Chapter 4, Mirror Box Therapy

"Oh dear." Captain Lorna rotated her right shoulder and swung her prosthetic limb in two circles, the joints making a crackling sound.

Those mercenaries either stood by the shop door or leaned against the alley wall smoking

"What are you in such a hurry for? Who would dare to take advantage of you, old Fan?" Captain Luona waved her hand impatiently, "Niulang, what did you just ask me?"

Old Fan's drink for testing talent is truly potent

"Give it a try," Gu He advised, raising her hand and repeatedly making a fist and then relaxing it.

Gu He smiled inwardly, here it comes!

"Why aren't you speaking?" A hint of madness flickered in Captain Lorna's eyes, just waiting for him to scream.

I have a folk remedy for treatment," Gu He said as she looked around, "Is there a mirror here?"

It is several sizes larger than Captain Luona's left hand, even more enormous than the hands of those muscular men like Zhuang Ge. The skin appears dark red, resembling a layer covered with burn scars, strange and terrifying

I mean... Gu He made an effort to calm himself down. Alright, it was he who had a narrow perspective and was unprofessional

Gu He's smile is about to break; once it does, he cannot say whether his features will contort in a grotesque manner

Captain Lorna, let us settle the payment for this bottle of wine now

"In any case, it doesn't cost anything," he added.

From the peculiar head of Brother Zhuang, one can discern that certain medical and biological technologies in this world are particularly advanced

She deftly grabbed a bottle of aged Fenggu wine that Vanderbau had just taken from the wine cabinet with her right hand, easily uncorked it, and began to drink directly, nearly finishing half the bottle in one gulp

Folk methods? Although no one believes they would be of any use, Captain Luona is curious to try them out. She urges Vanderbau and several female subordinates to follow Gu He’s instructions to find a mirror and an uncovered wooden box for holding wine.

The issue is the key to psychotherapy; the patient must articulate the problem for the therapist to take action. Without a problem, there is no need for treatment

Ha. Van der Baal has never stopped observing him; the performance in second gear has not changed. Now you understand fear? It's too late

It induces a coupling of sensory and motor pathways between phantom limbs, prosthetics, and real limbs by creating a visual illusion of the presence of a missing limb in the patient, thereby modulating the perceptual nerves in the brain

Captain Lorna removed her black leather jacket, revealing a sleeveless white T-shirt underneath, her empty right shoulder facing the bloody hand

While Vanderbau was still tidying up the wine utensils, he interjected, "Captain Lorna, you should go see a doctor, not a gigolo"

Research on bionic prosthetics is also being conducted on Earth, with advancements in neural control, intelligent sensing, and implantable bone integration. These technologies are evolving rapidly, but they have yet to reach the level of sophistication and impressiveness seen in her prosthetics

Van der Baal quietly tidied up the valuable barware on the counter, preparing to face the scene of Gu He losing control

Question

This prosthetic limb is evidently very heavy, as several female mercenaries have turned red in the face just to bring it to the edge of the bar

The several mercenaries around the bar also shook their heads and laughed.

In this way, her left hand is there, and due to the mirroring effect, it seems that her right hand is also perfectly intact and present there

Gu He conducted a thorough analysis in her mind; although her expression was rather literary, he understood it clearly

Van der Baal's confusion grew increasingly profound; it was truly unexpected that this second gear kid could have stirred things up to this extent.

At this point, the intervention of a psychologist is required

On Van der Baal's chubby face, there were also some additional doubts.

"Because you haven't been wearing the prosthetic all the time." Gu He certainly understood; her question was clearly about "phantom limb pain"

More than 50% of amputee patients experience this symptom, and the pathology remains unclear, making it a medical conundrum. It is surprising that this is also the case in this world

Captain Lorna suddenly looked at him, her head full of tangled wires and silicon strips dancing chaotically, "How did you know?"

Therefore, he had previously encountered patients of this kind and was aware of a cutting-edge therapy for alleviating phantom limb pain, which has a very high efficacy

The splashing rainwater could not disperse the smoke rising from the cigarettes in their hands, as the cigarette butts, accompanied by sparks, fell onto the pile of garbage that had gone uncleaned for many days, causing a stray cat that had been hiding in the trash heap to leap over.

I just can't figure it out. Captain Lorna lowered her head and drank her drink, saying: This thing has always been incompatible and hard to digest, it feels like a virus has invaded my program, which is why my personality is so unstable

Gu He felt a bit dizzy again, and looking at her prosthetic limb from such a close distance made her increasingly uneasy.

Captain Lorna took another sip of her drink, and to her surprise, this new gigolo was still holding it together, unable to unleash his fire. "I, a piece of worthless mud, have no dreams whatsoever; I'm almost driven to death by this hand, yet I still have dreams."

"I will give it a try," Captain Lorna chuckled, her gaze fixed on the mirror case, her left hand slowly clenching and unclenching into a fist

What level of mental stress will this cause? It is quite normal for patients to experience psychological trauma, which in turn can exacerbate phantom limb pain

"Where is my right hand? Bring it here!"

That was a hand, with a complete structure from the arm to the fingers, but ...

She then filled an empty wine glass to the brim and pushed it towards Gu He beside her, saying, "Here, young man, give it a try."

What is your dream life like? he asked gently, Don't worry, patients are ordinary people too

As far as he knows, the phrase "after all, it doesn't cost anything" holds a peculiar persuasive power for the majority of patients in Guang.

Moreover, there are still fresh drops of blood at locations such as the fingers and the back of the hand, the origin of which remains unknown

Gu He continued to provide guidance, which is referred to as mirror box therapy

In the presence of the onlookers, her expression gradually changed, revealing a hint of surprise

Having lost one hand and being disabled, I was compelled to create this astonishing Kirin arm, often attracting peculiar gazes from the world.

During the process of pouring the wine, a drop or half a drop of the still wet blood on her right hand faintly fell into the wine glass

I have known for a long time that such a difficult problem, which so many street cybernetic doctors cannot solve, cannot possibly be resolved by a stray dog

Under Gu He’s instruction, Captain Luona’s hands reached into the wooden box from both openings on the sides

The swirling orbs of light in his mind had no effect; it was as if he were being struck and torn apart by a force... Even strange and inexplicable phantoms flickered vaguely before his eyes

The night rain outside has intensified, falling into the damp and cold corners of the alley, where the broken neon lights flicker with a faint glow

Many people initially look down upon the simple and inexpensive mirror box therapy, but in the end, they all find it truly effective

Thirty years of abundant harvests, indeed substantial

What are you staring at? Open the wine! Are you afraid I owe money? I just completed a deal today, and I have plenty of money.

Let your left hand move slowly, listen to me, clench your fist, and then relax

Soon, Gu He saw a group of female mercenaries enter the tavern, and they were collectively carrying a hand.

Old Fan felt that after a while, the situation might become quite unpleasant, and it would be better to settle this account sooner rather than later

What’s wrong? he seemed to ask casually

Which person does not love health, and which girl does not love beauty

Is it painful from time to time? Moreover, it feels like the pain is in my original right hand? Sometimes there are also related hallucinations?

Is this it? Captain Lorna paused without cooperating, wearing a face full of doubt and a look of disdain as if finding it amusing, "You really are quite rustic"

First, two holes were made on one side of the wooden box, and then a mirror was inserted in the middle, dividing it into two halves, with one hole on each side.

Uh... Gu He sensed the increasingly close smell of blood, forcing herself to maintain a calm expression, a professional calmness.

What kind of prosthesis is this? He could not immediately distinguish what material it was, resembling some kind of metal yet also resembling some kind of flesh.

Suddenly, a tangled bundle of blood vessels resembling electric wires burst forth from her right shoulder peak, and the position of the prosthetic humeral head was similarly affected, with the blood vessels on both sides writhing like tentacles, ultimately intertwining and merging together

Then use another cloth to completely cover the right hand, leaving only the left side of the wooden box exposed

Gu He had not yet seen clearly when the large blood-red hand connected with her right shoulder, merging as one.

Captain Lorna urged her subordinates towards the door once more, and upon turning back, saw Vanderbau not yet fetching the wine, she also urged him: