The Magic of Science

I don’t remember what the official name of the original is or where I read it, but this story is loosely based on another story I wrote a long time ago.  Vaughn, maybe you can help.

 Carlie walked into the lab, pulling her keycard from the white coat and entering in to see the two scientists she worked for arguing about something. “Uh, Hi, Drs. Mitchell and Moss.”

 Both the men stopped arguing at that, Dr. Moss, the younger of the two, smiling. “Welcome back Carlie.  Did you enjoy your summer break?”

 Dr. Mitchell looked Carlie over a bit. “I’d wager some beach time.  Her tan is faint but noticeable.”

 Dr. Mitchell never addressed Carlie by name, but Dr. Moss always did, treating her like a person instead of just another intern.  Still, Dr. Mitchell was the more observant, the more theoretical of the two. “Well, yeah.  It was okay.”

 She looked behind the two men at the board, noticing all the formulae on there.  Sure, she was the intern, but she knew a little bit about calculus and theoretical physics.  This didn’t make any sense to her at all though. “What are you two working on?”

 Dr. Mitchell raised a hand as if to answer before Dr. Moss cut him off. “It’s just an idea we’ve been working with.  Say, do you want to try a bit of hardware for us?  It’s supposed to be a full-ring massage unit, but we’re not sure if it works.”

 Dr. Mitchell turned to his colleague. “Full-ring massage uni...what are you talking about?”

 Dr. Moss ignored him. “Well?”

 Carlie sighed.  She knew she wasn’t going to get a straight answer about it now.  They were pretty stubborn.  Still, the massage sounded intriguing. “Sure.”

 It took a couple of minutes to get everything straightened up, rolling a couple of carts together as she took her coat off.  Dr. Moss fixed a snug-fitting ring around her waist. “Okay, one more piece should go around your neck too.  Then you’ll need to lie down to get the full effect.”

 Carlie let him snap a second ring around her neck, snug but not choking.  As she laid down, she felt a slight tingle. “Like this?”

 She laid down on her stomach. “Uh, no.  On your back would work better.”

 As she rolled over, Dr. Moss slipped a makeshift pillow under her head by bunching up her coat. “Okay now, close your eyes.”

 Carlie did so and started to wait.  Then, something felt off.  Something wasn’t quite right.

 Carlie opened her eyes and looked down to see...well, she wasn’t exactly sure.  Her head wasn’t in the right place on her body and her body...”What the!?!”

 She could clearly see her hips and legs about two feet away from where the rest of her was.  She started to panic a little when Dr. Moss came into view. “Carlie, forgive me for lying.  What we developed was a teleporter.  We had to see if it worked.”

 Dr Mitchell walked between Carlie’s halves. “Carlie seems to be in a bit of distress over her current plight.  Perhaps we should demonstrate that no harm has come to her.”

 Dr. Moss took the cue and, without much preamble, picked up Carlie’s head from its place on the pillow.  She yelped a little in surprise, then watched, helpless, as he placed it where she could clearly see her divided body.  Experimentally, she bent a knee, watching as it did so. “See?  Still connected.  Still all together, just in a teleportated state.”

 Carlie looked at Dr. Moss, not sure if she could trust him. “I...uh…”

 Dr. Moss’ eyes lit up with an idea. “In fact, if you need further proof….”

 He walked over to her feet, knowing that she wasn’t in a position to protest, and slipped off her shoes.  Carlie knew what he was up to and tried to hide a grin. “Oh no.  No, not that, please not that.”

 With a wicked glint from Dr. Moss’ eyes, he ran a finger across her sole.  Carlie felt that, felt that wonderful sensation at the tickle.  She never told either of them, but she loved being tickled.  As she tried to gain control of the laughter, Carlie gasped. “No!  Please!  Don’t!  Stop!”

 Dr. Moss continued to tickle her for a few minutes, causing her whole body, all the pieces of it, to twitch with laughter.  Here she was, enjoying the tickling, in pieces, but, of course, something happened.

 Carlie never could quite remember it, but she had a vague image of her head toppling off the desk and hitting something on the way down.  Her head landed hard. “OOOOWWWWWWWWWW!”

 Dr. Moss picked her head up a moment later. “Ohmyword!  Ohmyword!”

 Her arms were reaching for her head to check the damage, but they were a couple of feet out of reach. “I’m so sorry Carlie.  Here, let me…”

 He placed her head on her chest and undid something she didn’t see.  She felt the collar loosen, though, and reached up to slip it off.

 Her head came out of the collar as if it were always attached, fully intact.  She touched the sore spot on her face, wincing. “Can you get me out of the other one too?”

 Dr. Mitchell undid the other ring and, like a pair of pants, Carlie slipped it off, fully intact.  Dr. Mitchell observed as she retrieved her shoes. “Carlie probably needs an ER visit, fully compensated of course.”

 Dr. Moss agreed as Carlie retrieved her coat and left the building.

 Nothing serious, just a mild concussion and a black eye, but Carlie still couldn’t decide about it all.  Was she really headless and in half?  She didn’t feel it.  There was nothing that really divided her.  Was she all just in one piece in a strange sort of state?  Maybe, but she knew that her hips and legs and head weren’t actually attached to her torso.

 She tried to go to sleep that night, an icepack on her face, but she just couldn’t.