Chapter 19

"Well, you're not alone there. Nobody does. We know what happens, but we've no idea how it happens or how to stop it happening.

The brain develops fibrous material and this appears to prevent the electrical messages getting through which are the basis of thought and memory. We have no idea." He stopped and corrected himself. "We had no idea whether the memories were destroyed or whether they were simply irretrievable. And it was irrelevant, anyway, since they were, to all intents and purposes, lost forever."

"Like the information on a crashed computer?" Tilly suggested.

"Exactly. But, you know, in many ways the human brain resembles a computer. Much more complex, obviously, but you can make comparisons."

He waved his hands about to emphasise his point. "A computer is incapable of original thought, but it is very good at calculating and at storing memories. Those memories are retrieved on command. What happened when my computer crashed was that the command no longer functioned. So the memory was apparently lost. We suspected that that was what was happening with Alzheimer's but we didn't know for sure, since there appeared to be no way of finding out whether the memories still existed. Now I think we are on the way to proving that they do."

He beamed at Tilly. "You have proved it. And so have two of our other patients."

The door opened behind him and a young man poked his head round it. It was a dark head, with startlingly white teeth.

"Sorry to interrupt. I did knock, but nobody heard me. It's five, Dr Jarman. Mr Hattersley, Mrs Beasdale and Mr Grimsby have all woken up."

"What!" Dr Jarman leapt out of his chair. "I don't believe it!"

The young man was beside himself with excitement, nodding furiously.

Dr Jarman turned back to the Thompsons. "I'm so sorry. Look, I have to go. I'll see you at ?" he consulted his watch, "? two o clock. Would that be all right? In my office. The nurse will show you."

And without waiting for a reply, he bounded out of the room.

Tilly and Johnny smiled at each other. "I take it that was Kim," Tilly said.

"Yes. Nice young chap, very polite. Very enthusiastic. But he tends to talk over my head somewhat."

Tilly shook her head. "The world is full of things I don't understand these days. Computers, for instance. Did you understand what Dr Jarman was saying?"

Johnny shook his head. "Not all of it. I still don't see how making people believe they are in the past should cure them of Alzheimer's. It's not the same as machines, surely?"

"But that's what he was saying, wasn't it? That it is the same as machines. Or at least, that bit is - the memory part." She looked thoughtful. "I wonder ..."

"What?"

"Oh, it doesn't matter. Just a thought. I might ask Dr Jarman this afternoon. Now, have you any idea where they put my own shoes? These are killing me."

****

At two o clock promptly, Tilly presented herself at the door of Dr Jarman's office and knocked politely.

"Come in!"

It was a pleasant room with a window overlooking the gardens. Not as big as she had expected for somebody as important as he evidently was. He was sitting behind the desk and jumped up to greet her as she walked in.

"Mrs Thompson - Tilly - how good of you to come. Would you like some tea?"

He pressed a button on his desk and a young woman appeared. Not Gilly, this time. A very short girl with fair hair done in a bob like the Be-Ro Girl.

"Could we have some tea, please, Jane?"

The girl disappeared and Dr Jarman leaned across his desk.

"Now Mrs - Tilly - I know we were rudely interrupted before and I can't for the life of me remember whether I finished explaining about the experiment."

"Oh, I think so." Tilly smiled sweetly. "As I understand it, you have re-programmed us to our original settings."

The doctor blinked. "Yes. That's very well put." He made a note on a piece of paper on his desk. "I can use that."

"And how were your other patients - the other ones who woke up today?"

His broke into a wide grin.

"All fine. Kim was right. They're all awake and they all seem to remember everything up to the point where they contracted Alzheimer's. So," he gave a sigh of relief, "it doesn't look like we've lost important memories. Of course, we haven't done all the tests yet. Which reminds me - Yes?" He looked up, annoyed, as the door opened behind Tilly.

It was the girl with the tea.

"Sorry. Thank you, Jane. Leave it there, will you?"

He picked up the teapot. Tilly put out her hand. "No, no. Milk first. Let me do it." And she took over as mother as naturally as if he had really been her son.

"Thank you. Now, where was I?"

"You were about to give me some tests."

"Yes, of course."

For the next half hour or so the doctor asked her a series of questions that seemed ludicrously simple, noting her answers on a sheet of paper.

"No problems there, then," he remarked, putting the paper into a folder. "Now, the rest of the questions are in the form of an examination paper, which you could do here at my desk." He laughed at the look of alarm on her face. "It's all right. Nothing too difficult. And there are no wrong answers. It's just to gauge your IQ and memory capacity." He looked at his watch. "Look, I have to go now. I have another appointment. Will you be all right on your own? When you've finished, just ring the bell."

And he left the room before Tilly could ask him the question she had been burning to ask. Damn.

These questions also seemed ludicrously easy.

"Which is the odd one out - the moon, the sun, a candle, a torch?" The moon, obviously.

Which of these shapes is the same as the one on the right? Well, really. All you had to do was turn them round in your mind. Honestly!

She was convinced he had given her the wrong questions. These were clearly intended for small children. She almost called the nurse to point out the doctor's mistake and then thought better of it. After all, it was only a few minutes of her time and they had all the time in the world to do the proper tests later. Five minutes after she had started the paper, she left the completed questionnaire on the desk, rang the bell, and went back to Johnny.