Page 33 - Unlikely Stories 4

Not in his Right Mind

it is relevant. I mean, anyone can suddenly change, without this kind
of illness and recovery. And that can be just as unpredictable.”
“True. Can you tell me about his new behavior?”
Aaron, seeing that his mother was becoming distraught by trying to
be reasonable, took over.
“In short, he is not the same man. Before, he led a quiet life as a
business owner. He relied on his family to create a peaceful
environment to which he could retreat after the stresses of owning
and managing a company selling art supplies wholesale and retail. His
only vices were an occasional glass of wine and a cigar once or twice
a week—my mother would not let him smoke inside the house. His
manner of speech, his dealings with people—all quite conventional.”
“And now?”
“He is crude and abusive. He does not come home after work until
past midnight, usually drunk. The business he carefully built up from
nothing is on the verge of bankruptcy, after he harassed one of the
female employees and destroyed the accounting system by taking
cash from the register. And he is the same with us, dishonest and
violent. Our lives have been made miserable by the changes created
when Ariadne rebuilt my father, Morris Narishke, from the wreckage
of his original interior life. Their argument, apart from the waiver we
signed prior to treatment, is that Neurotextor constructed the best
possible brain given those disparate fragments and the opaquely
determined way in which they would fit into a demographically
similar person. How can we disagree? Most American men are a lot
closer to the Mr. Hyde he became than the Dr. Jekyll we remember.
Frankly, we need to find a way to prevent further damage to our
family, Counselor.”
“I see,” said the lawyer. “If he has broken the law, he can be
arrested, of course. Or a restraining order might be obtained from a
sympathetic judge. Or, perhaps, he can be declared incompetent and
institutionalized. In any event, if, as you describe it, the situation is
irremediable, and reconciliation is impossible, divorce proceedings
should begin immediately. Do you have the documentation from
Ariadne with you, Aaron? Fine. I think we can build a case for
mechanical alienation of affections, Mrs. Narishke. We will need a

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