Free Night Lamp by Jack Vance

eventuate.
    Now he would find out.
3
    Hilyer could not alter his work schedule, so that Althea accompanied Jaro on his first visit to Buntoon House. They arrived at the stipulated hour and were immediately taken to Dr. Fiorio, who looked Jaro over, from head to toe. “So this is the boy with the problems? He looks to be a healthy young specimen. How are you today, Jaro?”
    “Very well, thank you.”
    “Ah! That’s the way to talk! Straight from the shoulder!” Dr. Fiorio indicated a white wicker chair. “Sit there, if you please, and we’ll have a little discussion.”
    So far, so good. Dr. Fiorio seemed pleasant enough, if perhaps a trifle boisterous.
    “Now then, Jaro! Just wait patiently a moment or two. I must conduct some business with your mother.” He took Althea to an outer office, where, so he explained, she must endorse a standard packet of legal documents. The door remained half open; Jaro could hear them discussing the papers.
    “Very good,” said Dr. Fiorio at last. “That ties up all the loose ends. Now, if you please, refresh my memory regarding Jaro’s troubles. How did they start?”
    Althea collected her thoughts. “As to the voice itself, Jaro can tell you more than I can.”
    “Has he suffered any recent injuries to his head? Any falls, knocks, collisions?”
    “None that I know of.”
    “And his health? Is he as sound as he looks?”
    “Yes indeed! He has never been one to ail. We mentioned that when he was six he was almost killed by a gang of thugs, who were breaking all his bones. We rescued him but he was near death. In the hospital he went into spasms of hysterical emotion, which were draining what small vitality he had left. Something in his mind was driving him to distraction. As a last resort the therapist deleted a segment of his memory, and this is all that saved his life, though most of his first six years of memory were lost.”
    “Interesting! Where did all this happen? Not on Gallingale, surely?”
    “No,” said Althea. “It was—” she stopped short. A curious sort of silence ensued—furtive and secretive, not at all like Althea. The door was gently closed and he could hear no more.
    Strange! Jaro had never known where these early events had taken place. When he had asked, he was given vague answers: “Oh, just off on some minor little world where we were doing a bit of research. It’s all in the past; of no great importance, really.”
    Odd, such evasions!
    The door opened; the two entered the room where Jaro waited. Althea was making the point that Jaro would feel more comfortable if she were present during the initial examination. Dr. Fiorio would hear none of it. “Absolutely not! Your presence would make Jaro self-conscious. You might like to take tea in the canteen just across the court.”
    With poor grace Althea went off to the canteen. Dr. Fiorio ushered Jaro to an examination chamber, with gray-green walls exuding a subaqueous light. He indicated a chair for Jaro and settled himself at his desk. Jaro waited, his mood fatalistic.
    Dr. Fiorio was ready. He slapped his palms down on the desk. The therapy had begun. “Well then, Jaro, here we are! Our first job is to get acquainted. If I may say so, you seem a fine bright chap, and no doubt a real social scrambler. You’re well above the Junior Service? I don’t see any emblems, still I’d guess you were well up into the Persimmons or maybe into the Zouaves, or perhaps the Golliwogs.”
    “I am nothing. Not even a nimp.”
    “Ah yes! Hm ha!” Dr. Fiorio raised his eyebrows. “Just so! Everyone must strive to his own altitude; comporture is a mask of many guises. But that is a complicated truth, and we won’t take it up now. Agreed?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “That’s the spirit! Now then, what about these mysterious voices? Tell me about them, and they’ll be crying for mercy in jigtime.”
    Jaro spoke slowly, “It’s rather more serious than what you would like to make out.”
    Dr. Fiorio looked