The Essence Of Life

lick of hell fire will be somewhat relieved. On the other hand, no doubt those who believe in reincarnation will find it to be a justification of their convictions. As you know,” he continued, “I have always believed that organised religion is one of the greatest evils that mankind has ever inflicted on itself and my discovery will go a long way to ending the imposition of spurious moralities on the many by a self-appointed few."

  On that rather unhappy note our meeting ended. Arthur left, determined to continue his experiments and I sat for quite some time pondering as to just what a Pandora's Box he was attempting to prise open. His revelations weighed heavily on my mind all through the ensuing weekend. He seemed blind to the consequences of his discovery should he be able to demonstrate its reality. I could imagine only too well the media storm that would ensue and the probably violent reaction of many sections of the public. Teaching duties took up all my time over the next few days but by the Friday afternoon I determined to seek him out and try to make him see reason. Accordingly I made my way to his small laboratory hoping to find him before he had left for the weekend. He was indeed there as was a tall gangling youth who he introduced as his new assistant, Roger Williams. I was immediately struck by Arthur's appearance. Usually he evinced every aspect of robust health but now in the single space of the week that had passed since last we met he seemed to have lost weight and his complexion was no longer ruddy but sallow and drawn.

  "Good heavens Arthur," I exclaimed, "whatever is the matter? Have you been taken ill?"

  He smiled ruefully. "No, not at all, it's just that I've been under a great deal of stress. I must confess things have not gone at all smoothly. In fact I have encountered some rather disturbing factors in my exploration of the life essence. I'm glad you came, I need to discuss the implications with you." He led me through into his office and we both settled down at his desk. Arthur produced a bottle of cheap brandy from a drawer and two glasses. As he poured out our drinks I noticed his hand was shaking quite badly. He saw my gaze and laughed apologetically.

  "I haven't been sleeping any too well," he explained depreciatingly. "To be honest I have had something of a scare. Roger has been working on the apparatus and has developed it to the point where it has become a matter of little effort to enter the life energy stream. In fact anyone could achieve this just by donning the head piece and relaxing. Things went well initially. I was making great progress in navigating my way around. It's not at all like our own reality, the sensation of time and space are quite different and difficult to interpret. None-the-less I have become quite adept at finding and interrogating the lingering consciousnesses of those being adsorbed back into the essence." He smiled wanly. "The tales I could tell you, the insights that I have had." He paused for a few moments and took a long drink from his glass. "Just when I thought everything was going so well I got the biggest shock of my life." He shuddered in horror. "There are living things there. Not the remnants of life from our own existence, but creatures composed somehow from the energy itself, with volition and consciousness of their own and now they have become aware of me and through me have glimpsed our own world, something which they previously only very dimly perceived. For want of a better term I have named them as Psychids. Every time I enter their reality they cluster around me and I feel them probing at my thoughts trying to learn more about us. I simply don't know what their intentions are. They don't seem to be threatening but I cannot help but feel that in some way their intent is at least ominous and in some way sinister."

  My reaction was immediate. "You must stop all this foolishness at once," I told him. "You are interfering in things which are better left well alone and it is obvious that no good will come of it, either to you personally or to the world at large."

  Arthur sighed. "I cannot stop," he said. "This is far too important to abandon now. Don't you understand this is opening up an entirely new understanding of the nature of reality and life? There is simply no way that this can be ignored. I owe it to science to continue and attempt to communicate with these Psychids. What incredible discoveries might be just within my reach, what immense benefits might accrue for mankind." We argued on for at least another hour but Arthur was adamant that, whatever the risks, he would continue to delve into his new world and attempt further contact with the alien and possibly inimical beings that he had found there.

  As I recall it was towards about the middle of the following week that my phone rang just as I was preparing to leave. It was Williams, Arthur's assistant and he was in a greatly agitated state. It appeared that Arthur had been engaged in one of his trance-like explorations of the unconscious. Roger had been monitoring progress by means of the brainwaves registering on the EEG machine and had realised that something abnormal was occurring. His attempts to arouse Arthur had been unsuccessful and there seemed to be some evidence of a psychological trauma. It had always been made clear to him that apart from myself no-one else was to be made privy to the work they were carrying out and so he insisted that I should come at once to the laboratory. Not unnaturally I made all haste to try to ascertain the problem and render assistance. On my arrival I found Arthur slumped in his chair next to the EEG apparatus, although Roger had removed the maze of wiring which would have been wrapped around his head. A rapid check showed his pulse and breathing to be normal. He was unconscious but I noticed an occasional twitching of his hands and legs, perhaps no more than would be observed of a sleeper experiencing some sort of nightmare. I was in a quandary as to what to do for the best. I could call for an ambulance but as Richard had said the ensuing need for explanation would invite considerable opprobrium from the university authorities and undoubtedly a ban on any further activities; I felt that as a colleague I owed it to Arthur to avoid any such circumstances as far as was possible. In some little desperation I took hold of shoulders and shook them roughly, calling his name and shouting at him to wake up. Happily this seemed to have had an effect for he opened his eyes and half sat up. At first he seemed to be totally disorientated; his eyes were unfocussed and he made seemingly random movements of his arms and legs. This state of affairs continued for perhaps some five minutes while Richard and I tried to rouse him to a more normal state of consciousness. At last he gave every evidence regaining his senses, peering round the laboratory and appearing to recognise Richard and myself. In response to our enquiries he waved his hand and after clearing his throat several times he managed to speak.

  "Please don't be concerned," he said. "There was a minor problem, but nothing I could not have dealt with eventually."

  I pressed him for more details but he proved to be evasive and dismissed my fears as unwarranted, making vague reference to imbalances of psychic strata and anomalous surges in the quantum energy states, explanations which I considered equivocal and ambiguous. His demeanor seemed to be distant as though he had some matter of much greater importance distracting him. Finally he thanked me for my assistance and pleaded fatigue and the need to rest so after urging him to take a break from his experiments until he better understood the potential dangers I left. It was with considerable amazement that I learnt a few weeks later that he had tendered his resignation and left the University, taking Roger with him, and departed, so it was said, to go to London, although with what intentions remained a mystery. The circumstances of his leaving led to much speculation, much of it malicious and ill-informed. As our friendship was well known and there was a suspicion that in some way I had been involved in his activities I was summoned to the Dean's office and subjected to a prolonged interrogation. I felt that under the circumstances my best policy was to plead ignorance and therefore decided not to reveal any knowledge of Arthur's more esoteric activities, only confirming that he had been involved in attempting to understand the workings of the subconscious.

  Not unnaturally I was hurt that he had left without saying goodbye or letting me know what had prompted such an abrupt change in his life. Time passed. My life return
ed to its previously mundane and prosaic existence and I became immersed in the usual academic activities. I had given up all expectation of hearing from him or learning what he was doing and so it was therefore with some considerable shock that as I was turning the pages of my newspaper one Sunday morning about six months later I discovered an article concerning a new cult which, it claimed, was gaining a growing membership amongst the rich and famous. To my complete amazement the column was headed by a photograph of Arthur who was named as its founder. The aim of the sect it said was the enhancement of mental abilities so as to gain a greater understanding of the mysteries of nature and human existence but the writer alleged that in fact this involved a form of brainwashing and mental subversion through the employment of some form of electronic apparatus. The fees for membership and for undergoing the training and treatment necessary to progress through the various stages of enlightenment were suggested to be highly exorbitant and intended to do little more than defraud its acolytes. The cult, which had