Boris Akunin - The Winter Queen

"You are right, my friend. Absolutely right. That was an unforgivable mistake." Her ladyship's voice was filled with sincere regret. "But do the best you can. Explain to me again what exactly it is that you intend to do."

Erast Fandorin pricked up his ears. This was a question he also found extremely interesting.

"You are familiar with my general concept," Blank proclaimed in a fervent voice, even ceasing his metallic clanking. "It is my belief that taming the force of electricity is the key to the coming century. Yes, indeed, my lady! There are still twenty-four years remaining until the twentieth century, but that is not so very long. In the new century the world will be transformed beyond all recognition, and this great transformation will be brought about precisely thanks to electricity. Electricity is not just a source of light, as the ignorant masses suppose. It is capable of working miracles, great and small. Imagine a horseless carriage that runs on an electric motor! Imagine a train without a steam engine — fast, clean, silent! And mighty canon striking down the enemy with a controlled bolt of lightning! Or an omnibus with no horse required to pull it."

"You have told me all of this many times before," the baroness gently interrupted the enthusiast. "Please explain to me the medical application of electricity."

"Oh, that is the most interesting part," said the professor, growing even more excited. "That is the very sphere of electrical science to which I intend to devote my life. Macroelectricity — turbines, motors, powerful dynamos — will change the outside world, but microelectricity will change man himself, correcting the imperfections in nature's design for Homo sapiens. It is electrophysiology and electrotherapy that will save mankind, not your clever know-it-alls who spend their time playing the great politician or, even more funny, daubing pictures."

"You are mistaken, my boy. They are also performing very important and necessary work. But please continue."

"I'll give you the means to make a man, any man, ideal — to rid him of his faults. All the defects that determine a person's behavior are located here, in the subcortex of the brain." A rigid finger tapped Erast Fandorin very painfully on the temple. "To explain in simple terms, there are regions of the brain that control logic, pleasure, fear, cruelty, sexual feeling, and so on and so forth. A man could be a harmonious personality if all these regions functioned in balance, but that almost never happens. In one person the region responsible for the instinct of self-preservation is overdeveloped, and that person is a pathological coward. In another the zone of logic is insufficiently active, and that person is a complete and utter fool. The burden of my theory is that it is possible to use electrophoresis, that is, a specifically targeted and strictly dosed discharge of electrical current, to stimulate certain regions of the brain and suppress other, undesirable, regions."

"That is very, very interesting," said the baroness. "You know, my dear Gebhardt, I have never restricted you financially at all, but why are you so convinced that adjusting the psyche in this manner is possible in principle?"

"It is possible! Of that there is not the slightest doubt! Are you aware, my lady, that in Incan burial sites skulls have been discovered with an identical opening just here?" The finger prodded twice again at Erast Fandorin's head. "This is the location of the region that controls fear. The Incas knew that, and even with their primitive instruments they were able to gouge the cowardice out of boys of the warrior caste and render their soldiers fearless. And the mouse? Do you remember that?"

"Yes, your 'fearless mouse' that flung itself at a cat made a great impression on me."

"Ah, but that is merely the beginning. Imagine a society in which there are no criminals! When a vicious murderer, a maniac, or a thief is arrested he is not executed or sentenced to hard labor. He is simply subjected to a small operation and the unfortunate man — freed forever of his morbid cruelty, excessive lust, or inordinate greed — becomes a useful member of society! And just imagine if one of your boys, already so talented, were to undergo my electrophoresis, reinforcing his ability still further!"

"I certainly will not give you any of my boys," the baroness interrupted. "An excess of talent leads to insanity. You had better experiment on criminals. And now tell me, what exactly is a 'blank individual'?"

"It is a relatively simple operation. I think I am almost ready for it. It is possible to deliver a shock to the region where memory is accumulated so that a person's brain becomes a blank page, as if you had wiped it clean with an eraser. All the intellectual abilities will be retained, but the acquired skills and knowledge will disappear. What you have is a person as blank as a newborn baby. Do you recall the experiment with the frog? After the operation it had forgotten how to hop, but its motor reflexes were intact. It had forgotten how to catch midges, but its swallowing reflex remained. Theoretically it would have been possible to teach it all of this again. Now let us take our patient here… What are you two doing standing there gawping? Take him and put him on the table. Macht schnelir * BORIS AKUNIN Translated by Andrew Bromfield THE WINTER QUEEN

This was the moment at last! Fandorin readied himself. But the base, dastardly Andrew gripped him so firmly by the shoulders that it was quite pointless even to attempt to reach for the gun. Timofei clicked something, and the steel hoops constricting Fandorin's chest fell away.

"One, two, and up!" commanded Timofei, holding Fandorin by the legs. Andrew, maintaining his firm grip, lifted him with ease out of the chair.

They carried their guinea pig over to the table and laid him out on his back, Andrew still grasping him by the elbows and Timofei clutching his ankles. The bell could be heard ringing again — the break between classes was over.

"After I apply a synchronous electrical discharge to two regions of the brain, the patient will be completely purged of all previous experience of life and transformed, so to speak, into a little infant. He will have to be taught everything all over again — how to walk and to chew, how to use the toilet, and later how to read, write, and so on. I expect that your teachers will find that interesting, especially as you already have some notion of the proclivities of this individual."

"Yes, he has excellent reactions. He is courageous, with well-developed logical thinking and unique powers of intuition. I hope that is all capable of being restored."

In different circumstances Erast Fandorin would have felt flattered by such a complimentary testimonial, but now it made him squirm in horror. He imagined himself lying in a pink cot with a pacifier in his mouth, goo-gooing senselessly, and Lady Astair leaning over him and saying, "Aren't we a naughty boy, now, lying there all wet again." No, death would be better than that!

"He's having convulsions, sir." Andrew was the first to comment. "I hope he won't come 'round."

"Impossible," retorted the professor. "The anesthetic will last for at least two hours. Slight convulsions are quite normal. There is only one danger, my lady. I did not have sufficient time to calculate precisely the charge required. If I use more than necessary it will kill the patient or make him an idiot for life. If I do not use enough, the subcortex will retain vague residual images, which under the influence of external stimuli might one day fuse to form specific memories."

The baroness was silent for a moment and then she said, with evident regret, "We cannot take any risks. Make the charge on the strong side."

There was a strange buzzing sound, followed by a crackling that made Fandorin's flesh creep.