"Hmm ..." Dr.Shaw set down her pen. "Given 'pressure scenario' and 'authority figures', this sounds like 'thought insertion' - when anxiety makes the brain project self-criticisms as external voices. Common under workplace pressure."
"But it feels different! Their thinking style, word choice - they're nothing like me!" Emma countered urgently, nearly blurting "Parisian interns work faster" - difinitely not her phrasing!
"Exactly the 'otherness' project creates." Dr.Shaw explained patiently. "Our brains mimic imagined others' thought patterns to rationalize stress. The 'specific person' makes it concrete." SHe paused. "Let's start with stress management. Try mindfulness mediation? I'll give you a guided audio." She handed Emma a USB labeled "Stress Relief Meditations","Sleep, eat regularly. Back next week?"
Emma stared at the drive, cold dread spreading. Hallucination? Though projection? The logic felt crushing. Had she truly cracked under pressure?
The afternoon office buzzed like a pressure cooker. Emma forced herself at her computer, attempting Lucas's sharper concept. But "five meters" and "hallucination" buzzed like flies. Glancing at Lucas's distant door - had the blinds shifted? She snapped her gaze away, pulse racing. No, she needed to test again! Not to confirm "ability", just to prove she wasn't insane.
Pretending to fetch tea, Emma executed her secret mission. Mug in hand, she paced the office floor, measuring distance to Lucas's door. Sterp one, two ... At four-and-a-half meters, she paused, prettending to study past covers.
Hold breath. Focus ... focus...
Silence. Only coffee machine hums and distant phones.
Desperate,s she crept half a step closer.
... Budget overruns need reassessment ... vendor list ...
The thought fragment struck - low, analytical, unmistakable! Clear and real!
Emma flinched, scalding tea sloshing onto her wrist. "Shit!" She hissed, stumbling back from the "boundary", heart pounding. Proof! Dr.Shaw was wrong!
After work, Emma detoured to a retro "spiritual shop" smelling of sage and palo santo. A dreadlocked employee in tie-dye approached:" Seeking inner peace? THird ete awakening?"
Emma cleared her throat awkwardly, "Lately ... I've been receiving foreign thoughts? At certain distances?"
"Ah1 Engergy field inteference!" The clerk's eyes lit. "Your aura's too open, or their energy's too strong! Try this obsidian bracelet - it blocks negativity! And this 'Clarity' oil for your temples ..."
Watching crystals glint in the dim light, Emma wrestled internally. Science declared her "overstressed" - should she really embrace mysticism? Eventually buying only sage spray and the cheapest black tourmaline piece labeled "Energy Stabilizer". She practically fled.
By 9 PM, Emma's apartment still glowed with desk lamp light. Her laptop screen remained blank. Beside it sat Dr.Shaw's USB, the tourmaline stone, and sage spray.
Frustrated, she tugged her hair. Meditation? She clicked the audio - soft female voice: "Close your eyes ... feel your breath ... let thoughts pass like clounds ..."