Chronicle of Nautilus

Chapter 11: The Power of The Mind

Julian Shaw lived just below the greenhouse Tom had fought the Outsider. The cab took almost no time to there. The shambles of the reconditioning facility could be seen from Julian’s house yard.  Tom walked up the stairs and pressed a doorbell. It chimed with a soft whistling tune that was reminiscent to a lullaby, a sentiment from the owner’s childhood perhaps. According to Tom’s data, Julian was an exemplary citizen: a hard worker and initiator of many cultural events.

It took two minutes for Julian to open the door. He stood in the doorway dressed in green pajamas. His looks had no special marks: a lean elderly man of medium height with short black hair, black eyes and a sharp nose. An aura of intelligence surrounded him. He had managed to open only one eye after the unexpected awakening. Tom noticed a slight shock in Julian’s face after he identified the visitor.

“Oh, it’s such an honor to meet you. Please come in.”

The host took Tom to the sitting room. He brought the best chair he had and gave it for Tom to sit on. The shadow of another person passed through the corridor.

“Honey, please, go make some coffee, we have a special visitor.”

The shadow went to the kitchen slowly, without saying a word.

Tom sat down and leaned forward. “I am sorry for coming at such an awkward time, but I needed to talk to you.”

“I truly can’t imagine about what.” The surprise on Julian’s face was still there.

“One of the scientists at the bio labs told me you had a theory on a collective mind and other dimensions.”

“Oh, about that…”

They were interrupted by Julian’s wife. She brought two cups of coffee, put them on the table and disappeared.  Landau took a moment to inspect the room - a holographic projector connected to a home entertainment system was standing near a window, a comfortable sofa lay in the opposite corner of the room, the furniture was of the older fashion. A low wooden table stood in the middle of the room between Tom and Julian. Nothing out of order, Tom noted, he was expecting to meet a nut, yet this man seemed as normal as it goes.

“You see, I have a passion for philosophy and science. I was not lucky enough to become a scientist myself, but my current position gives me access to old information about interesting facts, they made me come to strange conclusions. I only want for people at the bio labs to prove or reject my theory. Yet, every time I go there I’m ignored. When you have an idea in your head for so long, it’s hard to calm down.“

 “Your current work position is at the library. Is that correct?”

“Yes, my job is not very exciting, but I get to read a lot.  My favorite subjects besides those I had already mentioned are religion and mythology. I happened to read some rare and interesting stories about demonic possessions, astral projections, psi-enhancing drugs, split personalities and so on.

“Did you know that there were deep, scientific analyses done on these subjects over the last millennium? Out of all stories, I was mostly amazed by the investigation of suicides executed by members of a sect called ‘Sons of the Beyonder’. They believed that if a person died in extreme pain then they would be able to get free from their body and go to the other side to live forever. They burned themselves to death. The most interesting fact was that families of all the dead members could hear voices of the deceased inside their heads for a long time after the suicide rituals. “

 “I see.” Tom listened attentively. “Please, continue.”

“Sir, where do you think your thoughts are now?”