Orb of Flan

     Raymond Eawest had something nagging at him as he steamed soymilk for a large no foam latte, but he couldn't pin it down.  He could swear he didn't belong here, though he'd been working at Joe's Seaside Espresso Café for almost two decades and the owners Mr. Jazny and his wife Lemtata had always treated him like family.
   "NO!" a voice within him screamed, "This is NOT your LIFE."
    Rays left arm jerked, causing milk and foam to spray all over the espresso machine and his hand. Luckily the milk wasn't that hot yet.  He shook his head and focused.  The morning rush was just starting and he had no time for this.  He pushed the nagging question out of his mind and started the two tall Americanos.

    Inside the FLAN orb, the real Raymond Eawest twitched, his pulse quickening.  The lab assistant with the parka and the clipboard glanced at the readout and monitors briefly.  It was nothing, just a brief excitement in Eawests dream sequence.  Dr. Rhea did not need to be alerted.  He will need to be informed when the subject is ready for the memory extraction program. He looked up at the FLAN and marveled.  It was a giant orb of actual flan, about sixteen feet in diameter, with a series of wires, cables, and vents coming in and out of it. Small fans inside and other things produced a strange humming pulse that emanated from it as it hung suspended above the lab floor from heavy steel and acrylic cables.  Inside, in a state of induced hypnosis crossed with coma, Eawest remained, naked and in a fetal position, tubes and I.V.s going in him, covered in electrodes and monitoring equipment.  Directly touching all this was the inner wall of flan which also housed an umbilical liquid.
    The lab assistant, whose name was Ralph, shook his head.  Old Doc Rhea was a loon.

In his office, George Rhea watched all on his security monitor.  Soon the ultimate test of his memory extraction program would be done.  After all these years it has come down to this. He closed his eyes and tried to make his thoughts stop. 
   George had first thought of the FLAN while on tour with Kraftpark way back in 1974.  It had taken him years to perfect it and he was testing it out now on one of his arch-nemeses.  He only wished he'd had it ready earlier.  He only had a little time to find out what he needed from Eawests memories.