Short Scary Stories

The Grand Sacrifice

The notion that our existence was crafted so eloquently without the guiding hand of a supreme being is equally as indigestible as that of an omnipotent, omnipresent God. I have always believed this uncomfortable paradox was the catalyst for my pursuit into the study of the human mind. What secrets must be kept, locked away for millennia, which could illuminate the answers to the questions that constantly plague each and every one of us? Those core doubts and emotions, buried deep within and kept chained to our subconscious minds, that taunt us with their vague yet constant nagging . Whose pervasive wailings are droned out by the inane and petty chatter of our everyday lives. Why are we here? Is their a point to existence? Be it darkness, beauty, or a dash of something not yet known – I aimed to uncover essential truth.

I do not wish to frighten those of you that have chanced upon this document. I have struggled with the best method of unveiling my discoveries for some time now, but believe that is imperative for this knowledge to be disseminated. If you are currently enjoying a pleasant, simple life, I encourage you return to your normal routine. There is still time and you are helpless to rectify the coming events. If you insist on pursing than I encourage you to write me off as your everyday run-of-the-mill quack who could not handle the pressure of intense research. Whatever you do, only convey the knowledge contained within to those of sound mind and resolute constitution, as it will surely cause havoc to those not prepared for an inevitable drastic worldview change.

It was not until I was awarded a lucrative research position with the World Health Organization that I was able to guide projects as I saw fit. While I would never betray my stimulating years of study or my stint as a neurological engineer with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, I had never been able to break through the comfortable womb of learning into the dimensionless chasm of discovery. I now possessed the money and freedom I desired. I sought to map the operational differences between well preserved Cro-Magnon brain samples found at the Peştera cu Oase with that of the modern man. I had hoped to isolate any differences to determine the effectiveness of evolution over the last 40,000 years. This would form the basis for research into providing a reliable catalyst towards accelerating growth in the human mind. Sadly we will not get the chance for such actions to manifest themselves.

The research went at a predicable, yet frustratingly slow pace. The process of mapping the brain was as intricate as it was time consuming. Specially fabricated electrodes had to be arranged with extreme precision in numerous permutations to cortical stimulation areas. As series of increasingly powerful currents would be introduced, and their path through the brains neural networks would be traced. The results would be compared to a software simulation of an optimized brain running various algorithms for achieving a variety of different goals – maximizing speed, minimizing chemical synapse activity between nerve cells, and minimizing information fidelity.

I was bewildered to find how advanced the Cro-Magnon brain was. It was generally accepted in the academic community that the modern brain has undergone significant changes, namely in areas involving verbal communication and multitasking. Thus I assumed our methods were fundamentally flawed when the first few experiments were finalized. In comparative benchmarks it was indubitably evident that certain sections of the samples brains out performed out optimized brain simulations. I squelched an abundance of time searching for a flaw in my experiments design that simply was not present.

When I realized the experiment was robust and the data therefore accurate it took all my willpower not to initially publish the results. I wanted this groundbreaking news to reach all corners of the globe. While the layman would likely not flinch at the results, this could have caused a paradigm shift in both the fields neurology and archeology. My status amongst my peers would be elevated and I would no doubt receive an abundance of grants to continue pursuing the secrets I had sought out to answer.