The Elias Anomaly

Twenty One

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"This is bullshit," Joseph said. "I don't believe any of it."

"Joseph," Simon said. "This isn't the time for evidence of highly developed cynicsm and critical thinking. Time will tell whether this is the truth or not but for now you'll just have to show a little faith."

"You're not the one who's being told he has to escape into a computer generated reality for medical reasons," Joseph said.

The third person in the small private ward with Simon and Joseph was a small, nervous man who Simon had introduced as Dr Foulkes. Foulkes was a consultant to the Department of Sub-Realities. He told Joseph his specialism was the neurology of immersive digital environments.

Dr Foulkes had just delivered a twitchy and excitable little presentation. The doctor had made much use of high-res displays showing scans of Joseph's brain. He told them that there was an ever increasing erratic firing pattern in Joseph's neurones. Dr Foulkes said it looked as if Joseph's neural activity was increasing out of phase with his brain's ability to cope with it.

In the first instance this would lead to Joseph having fits but, if it wasn't contained, then within six months Joseph would be dead. While he had been unconscious the people in the hospital had wired Joseph's brain up to an endoplex simulator. With his mind interfaced to the neural feed the activity stabilised.

Dr Foulkes had reported the exact causes of Joseph's strange neurological condition were unknown. Before adding they abated when his neural activity was streamed into an artificial environment. This conclusion was the one Joseph found objectionable to the point of utter denial.

"Mr Elias," Dr Foulkes said. "There is a possibility that the chaotic neural firing we have observed in your brain may plateau on its own. However it has been subject to a statistically significant increase hour on hour. All the time you are not interfaced with an endoplex environment your brain becomes more chaotic."

"You put him up to this, didn't you?" Joseph demanded of Simon. "This all seems to be too convenient given your agenda here."

"On the contrary," Simon objected. "I am finding myself in a position where I am fighting fires when it comes to deploying my resources. I am a person who likes plenty of time to prepare for any kind of operation. I want to brief my consultants about what they're going to face. I don't relish the idea of sending someone into a hostile environment without protection."

"I'm sorry, back up to the bit about consultants," Joseph said.

"Oh, yes," Simon said. "I also don't appreciate having the time I require to ease people into the correct frame of mind to listen to a proposition I am about to make."

"What proposition?" Joseph asked.

"Dr Foulkes, if you could give me a minute," Simon said, ushering the small man out of the private ward and closing the door behind him. Simon flicked the lock on the door and turned back to Joseph.

"You're going to have to hold on to this. I don't have the time to break it down into parts that don't sound preposterous," Simon said in a low, conspiratorial tone of voice. "You'll have to get over your terminal cynicism and lack of faith in others. You have to believe that I have got into this particular rabbit hole, all the way down. I assure you this is what I personally accept as the fact of our new reality. You can doubt all you like but just entertain the idea that it might be true, okay?"