Dr. Robert Burgess, a cyberneticist and psychiatrist, developed a neural implant therapy program to resolve a residual social crisis, despite most of society''s civil unrest ending years earlier.


    Josh Franklin sat across a table from Susan Wheeler, both of them wearing neural headsets. They glared at one another—knowing each other''s background—but also needed each other. Through them, symbiotic healing could take place.


    Dr. Burgess turned on transceivers in their headsets, transmitting to their neural implants.


    They fell into a dreamlike state ...


    Josh, as Susan, shouted and spat at the barricade of shielded officers. She pleaded with them to stop spraying her with tear gas. A baton smacked her in the face. She tried standing up, dazed and unbalanced—riveted by pain, rejection, and anger over the humiliation of social injustice. Her body shook with anxiety. A fellow protestor laid nearby, screaming for help while grabbing his injured leg. Susan tried to carry him away to safety, but he got shot in the head by a stray rubber bullet and later died. She had held inside feelings of deep resentment and fear of law enforcement ever since.


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    Being Josh, Susan firmly stood to the ground with a riot shield, getting cursed at by an angry mob. An object hit his helmet. He worried about his family''s safety—his wife and children at home. He saw a bottle hit a colleague''s uniform that burst into flames. Fellow officers in line coughed and choked on the smoke. The fire wouldn''t go out. Josh tried to help the downed officer by stamping out the flames and performing CPR. Still, his colleague later died from smoke inhalation injuries. At that point, Josh always felt enraged at protestors while on or off duty ...


    "That''s enough for now. You''ll each be matching with another person tomorrow."


    "Does this therapy really serve a purpose?" asked Josh.


    "I''m wondering the same." Susan shrugged and frowned. "I feel a deep sadness."


    Josh nodded to her in agreement.


    Dr. Burgess replied, "Indeed, we''ve found good results. It can help counter the trauma you both experienced, especially if one empathizes with another''s plight. After several sessions, we''ll have mixed group interactions, and you''ll bond like you never before thought possible. That''s when the therapy really starts, and the healing truly begins."