The device hummed softly against Barry's skull.
At first, nothing happened. Just the gentle vibration of electromagnetic fields cycling through their patterns. Barry watched his laptop screen, monitoring the EEG readout. His brain waves looked normal. Alpha waves steady. No signs of distress.
Then something shifted.
It started small. A clarity in his thoughts that hadn't been there before. Like someone had wiped fog off a window he hadn't realized was dirty. Barry looked at the equations on his laptop screen and suddenly saw connections he'd missed. Patterns in the data that were obvious now but had been invisible moments ago.
His enhanced intellect, already significantly above normal, began multiplying.
The numbers on his research documents made perfect sense. Not just comprehensible but trivial. He could see three steps ahead in every calculation. Could predict outcomes before running the math.
Barry's heart rate increased. The EEG monitor showed his neural activity spiking. Beta waves intensifying. Gamma oscillations increasing in frequency.
But no pain. No headaches. No signs of the neural stress that had plagued DeVoe's experiments.
It was working.
Barry increased the power level to 10%. The hum grew slightly louder. The clarity sharpened further.
Now he wasn't just seeing patterns. He was understanding fundamental principles. The theoretical physics underlying electromagnetic neural stimulation suddenly made complete sense. Every equation.
Every relationship. Every implication.
His mind raced through calculations. Optimizations for the device design. Improvements he could make. Ways to increase efficiency by 40% just by adjusting the frequency modulation patterns.
15% power.
The world became crystal clear.
Barry looked at his research notes and saw them completely. Not just what he'd written but what he should have written. The gaps in his logic. The assumptions he'd made that weren't quite correct. All of it visible and correctable.
He grabbed a notebook and started writing. His hand moved fast, filling pages with equations and diagrams. Improvements to the Thinking Cap design. Theoretical frameworks for the Chamber he'd eventually build. Calculations about optimal ability integration during the particle accelerator explosion.
Everything flowed. Every thought connected to every other thought in perfect logical chains.
This was incredible. This was power on a level he'd only imagined.
20% power. Barry's perception of time seemed to slow. Not actually slowing, just his mind processing information so fast that everything else appeared sluggish by comparison.
He could read an entire page in under two seconds and retain every word perfectly. Could solve complex differential equations in his head without needing paper. Could visualize three-dimensional structures and rotate them mentally with perfect accuracy.
The EEG monitor showed unusual patterns. Theta waves normally associated with deep meditation appearing alongside beta waves of intense focus. His brain was operating in multiple states simultaneously.
But still no pain. No neural stress markers. The adaptive frequency modulation was working exactly as designed.
Barry ran the device at 20% power for thirty minutes. Testing his limits. Pushing to see where problems would emerge.
They didn't. His brain adapted smoothly. Neural pathways strengthened under the stimulation rather than deteriorating. The device was training his mind to function at higher levels naturally.
Exactly as he'd theorized.
At the thirty-minute mark, Barry powered down the device. The electromagnetic fields faded. The hum stopped.
The enhanced clarity didn't disappear immediately. It faded gradually over the next ten minutes, his mind returning to its baseline enhanced state.
But even after it faded completely, Barry could feel the difference. His thoughts were faster than before. Sharper. More organized.
One session had made him genuinely smarter.
Barry pulled off the prototype and checked the EEG data logs. His brain had responded perfectly to the stimulation. Neurogenesis markers were elevated, indicating new neural connections forming. Synaptic plasticity had increased. Zero signs of cellular damage or stress.
Perfect results. Better than perfect.
He'd done it. Built a Thinking Cap that actually worked without destroying the user.
Barry sat back in his chair, mind racing with possibilities.
With this device, he could accelerate his learning exponentially. Master any subject in days instead of years. Design the transformation Chamber with superhuman precision. Build a tech empire that would surpass all before him.
But he needed to be careful. The device worked at low power levels. That didn't mean higher levels were safe. He'd need to increase gradually. Test extensively. Make sure the adaptive enhancement remained stable.
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