Chapter 12 two

What if they find something wrong with me?I asked. like what?Megan said. Uh, I don't know, I said: what if I'm not good enough, or I'm trying to find the right words in my head, useless, what am I going to do?What will they do to me? Meghan and I were standing in the elevator.It’s Thursday morning and we’re heading downstairs for Meghan’s second-floor studio to get all work done before the exhibition opens on Saturday.I'm going to the No. 2 research room on the first floor to accept the compulsory physical examination for new recruits.The elevator stopped on the second floor, and the doors slid open.Megan didn't step out, put her arms around me and stroked my back.

She is warm and calming.She didn't say a word, just stood and hugged me and stroked my back.The elevator doors closed and the descent continued.We laughed as she followed the elevator down to the first floor.I stepped out of the elevator, turned around and waved to say goodbye to her, and she waved back.The elevator doors closed and hummed, carrying her back upstairs. I was in a corridor that looked like a hospital corridor, with white doors and pale yellow walls with reproductions of the usual hospital corridors.I passed Van Gogh, Karl.Larsen, Miro, Case.Haring's painting, came to a door with No. 2 Research Room written on it.

I arrived early, but Frederick, Bauer, and Yohanna were already sitting in the waiting room.They sat in a row of chairs by the wall in silence and only nodded when they saw me come in.I sat down next to Frederick. There are two large embroidered pictures on the opposite wall, one is an autumn scene, with dark brown, golden brown and light yellow grass, white and grayish yellow sky, several groups of black and white birds, some in the On the ground, some in the air.The flock of birds forms a pattern, an image.After a while, I saw that it was a face.My sister Sif used to do this a lot in the past.I got up and went over to see if there was a signature on the embroidered drawing, but I couldn't find it.I carefully lifted the lower corner of the embroidered pattern and glanced at the back, but there was no signature on the back either.I went back to my chair and sat down. Yohanna, Bauer, and Frederick all looked at me curiously.

That painting reminds me of an artist I know.I explained. Yohanna nodded slightly to show her understanding.Paul nodded.Frederick said: There are a lot of things here that will remind people of forgotten things. Yes, I say: but I haven't forgotten the artist. Is it your good friend? a relative.I forced a smile and turned my head away. Frederick didn't ask any more questions, and just put his hand on the back of mine slightly. We heard light voices coming from the corridor, and then the door opened, and Elsa, Roy, and Sophia walked in.Elsa, with flushed cheeks and wet hair, sat down next to me, smelling faintly of chlorine.

Did you just go swimming? diving. Is it fun? Great fun! I looked around and calculated, there were seven people in total. Who is missing?I asked.At this moment, the door swung open, and Annie rushed in, panting, her hair standing on end, toothpaste smeared at the corner of her mouth. Annie looked around the room, looking for an empty chair, and before she had time to sit down, the door leading to another room in the waiting room opened, and a buffet breakfast was placed in the room.A hunched nurse with thin braids on her head appeared behind the door. Good morning, the nurse said: I am Nurse Liz, please come in!

While eating breakfast, we filled out questionnaires, checked boxes, and answered questions about physical conditions.Questions include whether you have diabetes, rheumatism, breast cancer, or other chronic diseases, whether you have a family history of genetic disease, whether you have any chronic medical conditions, have you had any serious illnesses, have had major or any surgery, have had abortions or miscarriages, have had Have an STD, are you taking any physical or psychological medications, are still menstruating (and if so, are regular or irregular), are experiencing hot flashes, are having sleep disturbances, have significant mood changes, are tired, nervous, Anxious, depressed or totally healthy.

After the questionnaire was collected and breakfast was over, the physical examination began.Nurses measure our weight, height, pulse, and blood pressure, collect blood samples and DNA, take electrocardiograms, take chest and mammograms, and measure our vision, hearing, and reflexes.We had a complete gynecological exam and a Pap test for uterine cancer, as well as HIV, chlamydia, syphilis and gonorrhea screenings.We spent the whole morning running through the inspection process, walking through rooms and checkpoints, which is a bit like performing circuit training, except that the pommel horse, box jumping, rope, bars, posts and floor mats are replaced by nurses and doctors. They each hold different tools, such as syringes, sampling bottles, blood pressure cuffs, stethoscopes, X-ray scanners, gynecological stirrups, and so on.

From the time the mammograms were taken, Nurse Goer had been in charge of me, gently squeezing one breast and then the other in the X-ray room.Then I walked into Amanda.Dr. Eustorp's gynecological examination room. After the examination, he went into the next room.In this room, Nurse Lisi and Nurse Hassan measured my height, weight, pulse and blood pressure, and Nurse Ye Simin measured my reaction rate and hemoglobin, and collected other samples to determine my blood type. DNA samples were collected from the oral mucosa.Then came chest X-rays, electrocardiograms, vision and hearing tests, etc., until all eight people had been checked.

Lunch is salad and poached salmon fillets, no bread, potatoes or noodles so we don't get tired and sluggish but still get nourished, because after an hour's rest there is a test of fitness and muscle strength. We ride an exercise bike lined up in a semicircle, attach electrodes and sensors to specific parts of our body, and start pedaling, listening to loud motivational music.The instructor shouted in an earnest voice: OK, let's go!one two three four!Come on everyone, one, two, three, four! At the same time, electrodes and sensors connected to our body measure our pulse, lung capacity, calorie consumption, and fat burning rate in the number of pedal rotations per minute.Halfway through the one-and-a-half-hour physical fitness test, it gets progressively more difficult and progressively more difficult, like riding up a steep hill in a windless environment.Our legs just want to pedal slowly, or simply get off, but the instructor keeps motivating us:

come on! Come on!Keep stepping, one, two, one, two, speed up! The instructor looked mad, and I thought to myself, maybe it wasn't a good idea to give up, so kept pedaling as hard as I could, releasing lactic acid in my thigh muscles, panting, moaning, looking pained, sweating.After a while, my heart became heavier and heavier, and it kept being pulled down. The air seemed to be thinner and thinner, and it felt like I was at an altitude of 3,000 meters. But at this time, the difficulty of the ride began to decrease. At first, it seemed to be riding on flat ground, and then began to descend slightly. After a short period of relaxation, the music came to the end.Nurse Ye Simin and Nurse Goer came in and took off the sensors on us.We can finally get out of the car, stretch our bodies, and grab drinks and fruit from our large baskets.

After a break, we each walked over to an advanced home gym strength machine to measure the strength of our legs, arms, shoulders, back and abs.This test was much more enjoyable than the previous crazy flywheel, the instructor didn't yell at us, just walked around, calmly and clearly explained how to set the training machine to different muscle groups, and let us go at our own pace. After the final muscle strength test of the day, the morning and afternoon measurement data, sample analysis and test results will all be entered into the database.We each got our own printed reports, which listed the values ​​of each test, and compared them with the mean values ​​of unneeded individuals of the same age and gender.There is also a comparison table listing the average values ​​of the individuals required.Interestingly and surprisingly, in terms of health, fitness, and body mass index, unwanted individuals scored worse than needed individuals, but paradoxically, unwanted individuals More blood count and lower blood pressure. My body was judged to be healthy, and although my iron levels were low, they were not below normal.My muscular strength is slightly above average for an unneeded individual, and my physical fitness is well above average. At the end of the day, we all have a brief chat with one of the nurses.After a short talk with Nurse Liz, I was assigned to a psychologist, but unfortunately, after lunch the next day, they scheduled me for a session with a psychologist, all because I checked a questionnaire that I felt quite Anxiety and depression.Options on the questionnaire include: I think: 1. Not anxious at all; 2. Sometimes anxious; 3. A little anxious; 4. Quite anxious; 5. Very anxious; 6. Unbearably anxious.Depression, nervousness, and exhaustion have the same options. If you tick options 4, 5, and 6 in more than two states, psychological counseling will be arranged automatically.Nurse Liz said. But, I said: Isn't everyone here feeling more or less anxious and depressed?I mean, don't you think that's normal? Nurse Liz tilted her head, her thin braids dangling in the air, and smiled with her open mouth.She has dimples on her cheeks, her teeth are small and white, and she smiles like a child. You are right, Dolly, she said: people here feel depressed from time to time, that's why there are more than a dozen psychiatrists in the unit, and we want you to try to stay in good shape, both physically and mentally.You know that body and mind are actually one, right? right.I said. I'm about to get up and leave.The sweat on my clothes was dry, I could smell my own sweat, and I felt cold, so I wanted to go back and take a hot shower and put on clean clothes.But Nurse Liz had more to say, so I sat where I was. We have a suggestion for your reference, she said: Here is a group of researchers conducting experiments, they need more people with physical endurance, we think you are very suitable. Well, I said: What is the content of this experiment? The content was very practical, and Nurse Liz replied: You must do physical exercise every afternoon, and the experiment took a long time, about two months.As far as I know, you have to engage in vigorous exercise because the point is to wear you out before measuring your minerals and hormones.In other words, it's not too different from what you're doing here today.Researchers want to know what nutrients and hormones the human body will lack during strenuous exercise, and which ones will be produced and secreted by itself, how the lack and production of these components are carried out in a specific period of time, and what is the relationship with the subject's weight, gender and basic physical fitness relation.Simply put, it's about knowing what we gain and lose by exercising regularly and vigorously. Where is the trap?I asked. Liz smiled happily, as if I had asked her the question she most wanted answered. There are no pitfalls, she says: While the research is safe and relatively enjoyable, it is difficult in general society to find volunteers to take part.Everyone is too busy.One of the reasons volunteers are so hard to find is that the research takes a lot of time: four hours a day, five days a week, for months.Another reason is that the experiment is very tiring and requires more sleep and food than usual.How can the individual in need have the time to participate in this research?Young people and top athletes might be interested if paid, but they're not what the researchers wanted to study in this project. Instead, they wanted middle-aged people with better physical fitness. Liz paused, and then asked: How about it, Dolly, what do you think? I knew full well that participating in this research project would keep me off the operating table for months, and it sounded like a fantastic experiment at all, as long as I exercised, ate, and slept a lot.I can make a decision without thinking too much about it, but I don't want to sound too congratulatory or overzealous, so my answer is a little draggy. Uh, I said: I should try it. Very good!Lise said: In this case, after you meet Arno tomorrow, you can start participating in the experiment at two o'clock. Arnold? Your therapist, Arno.bauhaus.The working location of the research team is in Laboratory No. 8.You can come here after you meet Arno, and I'll take you there.In fact, Liz said this in a tone, as if she felt that this matter is very important to the listener, and it will bring surprises. I will start working as an assistant for this experiment tomorrow! She was smiling, dimpled, and her eyes sparkled.I don't understand this guy at all. As I was leaving, I passed the waiting room and stopped again to look at the embroidered picture of several flocks of birds forming a face.The face looked familiar, but I couldn't figure out whose face it was.On the other hand, I'm almost certain that Sif embroidered that drawing.