The Memory Of Sensation Machine

"You mean to tell me," the weary looking old woman said, "that you have a devised a means to reproduce the memory of a sensation. A specific sensation. Is that really what you are claiming in this paper Dr. Hutchins?"

"That is not only precisely what I am claiming Dr. Samuels, it is precisely what I am doing. With my Consciousness Restoration & Recollection Configurator, I can not only help anyone remember anything that happened to them at anytime in their lives, but I can also bring back the exact sensation they were feeling at that moment, whether it was physical, emotional, or otherwise!"

As he spoke Dr. Robert Hutchins gestured grandly with his long thin arms, which made him appear to be mimicking one of those rather large advertising balloons designed to draw people to used car lots.

"This will be the greatest invention of the ages my dear Dr. Samuels - imagine the demand for this device, and then multiply what you are thinking a thousand times! Every human being on the planet will want to own one of these! Why, I would wager that the use of this machine will be able to bring about world peace! People will no longer have to turn to alcohol or drugs to escape! Mood disorders will disappear! The desire for power or control can be completely eliminated! I stand before you today unapologetically proclaiming that you may actually be in the presence of the man who saves the planet!"

"Dr Hutchins, get a hold of yourself. You have only an untested hypothesis and a rather wild description of a device that Rube Goldberg himself would call preposterous." 

Dr Eva Samuels leveled a quiet gaze at Dr.Hutchins, and continued. "From what I can gather the materials required to build this machine of yours would cost a small fortune, which I do not believe you have at your disposal."

"You are wrong and you are also right, Dr. Samuels. You are wrong about the hypothesis being untested, and about the device being preposterously difficult to build, though you are right about it being expensive - cost nearly three million dollars, which was tricky to raise, I'll admit."

"What?!" Dr Samuels looked both incredulous and dumbfounded. "Robert, are you claiming to have actually built this machine and tested it?"

"Yes indeed, and that is why I invited you here tonight Eva. Excuse me for just one moment."

With that Dr. Hutchins walked to the back of his laboratory, gathered up a box slightly bigger than a breadbasket, and walked back to the table at which he and Dr. Samuels had been sitting.

With an unnecessarily dramatic flourish Dr. Hutchins lifted the top off the box, reached inside with both hands, and lifted out what appeared to be a large, brightly polished helmet not too unlike the type used by ceremonial military guard units.

Except the helmet was humming, and appeared to be slightly vibrating. And there were at least ten thousand hair-thin wires sticking out of the surface of the helmet and arching back into it.

"Try it Dr. Samuels, try it. All you have to do is put it on and wait a few moments for the machine to sense the activity that is happening at a cellular level in your brain, and to create a cybernetic link. Once the machine is in communication with the psychic apparatus of your mind then it will seek out the sensory neurons. The rest will be up to you - by which I mean you will have to think of a memory that you want to feel again."

Dr. Evangeline Samuels stood quietly staring at the helmet-like device in Dr. Hutchins outstretched hands for several minutes. Finally she reached out and took the machine in her hands and lifted it directly above her head. "Okay Dr. Hutchins, I will give it a try. Is there anything I should be aware of in terms of side effects?"

"Well, you may want to sit down first," He said as he motioned to an overstuffed easy chair, "and you probably should not venture too far back with your initial memories. Childhood memories always lead to a lot of crying once the device is removed."