"Astrid hand me that."
"What is it?"
"It's a homemade version of THC (a.) Last time I made this I was standing in front of a forty story hotel and it looked like the size of a one story home. Yes, I'm getting buzzed kid! Oh, a little music, unlike LSD I'm not going to hallucinate so I will be able to continue working. Ah, I'm in an Apocalyptic mood. Music, 'King Crimson's' "Epitaph."
"Is he listening to Prog rock again?"
"The best era for rock post Hendrixian hard acid rock!"
"He's all excited," giggled Astrid.
"Oh boy, what is he on? That stuff will rot your brain," said Peter. "I did that stuff once, couldn't think straight the next morning."
"Ah, yes that is about right."
Olivia comes is, agent Broyles has been attempting to find out why people who are not terrorists have been found plotting to sabatoge manufacturing plants making weapon for military contracts. All of them have had some religious sentiment they can prevent an apocalypse by such sabatoge. [this is not a new idea] After having been caught Broyles has asked if Dr. Bishop will induce a religious experience in a few of the people who have been caught. He wants to see if they fit a pattern of behaviour that can be tapped into to prevent them from carrying out their plans.
"So, what are we doing." Astrid notes, why are there sensors attached to only one side of their heads…lie still please."
"But…why are we here?"
"Yes," said the Doctor, "lie still, I'm going to play some music."
"Are you going to torture us with weird sound effects?"
Astrid:
"Prog Rock."
"I'm not a terrorist."
"Sure you're not," said the Doctor's so, 'you two have just been caught planning to sabotage a plant with military contracts.'
The you lady spoke:
"It's a sign, we know it Satan is going to use the military against the Godly." [a popular theme in novels and with religious conspiracy theorists]
'That may be but still the sabotage you would cause would have hurt a lot of people. I'm not so sure God would want that."
[aside:]
"We are stimulating the right side of the brain because the temporal lobes process sight sound language emotion but only the left side assesses it."
"Rationalizes, makes sense of it. Where anything is coming from, how it looks sounds and…"
"Take the body away [they raise their eyebrows] and they want to know how it all happens."
"Let me guess," said Olivia, "this induces something like an out of body experience." [another popular theme]
"Never the less, you Mr. Broyles asked me to tap into where they are coming from. By stimulating the right temporal lobes they will not be analyzing it."
Olivia:
"I've heard of this it is a field of inquiry 'Neurotheology (1.) Without a rational left brain analysis people bring God into the reasoning of experiencing some altered perception of experience with no physical orientation."
"So, creating a magnetic field around the right hemisphere (2.)
with the magnet and wire coiled around it put near their heads does?"
"By-passes the left temporal lobe's recognition of the physical body for it will not be accessed by the rest of the brain for analysis of the physical body.
"You are not going to stun us!"
"You two pipe down, unless we can figure out why two college kids studying biology, both of whom are well read in Darwinian theory suddenly are religious, you are responsible for your actions."
"No, this won't hurt a bit. After we do this without drugs do you want a specific drug, I'd rather give you a choice. Hallucinogens, amphetamines?"
"Placebo?"
"Peter!"
"Walter, al…right, it's your job."
"Goodie! I love sensors on the brain."
The song induces both patients to give them view of the Apocalypse. Some Eastern and Western chants are then played. This simulates them both to repeat different prayers. The man quotes a Psalm from the Bible. The woman repeats a Buddhist prayer.
Next the Doctor darkens the room and has put virtual goggles on them with scenes from Nasa and '2001 A Space Odyssey'. They describe the greatness of God who is infinite and his ever-creative process which makes the universe ever-expanding. The woman talks about the Void, and of the recurring nightmare of successive rebirths coming back as other than the person they were or, as animals. When the music is replaced by the sound of storms. The man talks about Revelation in the Bible.
"Now," says Broyles who has just come in from the cold and goes to take a sip of cocoa and milk:
"I'll pass."
"It's alright Agent Broyles it is the real thing."
Broyles:
"The factory in the county. Is it something of import to the Revelation?
"It, says," states the man, " 'And the dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war….' "[he keeps reciting]
"Why were you going to destroy it (3.) were there…"
" '…which keep the commandments of God…'."
"What do you have against them."
"They will be destroyed if only they think darkly they will practice darkness (4.)
" 'And the rest of the men…' " [continues quoting]
"Who, which men?"
" '…plagues…' "
"What plagues?"
" 'Repented not of their works…' "
" 'Their soul is warped with selfish desires'." (5.)
Olivia:
"I do not think they belong to any one religious group or have one religious belief."
Peter:
"So you think they are part of some other type of group. After all there is a pattern here."
"There are religious groups that are formed from other religions," added Walter.
"What if," wondered Olivia, "there is some other reason."
"What do you mean agent?" asked Broyles.
"Remember the years before 911 there was a spate of films and tv shows and novels, that were about some coming disaster."
Peter:
"So," Peter makes a noise and motions to the sky, "Aliens coming to Earth?"
"Walter:
"A premonition."
"Perhaps; perhaps someone or something is prompting them."
"What about The Observer?"
Broyles:
"Agent, get a team of researchers; comb their course curriculum at school for any link. Courses in engineering, science, maybe curse descriptions of anything nuclear, environmentalist. Check the type of options they took or are planning to. Oh, and see if they belong to any groups: Communists, Religious Right Wing Fringe groups, anything even, occult." (6.)
"You know, when I was younger this kind of thing was common. Threats from cults, radical organizations. When I was up in Canada it was the separatist group the FLQ."
"And, what do you think there might be some older people behind this. We do not have any hard data to think that yet."
"Well, may be not people my age but with terror cells, it is possible some people could be changing tactics. Keep an open mind." (7.)
Notes:
THC is not a 'mild form of' LSD which a cartoon stated…
'The Rough Guide to the Brain', Barry J. Gibb, Rough Guides Ltd., Penguin, p. 221.
'The Incredible Machine', National Geographic, 1986, p. 362.
Ibid.
This is influenced by a number of things like 'Fringe' 'V' 'Alias' etc..
This is a paraphrase of something from 'The Zen Experience," Thomas Hoover, p. 67.
I cannot find the title page and copyright page for this for the year: 'The Bagavad Gita', translated Juan Mascaro, Penguin p. 52. [I hope I have the name spelled right my copy is falling apart.]
the search for anything any organization, Fringe, 'FlashForward', etc..
This story is not against any religious group or belief system…I am just using various texts for a story. Usually such stories are concerned with the Bible. Here I am looking at the possible misuse of any script whether purposefully or inadvertently by misinterpretation. It also fits in with tv film and novels conspiracy theory.