Reality Matrix Effect (9781310151330) (12 page)

Suddenly, the lights flickered, went out
briefly, and then brightened once more.

“Damn!
”
Zorne
erupted, rushing to the computers.
“
Not
again!
”
  He inspected the equipment
with a quickness born of repeated experience.

“Well, at least this time the auxiliary kicked
in!
”

Al raised his eyebrows in an unspoken
question.

“It
’
s the wiring in
here,
”
Zorne explained.
“
When we set up the lab, they had to change the
electrical system. The company that gave us the low bid on the job
told us they could use the existing wiring, but now it turns out
that my equipment is creating too much of a load. It all has to be
changed, and it looks like that
’
s going to
take months. Meanwhile, we keep getting these short-circuits and
blackouts.
”
 

Zorne shook his head unhappily.
“
Cost me some valuable information when this first
started happening.
”
  He gazed
silently at nothing in particular for a moment, as if mourning the
loss of his data.

“Last week,
”
he
added,
“
the institute
’
s governing board finally agreed to spring for a
small emergency generator that would cut in if the power dropped
too far.
”
  He leaned toward Al and
gave him a conspiratorial wink.
“
I made
damn sure we got one installed right away, too—before they could
change their minds.
”
  Zorne
straightened up once more.
“
I store as
much as I can on tape, but that doesn
’
t
help when the computer
’
s processing data.
You lose power, and you lose a lot of valuable work. So I always
worry when the lights flicker.
”
 

The scientist turned and headed for the door,
with Al following close behind.

“How about a cup of coffee?
”
Zorne said over his shoulder.
“
You
’
ll probably want to
relax for awhile before we get started. Then I
’
ll need you to fill out some forms. I want all the
paperwork in order. Otherwise, the establishment types at the
foundations
’
ll never give this project any
serious consideration. It
’
s too easy for
them to just write me off as some crackpot.
”

Al stopped suddenly and looked at
Zorne.

 “
Are you?
”
he asked solemnly.

“Am I what?
”
Zorne
responded, halting after a few steps and turning to face
Al.

“Are you a crackpot?
”

Zorne laughed good-naturedly.
“
Well, some of my students apparently think so. They
call me
‘
Crazy Azey
’
whenever they think I
’
m out
of earshot.
”

“Azey?
”

“Right. Azey. When I was a kid, I hated my
name. The other kids—even members of my own family—used to tease
me.
‘
Smart Alec.
’
  That
’
s what they
called me.
”
  He smiled at the memory
and shook his head.
“
I wanted everyone to
use my initials instead of my first name. You know—A.Z. But one of
my cousins—she couldn
’
t have been more
than 3 or 4 at the time—she kept putting the accent on the wrong
letter. After awhile, everybody just started calling me Azey. So
now they can call me Crazy Azey.
”
 

He paused, his eyes fixed frankly on
Al
’
s.
“
Look,
let
’
s be straight with each other. The
study of psychic phenomena isn
’
t exactly
accepted by the scientific establishment. Unfortunately, that
leaves the field wide open for fakes and loonies. But
we
’
re doing serious research here, Al.
Just remember, the
‘
respectable
’
view used to be
that the sun revolved around the Earth!
”

“That coffee sounds fine,
professor,
”
Al said after a
moment
’
s thought.

“Make that Azey,
”
Zorne corrected as he led Al out the door of the three-story main
building, across a patch of green lawn and into a smaller and much
less elaborate structure that housed the institute
’
s cafeteria.

“You know, I don
’
t
think I really mind it when they call me
‘
Crazy Azey,
’”
Zorne was
saying.
“
In a world as insane as this one,
being called crazy is almost a testimonial to your
sanity.
”

Al surveyed the empty tables.

“Is this place always so empty?
”
he asked.

“Hardly. You should see it around lunch time.
But it
’
s only a little past 10
o
’
clock now—class time for most of our
students. Here,
”
Zorne said, pulling out a
chair,
“
you just sit and relax.
I
’
ll go get us some coffee.
”

Al nodded and sat down. He drummed his fingers
lightly on the tabletop as his journalistic eye examined his
surroundings. But it wasn
’
t the cafeteria
he was thinking about. There was something different about the
institute—something besides an unusual curriculum and an
unconventional faculty. The campus itself seemed makeshift. It
reminded Al of those old movies that always ended with Mickey
Rooney and Judy Garland and their pals putting on a big show.
“
Backyard musicals,
”
they were called. The institute seemed like a
backyard college.

“Ahhhh. Here ya go,
”
Zorne said, placing a cup of steaming black coffee before Al and
putting a second cup on the table in front of an adjacent chair.
“
Oh. I forgot. Do you take cream?  I
just assumed you took it black for some reason.
”

“You assumed right,
”
Al said.
“
Just a little sugar.
”

Zorne held up a finger, as if requesting a
moment of respectful silence, then reached into his shirt pocket
and withdrew two sugar packets, which he dropped onto the
table.

“I guess our mind nets must be operating in
sync today,
”
Al quipped.

Zorne grinned appreciatively.
“
Today it may be only a guess, but when we
’
ve finished our experiments, maybe we
’
ll be able to prove it.
”

Al nodded and smiled a bit self-consciously.
“
I was wondering about the
institute,
”
he said, reaching for a sugar
packet.
“
Seems a little unusual for a
college.
”

“Yeah, I suppose it does. It
’
s really the old Jason Bryant estate. Plus a few
additions, like the building we
’
re in
now.
”

“Bryant, huh?
”
said
Al.
“
I think I remember handling his obit.
Big-time operator. Seemed to have the Midas touch when it came to
investments.
”

Zorne nodded.
“
Yeah,
but he was always a little awed by his own success. Never had any
children, but he was a big supporter of education. Maybe because he
didn
’
t have a chance to get much of it
himself. He donated tons of money to various universities before he
died.
”

“He gave money to a lot of charitable causes
and organizations, too, didn
’
t he? 
Pretty private guy, though, the obit said.
”

“I guess so,
”
Zorne
said.
“
I didn
’
t
really know anything about the man until I came here. The point is,
he provided in his will that half his assets should go into a trust
fund for
‘
an institution of higher
learning devoted to broadening human horizons and finding creative
solutions to the world
’
s
problems.
’
  His widow, Alicia Bryant,
was the one who decided to call the place the Institute for Human
Potential.
”
 

Zorne shrugged.
“
Frankly, I think the name makes us sound like a bunch
of clowns who do nothing but contemplate our belly buttons,
but....”  He raised his hands, palms up, in a gesture of
resignation.
“
Anyway, she
’
s on the board. It was her idea to convert the house
to classroom use and move some other buildings onto the grounds.
They
’
re mostly old houses that were going
to be demolished to make way for new construction projects. The
insides of most of those had to be remodeled, too.
”

“Must
’
ve been an
expensive project,
”
Al
commented.

“True, but it was still cheaper than renting
or buying space anywhere else nearby. Besides, it saved some pretty
terrific old buildings, and it gives the place a kind of homey
feeling, I think. You know—more human and less
institutional.
”

Al nodded thoughtfully and sipped his
coffee.

“So,
”
Zorne said with
a deep breath.
“
Have you had a chance to
look over my book?
”

“I looked it over, but I don
’
t think I understand much of it.
”

“That
’
s all right,
Al. You
’
ll understand enough by  time
we
’
re through. If you have any questions,
be sure to ask.
”

“But won
’
t it louse
up your experiments if I know what the results are supposed to
be?
”
Al asked.

“Naaah, don
’
t worry
about that. The way our experiments are set up, it won
’
t matter much. For most of the experiments,
you
’
ll be hypnotized.
”

“What?
”

“I said you
’
ll be
hypnotized.
”
  Zorne studied
Al
’
s face for a few seconds.
“
Does that bother you?
”

Al was still thinking it over when Zorne
proceeded to explain.

“You see, one of the problems with psychic
research has always been getting psychic events to occur under
controlled conditions. The anecdotal information we have shows that
psychic experiences are often associated with strong emotions and
crisis situations. In order to find a physical explanation for
paranormal events, I had to be sure I would have paranormal events
to study.
”

“And?
”

“And that meant finding some way to induce
paranormal activity. That
’
s why I started
using various drugs. Many of them had a reputation for
‘
expanding
’
the mind. But the
drugs were too unreliable. For some people, they seemed to increase
psychic potential, but in others, there didn
’
t seem to be any change. Sometimes, the psychic
potential of the same subject using the same drug seemed to swing
from one extreme to another.
”
  He
paused to sip his coffee.
“
Still, I
learned a lot. In the process of doing those early experiments, I
developed a procedure that could effectively measure both psychic
activity and psychic results. But the drug experiments
didn
’
t give me enough control over
experimental conditions to fine-tune my work. That
’
s when I decided to try hypnosis.
”

Al nodded slowly.
“
Go
on,
”
he said.

“With hypnosis,
”
Zorne continued,
“
I could establish in the
subject
’
s mind all of the pre-conditions
that seem to enhance psychic activity. I could induce certain
emotions and convince the subject that certain things were
happening objectively. Then I could test the subject
’
s psychic reaction and correlate the results with the
activity measured by the electroscan.
”

Al ran a finger around the edge of his coffee
cup.
“
Just what does all that mean as far
as I
’
m concerned?
”
he asked.

“It
’
s very simple,
Al. I
’
m going to hypnotize you and have
you try using your psychic energy to influence the tracks made by
atomic particles in the cloud chamber. First, though,
we
’
ll try it without the hypnosis. That
way, we can establish a baseline of psychic activity for
you.
”