Medical Device Upgrades

The circlet of electronics came down over her head and the door to the pod closed. Fresh, cool air circulated through the pod, making Chloe feel a bit better about being in it. There was also a window, so the pod didn't feel quite so claustrophobic. Chloe was grateful for that, too.

"All right, Chloe, we're going to start the scan now. You'll most likely fall asleep once it begins. It should run for about an hour and a half," said the nurse through the speakers in the pod.

"Ok," I replied. There was a click, then soft, soothing music began to play as the pod gave a low hum. The circlet tingled her skin and soon Chloe's eyes got heavy and her consciousness drifted off with the music.

"Oooh... look! Another one!" someone said.

Who is that? Chloe wondered and opened her eyes. Instead looking out the pod window, she was standing in a grassy plain. The sky was bright blue above her, and it was light, but there wasn't a sun. Clouds drifted by and their patterns made her a bit dizzy if she looked too long at them.

"Funny how the humans never seem to know where they are," said another voice, just as she was going to ask where she was. Chloe didn't say anything. Instead, she turned in a circle to try and find where the voices were coming from, but couldn't see anyone for kilometers. She turned again, and now she could see something in the distance, but wasn't sure what it was.

The third time she turned, she was suddenly standing under the branches of a large tree. The leaves of the tree stretched as far as a football stadium and the trunk was as tall and wide as a skyscraper. The tree itself was made up of many types of leaves and trunks, as if all the trees of the world were smashed together into one massive tree. The roots grew taller than she was and Chloe felt very small standing next to them.

"Will she go for it?" said the first voice.

"Will she be curious?" said the second. "Or will she be scared like the others?"

Chloe looked up, but there still wasn't anyone near her. When she brought her head down again, to her surprise, there was a large door in the root next to her with a golden doorknob.

"I'll show you scared!" she muttered in defiance, then reached to open the door.

"Oh, look! She's curious!" the first voice said.

The other cackled with glee. "We'll have to watch this one!"

Chloe pulled the door open. There was a bright light, then she heard, "Well, that's you done, dear!"

She blinked and she was in the pod again, the circlet lifting from her head. "What? No! I didn't get to see what was behind the door!"

The nurse opened the pod door. "Come again?" she asked.

"I didn't-- oh-- uh--" She took the nurse's hand, and the woman helped her out of the pod. Chloe was dizzy for a moment. The nurse held her steady until she was able to move over to the chair to put her shoes back on. Chloe shook her head. "Nevermind. I think I had a weird dream while I was in there."

"Oh, yeah, happens a lot with this new pod technology. Although, I gotta say, it's much better than the old MRI and CT scans ever were! Much more detailed and more comfortable for the patients." The nurse gave Chloe an apologetic smile. "Sorry. I was part of the team that did a lot of the clinical trials for the diagnostic pod. I can get a bit nerdy about it."

Chloe waved a hand. "It's ok. It happens. You should hear me talk about my job!"

The nurse laughed. "All right. Your doctor should get back to you in a few days with your results. Have a safe trip home!"

"Thanks!" Chloe said and left the imaging center. On the bus home, though, she thought about the dream, and was truly disappointed that she wasn't able to see what was beyond the door.

The man standing in front of her looked up from his tablet and said, "Oh, you'll find out!"

"What?"

The man blinked, then looked at her, confused. "Did you ask me something?"

"No, sorry, just saw something on my phone," she lied, and got off the bus at the next stop.