into the bin he noticed the trail of crimson on the bench. He had cut himself without realising it. Jeff glanced at his hands to check them for scratches. Sticking out of the thumb joint of his left hand was a large shard of glass, blood streamed over its clear surface. That was quite nasty, he felt a little sick, but again no pain, in fact no sensation at all from his injured thumb. Diligently he plucked out the sliver and dropped it into the sharps bin. He turned to his notebook to record his observations. This pulled the electrodes a little to far, and one popped off his arm. The pain hit him hard, his head swam and the nausea returned. Jeff struggled to hold down his lunch.

Once the dressing was in place and the wound no longer visible Jeff cheered up. In fact as he bound his hand he started to whistle. Cut or no cut this had been a good day, the waveform certainly worked on humans! The total loss of sensation was a drawback, but surely just a matter of some refinement. He finally had something to show the Professor.
Still whistling he switched of the lab lights and locked the door. Before long he was sweeping through the quiet streets of Oxford cycling back to Cowley.

His mood dimmed slightly when he saw Frank’s car carelessly dumped on the kerb outside his dark blue front door. Jeff glanced at his watch once again 9:15 he was in trouble. Sara glanced meaningfully at him as he entered the hall.

"Sorry love, but I've done it!" Jeff started to explain.

"Yes, you have! I wanted you back early for a reason Frank and Ellie have news. She's pregnant" Sara tone was cutting.

"That's really great, how far gone is she?" Jeff asked enthusiastically.

"Why don't you ask her yourself noe you're finally here. Dinners ruined you know" Sara commented as she returned to the kitchen.

As Jeff stripped off his coat he felt genuinely pleased for Ellie, she was a nice girl. Pity the kid had to have Frank as a dad though!