The Lucid: Episode Two by Thacker Nick & Tumlinson Kevin

Author:Thacker, Nick & Tumlinson, Kevin [Thacker, Nick]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Turtleshell Press, Happy Pants Books
Published: 2015-10-12T04:00:00+00:00

EIGHT

Mrs. Halpern flicked her hand over her head, and the second man nodded and left the room. A moment later he returned, two other men marching behind him.

Jocelyn frowned when she saw who they had in tow.

Teru.

The head of Panna International, Teru was a self-made entrepreneur whom Jocelyn liked and respected. He was a hard worker, and she had been impressed with his ability to motivate and encourage an otherwise lackadaisical workforce.

She waited for Teru to recognize her, but she noticed that his eyes seemed distant. He wasn't focusing on anything in particular, just looking straight forward at the wall behind her.

Mrs. Halpern hadn't even turned around to watch their entrance. Instead, she peered directly into Jocelyn's eyes, gauging her reaction.

"Wh -- what is this about?" Jocelyn asked.

Mrs. Halpern raised her hand and once again gave it a quick flick -- a small, circular motion.

This time, Jocelyn thought she heard a faint beeping sound, possibly from something hidden in the pocket on one of Halpern's guards.

Mrs. Halpern delivered an order. "Walk forward."

Teru started forward. Jocelyn's eyes widened. "Stop. Teru, stop!"

Jocelyn's words were lost on the older man, but she pleaded again.

Teru continued his forward motion until Mrs. Halpern had had enough.

"Stop," she said calmly, then, "turn right and continue walking."

Teru turned ninety degrees and began walking.

Jocelyn felt tears coming to her eyes.

"What is this? What did you do to him?"

"We did nothing, Jocelyn." Mrs. Halpern finally turned to her subject, pleased with herself. Still facing Teru, who was making his way toward the side wall of the building, she continued. "We merely amplified the effect. You and your team, by not shutting down production a year ago, are more to blame than we are."

Jocelyn was baffled. "I don't -- I can't even..."

Halpern held up a hand. "Of course you don't understand. You've been working with incompetent dropouts. However, we completely understand what's going on. This particular strain of heavy metal poisoning, as you know, is extraterrestrial. Found nowhere else on Earth. What makes it fascinating, therefore, is that it responds to earthly externalities. In this particular case, a high-frequency electronic signal, such as a microwave or radio signal."

"And that lets you control them?"

"In a sense, yes. But that's what we need you for, Jocelyn. Clearly, urging someone to walk in a certain direction is not earth-shattering. But if we can isolate the brain's effected receptors--those that are dedicated to these signals--we can possibly begin to design our own interpretations."

Jocelyn shuddered. Design our own interpretations. She wasn't exactly sure what "interpretations" Mrs. Halpern wanted to design, but Jocelyn was sure it wasn't altruistic.

"Currently our test subjects have shown minimal-to-moderate response to the general wavelength, though different frequencies have no effect whatsoever. We've tried a combination of wave patterns as well as directional inquiries. Nothing seems to multiply the effect, but we're still working. We have one very promising researcher looking at the problem from a programming and artificial intelligence perspective. But our physicists postulate that the missing factor is chemical, rather than physical.

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