Noctuary by Thomas Ligotti

Author:Thomas Ligotti [Ligotti, Thomas]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
Tags: Lovecraft, horror, dark fantasy, occult, Thomas Ligotti
Published: 2013-09-10T16:00:00+00:00

Mad Night of Atonement

A Future Tale

Once more from the beginning; once more until the end. You know who Dr. Francis Haxhausen was and how his disappearance affected the scientific world. There was dismay and confusion when one of the leading scientists on earth withdrew from an active life of research. And there was doubt, even anxiety, when he could no longer be reached for consultation on this or that question of urgent relevance to his former colleagues, if not to the vast body of the human race. Ah, the human race. Pacing the floors of gleaming labs, the geniuses in their long white smocks fretted about the missing man of science. They bore the stigmata of worry upon their faces and their voices grew quiet, like voices heard in the shadows of a lonely church. Rumors multiplied, panicky speculations were the order of the day. But however troubled certain people had become in the absence of Dr. Haxhausen, they were no less bothered by his sudden return from a strange retirement.

He was now quite a different man, shaking the hands of old friends and smiling with a warmth that was entirely out of character. “I’ve been traveling here and there,” he explained, though he avoided elaborating on this statement. For a time everyone kept an eye on Dr. Haxhausen, eager to witness a revelation of some kind, or at least some clue to suggest what had happened to him. Consumed by a nerve-wracking vigilance, they could do nothing but wait. It was not long, however, before the inevitable conclusion had to be drawn: the unfortunate man had lost his reason, gone mad from years of overwork in the service of his calling. But perhaps there still remained some pretext for hoping that the scientist would recover. After all, he managed to avoid the constraints which some, including members of his own family, attempted to place upon his movements. And certainly this was an achievement that hinted at the survival of some measure of his old genius. Indeed, Dr. Haxhausen fought to preserve his freedom with very good reason, for he required a great deal of it—freedom, not reason—to pursue his plans for the future.

For almost a year he worked secretly, and alone, in an old, empty factory building located in an open field many miles from the nearest city. And into this building he brought a motley selection of mechanical devices and diverse objects of manifold use. Among Dr. Haxhausen’s incongruous collection were included some of the most modern equipment and instruments of science, a number of which had only come into being since his disappearance. There were also items from far earlier historical periods and a few imported from cultures that would not be considered very far along the path of technological progress. Thus, Dr. Haxhausen unpacked several oddly shaped vessels decorated with strange glyphs and primitive images. And these clumsy vessels he rested upon a table among elegant containers of nearly invisible glass. Then he pieced together something that resembled a dirty drain spout or an old stovepipe.

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