Reality Matrix Effect (9781310151330) (13 page)

Over the next several weeks, Al became
thoroughly familiar with Zorne
’
s
lab.

“How
’
re things
shaping up?
”
Al asked one day as the
electrodes were removed from his scalp.

“Interesting,
”
Zorne
said noncommittally.
“
Extremely
interesting. In fact, I
’
ve been wanting to
talk to you about it.
”

Al swung around in his chair, watching closely
as the physicist took several paces toward the laboratory door,
stopped and inhaled deeply. Then Zorne walked to a file cabinet at
the back of the room. He opened a drawer, removed several folders,
and returned to the table where Al sat expectantly.

“Do you remember the talk I gave the night we
met?
”
Zorne asked as he pulled up a chair
and sat down.

“Yeah. Sure,
”
Al
said.
“
Well, in a general sort of way, I
do. I remember that what you said got me interested enough to go up
and talk to you afterward, but as for the details....”  He
clucked apologetically.
“
It all sounded
pretty fantastic, but then, what happened to me in the newsroom was
fantastic, too. I hope you didn
’
t expect
me to understand everything you said. Remember, Azey, I
don
’
t have a physics degree.
”

“Unfortunately, a physics degree
doesn
’
t guarantee an open
mind.
”
  Zorne sighed and shook his
head.
“
It
’
s
always amazed me how people who consider themselves scientists can
dismiss an idea or, in this case, a whole field of study, as
‘
impossible
’
when
the history of science is made up of turning the
‘
impossible
’
into 
‘
common knowledge.
’

“At any rate, I have a special reason for
asking you about my talk. Do you remember anything about what I
called reality-matrix physics?
”

“I remember the term,
”
said Al.
“
Can
’
t say I remember much about the idea, though. I tried
to follow the explanation in your book, but I didn
’
t have much luck.
”
 

Zorne nodded.
“
That
’
s about what I figured.
It
’
s not a simple concept. At first
glance, it seems to defy common sense. But that
’
s why I was eager to work with you. You see, if you
actually did what you said you did when Roberts was shot, then you
would be the perfect subject to help me test my reality-matrix
hypotheses.
”

“Is that what all these experiments have been
about?
”

The scientist tapped a finger lightly against
one of the folders.
“
In a way. I wanted to
see whether you showed any signs of the psychic potential that my
principal hypothesis says would be necessary to change
reality.
”

Al blinked.
“
And?  Do I?
”

“Oh, yes,
”
Zorne
responded emphatically.
“
Your psychic
potential is one of the highest I
’
ve
measured. But so is your psychic inhibition.
”

“My what?
”

“Your psychic inhibition. Your resistance to
psychic experiences. I really had to stack the deck with you under
hypnosis to get you to release that psychic energy. But when you
did release it....  Well, you were able to do almost
incredible things with the tracks in the cloud chamber.
”

“What are you trying to tell me,
Azey?
”

“I
’
m not quite sure
how to put it. The work we
’
ve done so
far...” Zorne flipped through some of the papers in the folders
“
...confirms my hunch that activation of
your psychic potential is linked to your reality matrix.
I
’
d like to work with you some more on
this—to find out more precisely what triggers the release of that
energy and whether you can learn to control the
mechanism.
”

A dreamlike sense of unreality fogged
Al
’
s senses.

“Maybe I
’
d better
explain a little more about reality-matrix physics,
”
Zorne said, scratching at his beard.

“Yeah,
”
answered Al,
“
I think maybe that would
help.
”

Zorne searched the room with his eyes and
eventually spotted a deck of Zener cards that he had placed on the
table earlier in the day in preparation for a clairvoyance
experiment with another subject.

“See this?
”
he said,
tapping the back of the deck.
“
What color
is it?
”

    “
Blue,
”
Al answered quickly.
“
What does this have to do
with—”

“Patience, Al,
”
Zorne
said, holding up his hand like a traffic cop at a busy
intersection.
“
When you look at the back
of this card, you see something you call
‘
blue.
’
  So do I. But
what you mean by
‘
blue
’
and what I mean by it may in fact be very different.
We have no way of comparing what we actually see, though, so we
just agree to call this stimulus
‘
blue.
’”

“Okay,
”
Al said.
“
So what?
”

“That kind of perceptual difference goes much
deeper. It applies to the nonphysical as well as the physical
world. We each have our own set of attitudes, beliefs and values
about the way the universe is and how it ought to be. I quantify
that and call it a
‘
reality
matrix.
’
  You
’
ve heard the expression
‘
looking at the world through rose-colored
glasses
’
?  It
’
s the reality matrix that colors the
glass.
”

“Go on. I
’
m with you
so far.
”

“Now, whether or not I turn it into a table of
numbers, everybody has a reality matrix. People aren
’
t always conscious of it, though, despite the fact
that it determines the way they see the world.
”
  Zorne looked probingly at Al, as if he wanted
to be sure he was making himself understood.
“
You have a very strong matrix, Al. No matter how much
of a cynic you may think you are, you
’
re
really an idealist at heart. Your beliefs and attitudes are
strongly held and very important to you. In fact, they drive
you.
”

Al grunted.
“
Oh, come
on, Azey. You playing psychiatrist now?  How do you know what
my beliefs and values are, much less how much they mean to
me?  You
’
re talking
nonsense.
”

“Remember the questionnaire you filled out
when we first started working together?
”
Zorne asked calmly.
“
I
’
ve had all my subjects fill them out. The computer
analyzes the responses and puts together a general description of
each subject
’
s reality matrix.
I
’
ll admit the descriptions are pretty
rough. The questionnaire needs refinement, and so does the program
I wrote to analyze the responses. But then, I don
’
t think we can ever capture the full complexity of
the human personality. I
’
m not trying to
do that. I
’
m not a psychiatrist—or even a
psychologist, although some of this may sound like psychology.
I
’
m a parapsychophysicist, and what
I
’
m looking for has to be physically
measurable.
”

“Then what
’
s your
point?
”

“As I said before, your psychic power seems to
be linked with your reality matrix. Whenever I hypnotically
suggested the existence of a situation that conflicted with your
matrix, your psychic activity shot up significantly. The stronger
the conflict, the greater the increase in psychic
activity.
”
 

Seeing the puzzled look on Al
’
s face, Zorne scratched his head and frowned for a
moment.
“
Listen,
”
he said,
“
do you remember the time I asked
you to try and make all the particle tracks in the cloud chamber
travel in parallel paths?
”

Al nodded.
“
Yeah. I
couldn
’
t do it. In fact, I don
’
t think I had any effect on the tracks at
all.
”

“That
’
s right. Not
even when I hypnotized you and asked you to do the same thing while
you were in a trance. That
’
s when I
decided to play my hunch. While you were still hypnotized, I
planted a suggestion. I told you the world was on the verge of
nuclear war. The only way to prevent it was for you to make the
tracks parallel for 30 seconds. Like I said, you
’
re an idealist. Your reality matrix indicates that
you have a very high regard for human life and a strong revulsion
against war.
”

“And?
”
Al
prodded.

“Well, the tracks weren
’
t parallel for the full 30 seconds, but they did
become parallel for—let
’
s see, now—” 
Zorne checked his records
“
—for 3.4
seconds. It was incredible!  No one has ever been able to
exert that kind of control over cloud chamber tracks. And you did
that sort of thing more than once.
”

“Pretty weird,
”
Al
said, shifting about in his chair.
“
What
do they call that?  Telekinesis, isn
’
t it?
”

“It
’
s much more than
telekinesis,
”
said Zorne.
“
I
’
m convinced that John
Martin Roberts is alive today because his assassination conflicted
so strongly with your reality matrix.
”
  Al swallowed, his throat suddenly
dry.

“Your psychic potential couldn
’
t be contained anymore,
”
Zorne continued.
“
My guess is that the
potential broke through in what I call a ‘psycho-affective spike’
when you heard the early reports about the shooting.

“What in the world is a ‘psycho-effective
spike?’” Al asked.

“That’s ‘affective’ with an ‘A,’ not with an
‘E.’ You’re a journalist; so you probably know the difference.
‘Affect’ with an ‘A’ refers to emotion—in this case, emotion
related to the conflict between your reality matrix and the
so-called ‘real world’ around you.

“Basically, a ‘psycho-affective spike’ is a
sudden surge of psychic energy caused by strong feelings. This
‘affective’ part of the spike is very important: It’s the emotional
power behind the ‘psychic surge’ that shifts the reality
matrix.

“As for the headline change, that probably
resulted from a second spike triggered by editing the assassination
story. If it hadn
’
t been for the emotional
trauma associated with the release of your psychic energy, I
don
’
t think you
’
d
have any memory of the original headline at all. You
wouldn
’
t even know that anything had
changed.
”
 

Al looked blankly at Zorne, trying to distill
his chaotic thoughts into a rational comment or
question.

“Maybe the psychic energy you released
directly modified Roberts
’
wounds before
he had a chance to die, so that the doctors were able to save
him,
”
Zorne went on.
“
Or maybe the psycho-affective spike split reality
into alternative branches, with Roberts dying in one branch and
living in the other. At this point, I
’
m
not sure of the exact mechanism involved. We may never be able to
find that out for sure. After all, we can only exist in one reality
at a time.
”
 

Al gazed disconcertedly at Zorne, then shifted
his focus downward to the tabletop. His jaws ached as he fought to
contain the fury of emotion inside. Part of him felt relieved.
No—vindicated. Zorne was confirming that what Al thought had
happened actually did happen. But Alec Zorne was still Alec Zorne.
Azey seemed to approach their work together in a professional,
competent manner, but Al could still hear Vickie
’
s disparaging remarks about Zorne
’
s public association with counterculture causes. Was
all that political activity—which had cost Zorne so dearly—a
reflection of integrity or of bad judgment?  And if it was the
latter, did that bad judgment carry over into Zorne
’
s scientific work?