Chapter 3 - rekall

As Doug's workday came to a close he had just one thing on his mind...Rekall.

At 4:45 Harry sauntered over to Doug's cubicle.

"Hey Dougie, me and the fellas are heading over to Dezzie's bar after work, want to come?"

Doug sighed and looked at his picture of Lori. "Well, Lori won't be home until 7 but I got stuff to do."

Harry rolled his eyes "You're not going to Rekall are you? I told you not to mess with that place."

Doug "I guess you're right. How long you staying for?"

Harry "Its friday night for chrissakes, I'll close the damn place!"

Doug laughed "Alright I'll drop by eventually, can't stay too long though."

Harry "Yeah yeah yeah, just get your ass over there."

Harry went to go finish up and Doug pondered whether to go to the bar or finish his mission at Rekall. He decided to finish his mission.

If traffic was bad getting into the city, traffic going home would be worse. Luckily for Doug, Rekall was just a few blocks from his office so he decided to wade through the streets just to get there. It was a dark, damp day with the smog heavy and the sirens loud. The beggars, insane and terminally ugly filled the once proud streets and Doug had to keep his hand on his wallet to make sure no one would steal it.

As he plowed through the panhandlers and nuke addicts, he made his way toward the tower with the bright neon lights that said REKALL. He walked up the steps noticing a few patrons sitting there shaking their heads and asking themselves if this was real. "Not a good sign" he thought to himself.

As he got in the door he was amazed at what he saw. Dozens of doors leading to Rekall machines with 4 receptionist desks spread about the large room. Doug made his way to the desk in the corner where sat...no stood a midget in a beard wearing a purple suit. "Can I help you?" Asked the midget in the purple suit in a high pitched voice. Doug "Yes, I'm here for the Rekall vacations." The midget typed on his computer "Is this your first time?" Doug looked around nervously "Yes." Midget "A Rekall virgin, great. Just a second."
He typed some more then looked up "Name please." Doug "Douglas Quaid." Midget "City number?" Doug "11804-34C" Midget typed some more then looked up "Room 3 please, Dr. Sedwick will assist you." Doug "Thank you." Doug walked off and the midget said "Good luck."

Doug opened the door to room 3 and was amazed by the bright lights. 2 technicians were working on the Rekall machine as a middle aged man in a white labcoat oversaw the proceedings. A chubby looking secretary was typing away on a computer in the corner as she noticed Quaid in the doorway. She yelled out "Dr. Sedwick, a customer."

The man in the labcoat turned around "Ah, good evening." He made his way over to Doug and held out his hand "Dr. Sedwick, how may I help you?" Doug "I'm Douglas Quaid and this is my first time." They shook hands and the doctor smiled "Very good, you're going to love it. We have every fantasy you could ever think of ready at your disposal. Ever wanted to go to the old west? Ever wanted to be a UFC champion? Want to be rich and famous for a week? Oh, I know. One of our best sellers!"

The doctor made his way over to his chubby secretary "Amber, show Mr. Quaid this month's special!" Amber punched in some keys and a monitor turned on behind Quaid. A shootout was taking place as Dr Sedwick talked. "The secret agent vacation, been our best seller so far. The best part is you get a week's vacation in just 4 hours. What do ya say?" Doug looked at it and said "Hmmm, not my style." Dr "They got 3 breasted women in it." Doug put his thumb and index finger on his chin and nodded. Then spoke "Nah, too violent for me, I had something else in mind." The Doctor said "Ok ok, tell me what you want."

Doug then told the doctor about his dreams and the secretary looked at him like HE had three breasts. Even the doctor was puzzled "I've heard some weird fantasies come my way but I've never heard that one." Doug "Is it possible?" Sedwick "Its worth a try. Amber, cue up our database." Amber moved her chubby fingers and brought up another scenario on the monitor. Doug's eyes lit up "That's perfect. How much?" Sedwick smiled "Splendid, a week's vacation costs about a thousand dollars and it goes about 5 hours." Doug's heart sank...he had to be home by 7:30 which gave him only 2 hours. "Damn, I only got 2 hours." Sedwick "I'm sorry Mr. Quaid but it takes at least 5 hours to complete." Doug thought for a moment "How long a vacation would an hour and a half last?" Sedwick thought for a moment "Less than a day if that." Doug "How much would that cost?" Sedwick "About 500 dollars." Doug "I'll take it." Sedwick "You sure? You can always come back tomorrow or another day for the full week." Doug "Trust me doc, I need this now!" Sedwick
"Ok, let's do this. Amber, cue up Mr. Quaid's file and see if you can make his fantasy come true." Amber "I'll try Dr. S...it seems pretty elaborate. Never done anything like this before."

The two technicians strapped Doug in and the Doctor prepared the syringes. A minute later Amber came by with the formula "This was the best I could do Dr. S with only an hour and a half to work with." Sedwick took the formula into the syringe and spoke "Very good Amber, I'm sure it will work. Just relax Mr. Quaid, you'll be just fine." The doctor injected the formula into Doug's arm and the machine slowly moved backwards. Dr. S "You're going to love it."

Doug's eyes began to get heavy as the formula began to take its toll. He smiled as he envisioned the perfect fantasy as he drifted off into unconciousness.