Strange Memories With You, My Dear

On the appointed day, Kobayashi-san and I went to Tokyo to the hotel where Alan Burley was staying. It was a frigid day, and the air pricked my skin. Christmas was approaching, and the city at night was festooned with a plethora of electric lights and AR ornaments. Our destination hotel was a gigantic building. There were a lot of vehicles coming and going, and there were a lot of foreigners around the entrances and exits.

There were a lot of people in the meeting place’s foyer, but I quickly spotted Mr. Burley. He was seated on one of the couches positioned around the lobby’s center. He was dressed casually in trousers, a white shirt, and a brown jacket, and he was bigger than his online photo portrayed. His broad shoulders and beard were well-defined, and he appeared more like an actor than a doctor/scientist.

I approached him and introduced myself as Yukinari Nakayama, whom I had promised to meet today. He turned to face me, stood up from the couch, smiled, and shook my hand. Kobayashi-san shook hands with Mr. Burley as well, greeting him with a crisp pronunciation. He told her something in fast English. Not being able to understand well, I looked at Kobayashi-san and she quickly translated for me.

“He said he knows Fukuhara-sensei and had received a greeting email from him saying, ‘My students are going to see you, please take care of them’.”

“Shall we talk at that lounge?”

Mr. Burley indicated the lounge at the back of the lobby with his hand. We walked over and sat near the window. With indirect illumination, the hot had a sleek and beautiful atmosphere. I removed my jacket and skimmed the beverage menu. There were wines and beverages with names I couldn’t quite grasp, but they were all a world away from the cafés and bars I typically visit.

Mr. Burley addressed the waiter and ordered a cup of coffee. I instinctively responded in English, “Same one please,” as he led the way, since I was nervous about the unfamiliar atmosphere of the exclusive lounge and my first meeting with Alan Burley, who is reportedly widely renowned in the area of brain science. Kobayashi-san, who had removed her coat and was clothed in a yellow sweater, responded calmly in Japanese, “Hot cocoa,” and giggled slightly when she remarked, “You could have simply used Japanese.” I was embarrassed that she realized that I had been up in the air, but it made me feel a little more relaxed too.

Mr. Burley asked questions about our research for a long while the drinks arrived. When it came to discussing my field of expertise, I was able to communicate in English. The beverages eventually arrived, and the talk got down to business.

“Dr. Fukuhara gave me most of the details of the situation via email, but could you please reiterate the details of what you and your team went through during this time?”

Kobayashi-san so interpreted after Mr. Burley’s words. I no longer pushed myself to speak English, but instead presented the theory of the “Married World” and how information exchange between parallel worlds took place via a D-F quantum computer methodically and step by step. Mr. Burley listened attentively to what I had to say while Kobayashi-san effortlessly translated my words.

We moved on to the subject of Yuuko’s disorientation after a brief discussion of physics. Then, prefacing my hypothesis with “In layman’s words,” I proposed that Yuuko’s brain had received a vast amount of information from a parallel universe via the EP organ, and that something abnormal had occurred.

“What are your thoughts?”

When I asked him about it, he crossed his arms, thought for a while, and then began to talk.

“It’s an interesting phenomenon. I don’t think your opinion is that far off the mark either. What does the doctor examining her say?”

“He said there was no surgical abnormality in the brain and that she was in a deep sleep. The slow-wave sleep and REM sleep accounted for a longer than normal percentage of the sleep cycle, and the hippocampus and surrounding areas were considerably more active during REM sleep.”

I told Mr. Burley what I had heard from Yuuko’s doctor, her mother, and Fukuhara-sensei. In turn, he would ask me questions while I was speaking. The majority of it was technical, and I wasn’t able to respond effectively, but I believe I was able to provide a basic understanding of Yuuko’s present state.

“What precisely do you believe is going on with her?” I asked after I finished telling everything. He nodded and explained his opinions in response to my question.

“During sleep, the brain is believed to organize memories. The hippocampus also acts as a temporary storage site for information, and the information held in the hippocampus is assessed to determine if it is needed or extraneous, and the needed information is stored in the cerebral cortex as long-term memory. The hippocampus may be active during REM sleep because this process of memory consolidation is happening quickly in order to process the huge amount of information that is rapidly supplied to the hippocampus. The reason for unconsciousness is, of course, to rest the brain, which is very busy and working hard, but it is also assumed, based on the length of slow-wave sleep, that the brain is not able to process the large amount of information it receives, and therefore, it blocks further input of external stimuli and information.”

“Is it possible for her to regain consciousness?”

“It’s difficult to say with the information we have presently. She may wake up one day with better information organization, but the fact that she has been sleeping for almost a month is still worrisome. You’ve done the examinations since then, haven’t you?”

“Yes. It’s like they’re continuously monitoring her brain activity.”

Mr. Burley operated his mobile device and began to check something.

“Let me examine her a little. I would also like to hear directly from your supervising professor, Dr. Fukuhara, and her doctor in charge.”

“Is that okay?”

“I will inform my family and employer that my stay in Japan will be extended for a little while.”

Mr. Burley said as he nodded.

I bowed my head and thanked him for the offer, then immediately connected Sensei to the phone and relayed the crux of my chat with Mr. Burley to him. Then Sensei requested if he could speak with the person in question, so I passed the phone over to Mr. Burley. He and Sensei chatted for around 10 minutes. Mr. Burley eventually returned my phone.

“Three days later, he will examine Yuuko. Thank you, Nakayama-kun. Maybe we can figure out something to deal with it.”

I thanked Mr. Burley again and sat down when I hung up the phone. It was around ten o’clock. Mr. Burley offered to pay for our drinks, although we refused.

“Be careful on your way home.” He said as we left the lounge and parted ways in the lobby, Mr. Burley shook hands with both of us.

“Yes. Thank you very much.”

After thanking him again, Kobayashi-san and I exited the hotel and began heading toward the station.

“Thanks for doing the interpretation, Kobayashi-san. It was a great help.”

As we went along the deserted night street, I told her this. I couldn’t have recounted all of those stories on my own. She helped me and was extremely helpful. I knew I had to properly thank her the following time.

“Yes. I mean, you should practice English conversation more if you are going to graduate school too. You seemed to be doing a pretty good job of listening, but your pronunciation is too subtle.”

“I’ll try to keep up.” I said with a laugh.

Then we went into a nearby subway station. We split off here since she and I take different routes. As we parted, Kobayashi told me, “I hope she’ll be saved.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

I responded by waving my hand. I received a chat app message from Yuuko’s mother on the train trip home. I took a look inside.

“Yuuko is sleeping well today with no change in her health. I wonder how long she is going to stay in bed.”

Mr. Burley later paid her a visit at the hospital where Yuuko was being hospitalized. I was unable to attend the discussion with Mr. Burley and the doctors, but I afterwards spoke with Fukuhara-sensei.

According to the story, Mr. Burley went to the hospital where Yuuko was being treated and, along with Fukuhara-sensei, explained the “EP organ hypothesis” and what was happening to the doctor in charge of Yuuko, avoiding the topic of being able to communicate directly with the parallel world during this time, then examined Yuuko and was also shown a number of data accumulated so far by the doctor in charge. That day, he informed them he needed some time to gather his thoughts and returned to his hotel. He returned to the hospital two days later and stated that he might be able to restore consciousness through memory rarefaction.

“Memory rarefaction?”

I had come to see Yuuko, and after Fukuhara-sensei and Mr. Burley completed the discussion with the doctors and described the situation to me and Yuuko’s mother in the common room. I questioned them about it.

“Yes. It is said that nanomachines have been used for some time to help people suffering from severe traumas to diminish their painful memories, a treatment that has been used for serious patients.”

Fukuhara-sensei said.

“Will she ever forget a word?”

“That’s okay. There are several types of memories, but for now, it seems that only episodic memories with strong emotions can be diluted by this treatment. There do not seem to be any cases in the past of treatment that have had a negative impact on memory about language.”

To recap the subsequent conversation, the goal of this treatment was to free up space in her brain, which was now being perforated by a tremendous quantity of information, and to assist her in sorting through her memories, which she was doing in a hurry.

“By what mechanism?”

I asked Mr. Burley a question in English.

“The connections between neurons establish and reinforce memories, and these nanomachines attempt to decrease those connections. It also affects only the portion of the brain that is functioning at the time, rather than the complete brain.”

“Do you need an interpreter?” Sensei said. “No thank you, I understand.” I shook my head and said to Mr. Burley, “Thank you for the explanation.”

“Mrs. Fukuhara. Do you have any questions?”

Mr. Burley questioned the lady sitting beside me with slow enunciation this time. She paused for a moment.

“It’s not like our daughter’s going to forget about us and everything she’s studied? Also, will this treatment cause any adverse effects on her body?”

“No, it doesn’t. It’s possible that she’ll be confused for a while after waking up, but it’s doubtful that her memories would be completely erased. Since this is the first time it has been used on a patient who has been asleep for a long time, I cannot predict what will happen to her personality and memory integrity once she awakens, but at the very least, this treatment is not directly life-threatening.”

Mr. Burley’s response was meant to be this. Sensei told her this in a few words.

Yuuko was noticeably thinner than previously since she had not taken oral nourishment for a month. I wondered what would happen to her if this were to be extended for another month or two.

“What shall we do? I’ve heard that there’s no chance that she’ll wake up without doing anything, so we can only keep looking at this a little longer, but…”

“I would prefer it if Yuuko would wake up soon. Even if she forgets a lot of things, the sooner I can live at home with her, the better.”

Yuuko’s mother quickly chose one of the options that were clearly presented to her.

“I see.”

Sensei nodded at her words, then turned to me and asked.

“What do you think, Nakayama-kun?”

“I… I’m not in a position to comment on such things to her parents.”

“It’s okay. Say what you think.”

For a few seconds, I was deafeningly quiet, thinking long and hard. I considered all of the different possibilities I could envisage, what type of world I wanted to live in, and what choices I would have to make to get there, and then I said,

“I, like her, favor the choice with the highest possibility of waking her up. After all, I’m not sure what will happen if things remain as they are… You can’t take back what you’ve lost after something has happened.”

When I finished, Sensei nodded and said,

“I’m of the same opinion.”

Sensei then had a long talk with their doctor. It was then agreed to give Yuuko that treatment.