They had died when helping thwart a plan to undermine the government of the United States. Now Ben and Susan have returned from the dead and they must bring that government down. Standing in their way are Michael Black and Michelle Gray, the bodies of whom they now occupy.
-(The Story begins HERE)-
Somehow, I was not at all surprised by Professor Jordan's proclamation. At that point, I was beyond shock. It seemed that nothing was impossible.
Since human minds had become little more than a deadly playground for the rich and powerful, they had to stopped. I considered the other passengers on the flight and grimaced. How was that assemblage, the nine of us, supposed to accomplish that feat?
Jordan was smiling and nodding at me when I said, "You swapped minds, didn't you? You are Bishop King!"
"It was his idea," he replied. "You see, he too was dying. He was diagnosed with cancer and was given two, maybe three years to live. Like me, he wanted to close down all of my work, his work and your work. Our goal was sabotage the whole works so that not even the military or the government had access to it. He didn't have the resources or the knowledge to go it alone. Thus we agreed that two minds were better than one."
I shook my head in despair, "So you think this little ragtag group on this plane can accomplish it?"
"Uh, wait a minute, Professor, er ... Mr. King," Baxter uttered, "just what did you mean that two minds were better than one?"
He touched the finger tips of both hands together as he answered, "Let me put it this way, the professor and I joined forces. We didn't swap our minds, we merged them."
"What?" Baxter and I yelped in unison.
The old man looked directly into my eyes, "Michael, you'll remember I told you that I was responsible for what happened to the minds of Mr. Black and Ms Gray? You'll also remember mention of a program called Persephone?"
Baxter leaned forward in his seat, his interest peaked by Jordan's words. As for me, I affirmed his query with a quick jerk of my head. It was somewhat reassuring to learn that my brother was about to learn something he didn't know.
"Jordan had developed a theory that an increase of electrical amperage through the neural headsets might result in more than a transference of the minds of the subjects. He reasoned that each subject could possibly retain some functions of their brains, most notably, memories."
"I'm not following what you're implying," I shrugged.
"When the minds of Michael and Michelle were transferred into the other, their subconscious memories and psyches remained in place. Bear with me, but I had never subscribed to existence of a soul, per se, but I found myself adopting an existential view of the concept. I've determined that the human body is but a shell of flesh which houses the soul. The mind, complete with its thoughts, is but the electrical function of the soul within the body."
"Let me see," Baxter said, "if I've got this straight. When the transfers take place, it is this ... er ... electricity that jumps from body to body?"
When I emitted a loud gasp, the eyes of both men turned to me. There was a hint of a smile that formed on Jordan's face. "No, that's not what happens, Jeremy. The electricity, as you referred to it, would be moving in both directions simultaneously - away from each subject."
The professor nodded, but it was King who spoke, "Understand, that this 'electricity' is not the same energy that powers a light bulb. On the contrary, it is the synaptic discharge of neurons to and from the respective brains. The headsets were designed to convert the brain energies to null charges, neither positive nor negative, which allowed them to pass through each other. The result of course was that they exchanged places - those places of course being the brains."
"I'm sure that the process must be more complicated than that," mused Baxter. "I assume you are over-simplifying the dynamics so that we might better comprehend."
"You are correct," he replied.
To my surprise it was all making sense. I offered my own conjecture, "The modifications that Michael and Michelle made to their headsets allowed them exchange thoughts with each other. Their synapses were attuned enough to give them the power of telepathy."
"Go on," he said. I paused long enough to be encouraged to continue by his words and the wide grin he was sporting.
Remembering his earlier admission I pressed on, "You altered the settings on the headsets, in effect increasing their power. You knew that their minds would be transferred into one another!"
"Yes. I also knew that their minds would remain somewhat linked. Perhaps the subconscious mind is intrinsically connected to the soul, I don't know, but I suspect that perhaps each mind, even when transferred into another body, is never completely severed from its soul."
Baxter scratched his head and said, "You've taken the process to another level, haven't you? You've figured how to make the transfers ... one way!"
He lowered his head into his hands. There was dread in his reply. "Alas, the merger of the minds of Bishop King and Jordan is not the first time this process was undertaken." He lifted his head and stared long and hard at me.
"Jesus Christ!" I cried. "I helped him pull it off!"
"I'm afraid so. You should, however, take consolation in the fact that you had no way of knowing."
Baxter bolted to his feet and began to pace in front of us. "This is not good. I thought he might have transferred minds. But not ..."
"I'm afraid it's true. General Julius Gates did not die. He is very much alive," Jordan murmured.
I shook my head and pondered the hopelessness of our as of yet undefined mission. Our date with the dead could overturn our nation's government. Our enemy was the most powerful man in the country.
Since human minds had become little more than a deadly playground for the rich and powerful, they had to stopped. I considered the other passengers on the flight and grimaced. How was that assemblage, the nine of us, supposed to accomplish that feat?
Jordan was smiling and nodding at me when I said, "You swapped minds, didn't you? You are Bishop King!"
"It was his idea," he replied. "You see, he too was dying. He was diagnosed with cancer and was given two, maybe three years to live. Like me, he wanted to close down all of my work, his work and your work. Our goal was sabotage the whole works so that not even the military or the government had access to it. He didn't have the resources or the knowledge to go it alone. Thus we agreed that two minds were better than one."
I shook my head in despair, "So you think this little ragtag group on this plane can accomplish it?"
"Uh, wait a minute, Professor, er ... Mr. King," Baxter uttered, "just what did you mean that two minds were better than one?"
He touched the finger tips of both hands together as he answered, "Let me put it this way, the professor and I joined forces. We didn't swap our minds, we merged them."
"What?" Baxter and I yelped in unison.
The old man looked directly into my eyes, "Michael, you'll remember I told you that I was responsible for what happened to the minds of Mr. Black and Ms Gray? You'll also remember mention of a program called Persephone?"
Baxter leaned forward in his seat, his interest peaked by Jordan's words. As for me, I affirmed his query with a quick jerk of my head. It was somewhat reassuring to learn that my brother was about to learn something he didn't know.
"Jordan had developed a theory that an increase of electrical amperage through the neural headsets might result in more than a transference of the minds of the subjects. He reasoned that each subject could possibly retain some functions of their brains, most notably, memories."
"I'm not following what you're implying," I shrugged.
"When the minds of Michael and Michelle were transferred into the other, their subconscious memories and psyches remained in place. Bear with me, but I had never subscribed to existence of a soul, per se, but I found myself adopting an existential view of the concept. I've determined that the human body is but a shell of flesh which houses the soul. The mind, complete with its thoughts, is but the electrical function of the soul within the body."
"Let me see," Baxter said, "if I've got this straight. When the transfers take place, it is this ... er ... electricity that jumps from body to body?"
When I emitted a loud gasp, the eyes of both men turned to me. There was a hint of a smile that formed on Jordan's face. "No, that's not what happens, Jeremy. The electricity, as you referred to it, would be moving in both directions simultaneously - away from each subject."
The professor nodded, but it was King who spoke, "Understand, that this 'electricity' is not the same energy that powers a light bulb. On the contrary, it is the synaptic discharge of neurons to and from the respective brains. The headsets were designed to convert the brain energies to null charges, neither positive nor negative, which allowed them to pass through each other. The result of course was that they exchanged places - those places of course being the brains."
"I'm sure that the process must be more complicated than that," mused Baxter. "I assume you are over-simplifying the dynamics so that we might better comprehend."
"You are correct," he replied.
To my surprise it was all making sense. I offered my own conjecture, "The modifications that Michael and Michelle made to their headsets allowed them exchange thoughts with each other. Their synapses were attuned enough to give them the power of telepathy."
"Go on," he said. I paused long enough to be encouraged to continue by his words and the wide grin he was sporting.
Remembering his earlier admission I pressed on, "You altered the settings on the headsets, in effect increasing their power. You knew that their minds would be transferred into one another!"
"Yes. I also knew that their minds would remain somewhat linked. Perhaps the subconscious mind is intrinsically connected to the soul, I don't know, but I suspect that perhaps each mind, even when transferred into another body, is never completely severed from its soul."
Baxter scratched his head and said, "You've taken the process to another level, haven't you? You've figured how to make the transfers ... one way!"
He lowered his head into his hands. There was dread in his reply. "Alas, the merger of the minds of Bishop King and Jordan is not the first time this process was undertaken." He lifted his head and stared long and hard at me.
"Jesus Christ!" I cried. "I helped him pull it off!"
"I'm afraid so. You should, however, take consolation in the fact that you had no way of knowing."
Baxter bolted to his feet and began to pace in front of us. "This is not good. I thought he might have transferred minds. But not ..."
"I'm afraid it's true. General Julius Gates did not die. He is very much alive," Jordan murmured.
I shook my head and pondered the hopelessness of our as of yet undefined mission. Our date with the dead could overturn our nation's government. Our enemy was the most powerful man in the country.
Purple Mountain Majesty )
№ 2071
4 comments:
Can they thwart the evil that's about to be done?
Can they whip out this project forever?
Will they survive this ordeal?
Oh the questions. What a great read.
Have a terrific day. :)
Ditto what Sandee said.
Shazam!
Sandee,
Some good questions there. Hopefully there will be some good answers.
Jack,
Sandee just about covered it, eh?
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