Psychoanalysis -- Fiction; Science fiction; Short stories
"They might do you more good, at that," Herman said, looking at Mr.
Primus. "Well, I'll do what I can, though the function of analysis is
to get the patient to accept reality, and this is the opposite. What
can you tell me, to begin with, about Mr. Primus's personality, the
onset of the disturbance, and so on--and, in particular, what are you
two? Who's your boss? What's it all for and how does it work?"
Secundus said, "I can give you very little assistance, I am afraid. I
would characterize Primus as a very steady person, extremely accurate
in his work, but not very imaginative. His memory loss occurred
abruptly, as you yourself witnessed yesterday afternoon. As to your
other questions--forgive me, Dr. Raye, but it is to your own advantage
if I fail to answer them. I am, of course, the merest amateur in
psychology, but I sincerely feel that your own psyche might be damaged
if you were to learn the fragment of the truth which I could give
you."
He paused. A sheaf of papers, which Herman had not noticed before, lay
on a small table that he had not noticed, either. Secundus picked them
up and handed them over.
"Here are testing materials," he said. "If you need anything else, you
have only to call on me. But I trust you will find these complete."
He turned to go. "And one more thing, Dr. Raye," he said with an
apologetic smile. "_Hurry_, if you possibly can."
* * * * *
Primus, looking rather like a sarcophagus ornament, lay limply supine
on the ten-foot couch, arms at his sides, eyes closed. When Herman had
first told him to relax, Primus had had to have the word carefully
explained to him; from then on he had done it--or seemed to do
it--perfectly.
In his preliminary tests, the Binet, the Minnesota Multiphasic
Personality Index and the Berneuter P.I., he had drawn almost a
complete blank. Standard testing methods did not work on Mr. Primus,
and the reason was obvious enough. Mr. Primus simply was not a human
being.
This room, no doubt, was an illusion, and so was Mr. Primus's
anthropomorphic appearance....
Herman felt like a surgeon trying to operate blindfolded while wearing
a catcher's mitt on each hand. But he kept trying; he was getting
results, though whether or not they meant anything, he was unable to
guess.
On the Rorschach they had done a little better, at least in volume of
response. "That looks like a cliff," Primus would say eagerly. "That
looks like a--piece of sandstone. This part looks like two volcanoes
and a cave." Of course, Herman realized, the poor old gentleman was
only trying to please him. He had no more idea than a goldfish what a
volcano or a rock looked like, but he wanted desperately to help.
Even so, it was possible to score the results. According to Herman's
interpretation, Primus was a case of arrested infantile sexualism,
with traces of conversion hysteria and a strong Oedipus complex.
Herman entered the protocol solemnly in his notes and kept going.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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