The Women in Blue Ch. 05

Dr. Shapiro continued. "So if the other six cheerleaders screwed other guys on the nights you weren't with them that would disappoint you?"

"Hell Yes" Connor said.

Dr. Shapiro was silent for while. "We'll talk about his more in the future. Now I want you to do some testing work. This is the modern equivalent of gauging your reactions to those old porno films. It just does it objectively and much faster."

She led Connor over to a wide screen monitor with several fancy cameras around it. She showed him how to put his chin in a little rest to hold his head still. She told him not to try to do anything except watch the images that he would see on the monitor. After they had all been shown, he would be asked to answer questions to see what he remembered.

Suddenly the screen was filled with images rapidly moving and changing. He could not begin to keep up with the pace. He thought he was only able to see about one quarter of what was there. Nice pictures of flowers and puppies and babies were followed by naked women, naked men, and every sex act he had ever seen, plus a lot of stuff that he could not even identify. He was alarmed to find that his emotions where tossed about like a roller coaster as he watched, feeling alternatively elation, fear, panic, and lust over and over without recognizing that they were caused by a particular image or not. He even felt that 'can't look away' feeling even when he could not identify what he was looking at. He was sure his face looked like it was having some sort of seizure as all the emotions played across it so quickly.

Irene Shapiro was astounded. She had given this test to hundreds of subjects, but had never seen anyone react to it like Connor. While the average person was able to perceive only one image in 100, Connor was getting lots more than that. He not only perceived them, he felt the emotions they connoted, and felt them deeply. Irene could not begin to read all the micro-expressions on his face, and she was one of the most skilled people in the world at reading them. This was beyond empathy! She might get to coin a new word for this. Empathic tachypsychia? An emotional gunslinger reflex?

Connor was not sure how long it took, but suddenly traditional multiple choice questions began to come up on the screen. There was no mouse, and the monitor was too far away to touch, but he discovered that if he just looked at the choice he wanted, it would be heighted on the screen. There were many, many questions, but he could move them quickly with his eyes.

When he finished the last question he looked up at Dr. Shapiro watching him and made eye contact. She had suddenly dropped her 'tough Doctor" personae and was looking at Connor in the open and accepting way that Polly sometimes did. Connor reached out and took her hand and felt an incredible wave of emotion from her. He could not be sure, but there was fear, respect, and maybe a little love. He was not sure how he knew that.

He squeezed her hand gently, and said "Doc, I am beyond exhausted. Can we do the visual exercise stuff in the morning?"

She said "Okay, come back and meet me here at 1030 so we can finish before lunch." Connor headed out without looking back, and she was sure he had missed the warm tears on her face.