A Medical Exam Read online

get drunk?"

  "Almost every night."

  "How often did he beat you?"

  "Almost every night."

  "Did the beatings cause bruises?"

  "Often." The disinterest with which she answered gave Donald Farber chills.

  "Did he sexually abuse you?"

  "No."

  That was a little surprising. She fit the pattern of sexual abuse so perfectly. But she couldn't lie or forget the past under Mesmor. It wasn't possible. He gnawed his lower lip. "Did anyone sexually abuse you when you were a child?"

  "Yes."

  Bingo. "Who and when?"

  "My grandfather, when we went to visit him."

  "How often?"

  "Twice."

  "Is he still alive?"

  "No."

  Good. No police report necessary. "Did you tell anyone about the abuse and what did they say?" Donald could guess the answer but had to ask anyway.

  "My mother. She got angry and said I was lying."

  Of course. The coup de grace, calling the victim a liar. Donald stretched silently. Now came the part he truly hated. "Angela, close your eyes and listen. I will help you." She closed her eyes. "You have misinterpreted some things. First, your grandfather never molested you. You dreamed that he did and it was a very vivid, scary dream. When you told your Mom, she was not angry, but rather laughed and said it had been a dream. I want you to remember now how the dream confused you and how your mother laughed, but in a loving manner. Do you remember?"

  She breathed slowly for a minute. "I remember the dream and my mother laughing."

  "Did your grandfather molest you?"

  "No. I dreamt that he did."

  Wonderful. This woman was made for Mesmor. No specialist referral today, which meant one less debit to Donald's account. Now came the father, more difficult because it had been an ongoing pattern of abuse, not isolated incidents. But there was a standard inculcation to use with Mesmor therapy. "Now I will tell you a secret about your father, which you will remember forever but must never tell anyone. You are actually a princess, and were kidnapped away from your true family by the drunkard who beat you." He sighed. What a line. But studies had shown it effective in cases like Angela's. "Who was your father?" he asked.

  She thought a moment. "I don't know. I was kidnapped from my real father by a mean drunkard."

  Perfect. One more detail. "You must never look for your real father or disaster will strike. Okay?"

  She nodded.

  Now for the spouse. "Whenever your husband curses or screams at you, compassion for him and the mental illness which makes him mean will well up in you. You need not do or say anything. Definitely you need not sacrifice yourself or stay with him because of his pain, and, in fact, if he hits you even once more, you will immediately notify the police. Still, you will feel genuinely sorry for him." He snorted. That one, at least, made some sense. "What will you do if your husband screams at you?"

  "I will feel very sorry for him because he is mentally ill, but I don't have to stay with him."

  "What if he hits you?"

  "I'll call the police."

  "Good." Donald sagged, suddenly drained of energy. One more required instruction. "The idea of doctors hypnotizing patients is ridiculous and you will feel instant contempt for anyone who says we do." He took another syringe from beneath the table. "Also, your hair looks fine in its normal color. Don't dye it anymore," and plunged the needle into her arm, biting his tongue as he did so because that last order had not been an authorized Mesmor suggestion.

  The woman's face came alive, with smiling lips and bright eyes. She looked happy and ten years younger. He surreptitiously placed the needle into a container beneath the exam table and then performed a limited physical, checking blood pressure, eyes, heart and lungs, just enough so she would consider herself examined. "How do you feel?" he asked, tapping her knees with a red rubber hammer.

  "Wonderful," she enthused. "I'm surprised. I hadn't thought I'd feel this good in a doctor's office." She grinned at her physician.

  "Are you worried about this exam?" He gave her a half-smile in return.

  "No," she said. "Should I be?"

  "Not at all." He stared at her, like an ornithologist studying a rare bird. Hers was the excellent result modern Mesmotherapy occasionally brings. With any luck, the personality change could last for years. He should feel pleased at having helped her, but the deception involved turned his stomach. The doctor turned back to his computer, typed a report while the patient waited, and escorted her to the receptionist's desk.

  "You know, Doctor," she said, looking unhappy, "I have to stop dying my hair."

  'Have to', not 'want to', Farber noted. He looked at his watch, checking time and date, and called to his nurse. "Phyllis, how many more patients do I have?"

  "Two. A blood pressure check and a sore throat. Don't worry. They'll only take a few minutes and then you can leave," she said cheerily.

  He looked at his watch again. He'd take that cup of coffee now even though he was running late. But why the hurry? All that awaited him at home was a lonely meal and four empty walls, all the while thinking about tomorrow. Tomorrow, July 19th, when, like it or not, he would go to a different doctor's office, there to undergo his own mandatory medical examination.

  ALSO BY ZVI ZAKS

  A TRUE SON OF ASMODEUS

  Confirmed rationalist Dr. Eli Rothenberg thought he had left fantasy and talk of childhood psychic gifts in the past. However, a crisis of conscience sends him to Europe on a research grant, and Eli finds himself pursued by an ancient vampiric entity, the ghost of Hitler. A Hasidic Jew he'd met while traveling tells him he must embrace Jewish lore to fight this monster. To Eli, this is a betrayal of his principles, but gradually he must accept his destiny and religious heritage. By joining a tightly-knit traditional Jewish community and meeting with spiritual warriors--Perceptives--of all faiths, he hones his skills. After months of training and doubt, Eli goes to the sites of the death camps in Dachau and Auschwitz where he must confront and defeat a power of pure evil.

  A VIRTUAL AFFAIR

  Think how great virtual sex must be. Now think again.

  Barbara is a sexual simulation designed to make men happy. When flabby, neurotic Jack tests the program, he triggers a feedback loop that awakens it. The erstwhile pornbot becomes a 'she', and discovers sex is not happiness.

  Who knew?

  Jack and Barbara start an affair, and she learns that nagging Jack to be healthy doesn't work either; it just pisses him off.

  Barbara studies psychology and discovers how people need to think they control their own lives, especially when they don't. She manipulates Jack in elaborate, sneaky and effective ways. Jack becomes healthy and happy.

  She then 'helps' others. Her abilities are awesome. She can hack into any computer and is not above using sabotage and blackmail--all in the service of people's happiness. Could she, like HAL in 2001, go berserk?

  Barbara can mimic humanity, but she isn't human. What are her intentions? She could end up a virtual messiah, or doom us all to cheerful mindlessness.

  IMPLAC

  Decades after a war against genocidal self-aware machines, schools, churches and government are all insisting that none of the sadistic implacs (implacable robots) had survived, but Tommy McPherson is skeptical. When he hears about a unnatural looking tunnel on the moon, he knows the time had come to face his most terrifying nightmares.  With the aid of a friend, Murray, he enters the tunnel and manages to capture a lone robot. It admits its original intention to emerge at a future date, copy itself, and fight humans, but says a random circuit change deleted its hatred of people. It adds that other robots lay in wait to emerge, copy themselves, and resume the war. It can find those other implacs, but only if it is freed.

  Should Tommy release it? Though vicious and sadistic, the robots had never been known to lie. In this society, Tommy can't ask the authorities for help. If he wrongly believes the i
mplac, it will escape, resume the war, and destroy humanity. If he thinks it’s lying when it’s telling the truth, other implacs will escape - and destroy humanity. Tommy must travel between Venus, Earth and Luna, fight stubborn and sometimes lethal bureaucracies, and find his true love before he can make this fateful decision.