This is a very short piece that I wrote for my anatomy and physiology class. It is a continuation of The Psychotronic Chimp.

The strong odor of nag champa filled the small apartment. Outside through the open window the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks was drifting in, adding a distinct rhythm to the already eccentric vibe that was permeating the place. Dr. Nemean's two cats—Jung and Nietzsche—were each watching from their own comfortable positions. Jung, a small white cat with black spots on his face, was looking at the three people from atop his cat perch near the windowsill, the dusky light highlighting his tiny form like some odd, mystical nimbus. Meanwhile Nietzsche, a cat whose fur was blacker than pitch lay sprawled out in a dark corner, monitoring the scene with suspicious green eyes.

Nadia was laying supine on a massage table in the middle of the room with her eyes closed and hands folded across her abdomen. She was fully clothed, yet her boyfriend, Kevin, had an expression of uneasiness as he watched from an armchair off to the side.

"I still don't understand..." he began to say.

Dr. Nemean, sitting in a half-lotus posture on the floor a couple of feet from the head of the table, was unmoved. From his trance-state his words came slowly, and were slightly distorted and slurred as if he were talking through heavy glass.

"No physical examination is necessary," said Dr. Nemean. "I have all the information I need at my disposal right here. Every system in her body is conscious, as is every organ, every tissue, and even every cell. To attune your mind to that consciousness is not a difficult task, and once accomplished all wisdom of the body in question is available to you—its history, its current state, and even any existing pathology. It is the nature of the body to strive for wellness, always. And if it has fallen out of homeostasis, then it will tell you so."

Nadia, focusing on diaphragmatic breathing, began to drift off into a theta state. In her mind's eye she began to see archetypal images—people robed in white floating down a river, an endless corridor, two serpents slowly wrapping themselves around a long, slender staff. In some surreal way it all began to make sense. As she drifted further off into a trance she felt that this time and place—the humble surroundings of the tiny Evanston apartment on a late Saturday afternoon—were slowly disconnecting from her objective reality. She was falling into liminal space. She was entering the underworld.

"I am connected," said Dr. Nemean. "Beginning at the head. The bones of the cranium are okay. The occiput, temporal bones, parietal lobes, sphenoid, frontal lobe, all okay. Facial bones are okay, some slight shearing across the articular cartilage of the temporomandibular joints from an unconscious grinding of the jaw. The symptoms—muscle tension, tightness, are also the cause. Moving on to the vertebral column. All cervical vertebrae are in good health, aside from some tension in sternocleidomastoidus all surrounding tissue is okay. Kevin, please start the tape recorder..."

Kevin fumbled with the device, almost knocking over a small Shiva statue from the table next to him. "Okay, please continue," said Kevin.

"I sense a pathology of myofascial pain syndrome—trigger point forming in levator scapulae on left side of the body. Linked to pathology in temporomandibular joint. Moving on to the arms... glenohumeral joint of the left arm is okay despite past dislocations. Extensive damage to the dermal tissue of both brachii, collagenous scarring on both arms superior to the deltoid tuberosity and even more hypertrophic scarring inferior to that... all from self-laceration, root cause is various psychiatric imbalances, bipolar disorder and the like. Moving on... old injury to the bones of the left forearm, oblique fracture to both the radius and ulna. Accident occurred at approximately age 12. Moving back to the axial skeleton. Thoracic vertebrae are okay. Trigger point in the right rhomboid just inferior to the spine of the scapula. Muscles of the erector spinae group and all surrounding fascial tissue is healthy. Heart and nearby circulatory system is relatively healthy. Bronchitis and various respiratory issues stemming from history of smoking. Moving down. Trigger point in the left lumbar region—multifidi muscle, once again linked to trigger points in the cervical area. Postural imbalances in the back, if sustained will eventually lead to lordosis. Bones of the pelvic girdle are okay—ilium, ischium, and pelvis. Checking the reproductive system. Endometriosis, yes, as we already knew before the session. Digestive system. Thin lining of the stomach and intestinal wall, largely stemming from aforementioned affective disorders. You see, Kevin, how closely tied these systems of the body are?"

"Yes, I'm beginning to get a picture," Kevin replied.

"Moving back to the appendicular skeleton. Deep tissue of the femoral region is healthy but I'm detecting more hypertrophic scarring from old damage to the dermis, directly superficial to the adductor region..."

"Please move on," Kevin interrupted.

"Yes, moving inferior I'm sensing significant wear to the synovial capsules of both knees and a family history of leg pathologies. Further inferior I sense an old injury to the calcaneal tendon of the left leg. And that concludes my examination."

"Are you sure?" asked Kevin.

"There are much deeper and more intricate sources of information available were I to study her further," replied Dr. Nemean. "However, for an initial scan this will suffice. Her psychiatric pathologies of which you are already aware are immediately known to me through the energy of her subtle body, her energetic self. And of course much stems from that. It goes without saying that the mind and body are closely intertwined, and minute changes in one may effect systemic changes in the other."

"As above, so below," said Kevin.

"Absolutely," replied Dr. Nemean.

Outside the sun had gone down and a cool, damp wind was blowing in off the lake. On the table Nadia opened her eyes and slowly turned her attention to the two men.

"There's much more to it than that, Doctor," said Nadia. "Not everything is a pathology, a disease, an imbalance. My condition—what do you call it? Schizoaffective disorder? In my mind it is just an altered state of the mind that science doesn't yet understand. You are well aware of my psychic ability. Is there really any difference?"

"You may be right," he replied. "You may be right."