Life Isn't Always Fair- The Winding Path III

Talk About Pressure

What's up readers! Quick question- Did you vote on the last chapter? It's okay if you haven't yet but please go do so! Votes, along with comments, help keep this book going! And bonus! It makes my day!

I love all of you so much! Thanks for reading.

A quick shoutout to all of my long-term readers who have stuck with me throughout this series!

Also, I really need your prayers because my youngest sister has a partial tear in the retina in her right eye. Last November she had an almost complete detachment in her right eye and had to have surgery. The reason why she has this at the age of 10 is because she has something called Stickler's Syndrome (look it up if you don't know what it is). With this syndrome, she has a higher risk of having a detachment because she also has bad eyesight (another symptom of Stickler's). Anyways, your prayers are much appreciated!

~Grace

Melissa's pov

After Bucky went under, Steve and I said a heartfelt goodbye. I made him promise me that he would come and visit. He promised and gave me one last hug before getting on a jet. I watched the jet fly away until it was no more than a speck in the sky against the setting sun.

I felt a light hand on my shoulder and glanced back. T'Challa nodded understandingly before turning away to walk back inside. I stood out there for a moment longer, before I, too, went inside.

I saw Shuri getting a table set up, holograms, two electronic clipboards (yes, there were electronic clipboards), two pens, pens that you use for phones or tablets, and two chairs. Shuri heard my footsteps and glanced up. Smiling, she walked around the table and gestured for me to take a pen, clipboard, and chair.

I did so and turned to her, "So, what's first?".

She took a deep breath, "We need to make a process of elimination. We need to figure out what areas of Bucky's brain did HYDRA mess with and/or targeted.".

I nodded my head, "Sounds good. Let's get to work.".

Shuri turned and pressed a couple of buttons on the table's screen. A holographic image of a brain pulled up. She used her hands and expanded the image. "I'm guessing this is Bucky's brain.".

Shuri smiled, looking pleasantly surprised, "Wow, yes it is. Okay, so...", she squinted her eyes and looked at Bucky's hindbrain. She pointed her pen at it, "I think that HYDRA might've targeted this part of the brain. What do you think?".

I used my hand and spun the image of Bucky's brain around. Nodding my head, I responded, "Yes. See this area?", I pointed to a part of Bucky's hindbrain. Which is in close proximity to the brain stem, in case you didn't know. "This is the cerebellum. It has a role in procedural memory, motor learning, and classical conditioning.".

Shuri jotted some notes down on her clipboard, before looking at me intently, waiting for me to continue. "I know for sure that classical conditioning is one of the things that HYDRA used whenever they wiped Bucky's memory. Classical conditioning is often what parents use with their child, pretty much always is unintentional, but is necessary for the child to obey his or her parents. HYDRA most likely used this method to bend Bucky to their will. They probably used it to make Bucky think that what he was doing was okay.".

"Along with the wiping of his memory of course.", Shuri added.

"Exactly. One thing that confuses me is how HYDRA managed to not wipe Bucky's procedural memory. I don't know how they were able to keep all of Bucky's basic memories. Procedural memory is like learning to ride a bike or knowing how to cook an omelet.", I explained.