A Midnight Mind

Chapter 19: Boy Detective

Ethan wanted to know just what kinds of things he could do now that he knew he could manipulate the Worldmind. The first thing he asked was, "Can I change myself?"

Neil grinned. "You sure can. Heck, you're doing it now: I know for a fact your hair isn't that neat in real life. It's shorter than it should be, too. What you're projecting is how you imagine yourself without actively looking at a reflection. Ever notice how, when you get a haircut, you're sometimes surprised the next day when you see yourself in the mirror? You've gotten so used to seeing your hair long, that when you see it short you briefly wonder what happened, until you remember your haircut."

"Sure," said Ethan. "Happens all the time."

"Well," said Neil, "in the Worldmind, your hair would stay long, even though you got it cut in the real world, simply because your memories are stronger of yourself with long hair. It's your default image of yourself. Until you look in a mirror enough times to remember that your hair is short, your subconscious image of yourself is going to look like you before your haircut."

Ethan nodded. It made sense, which surprised him. "That's interesting, but it's not exactly what I was talking about."

"You want to know if you can give yourself superpowers," said Neil. "Everyone always wants to know that. Either that, or whether or not you can change your appearance at will."

"Either way, can you?"

"You have to understand that in order to project yourself as different from normal, you have to believe that whatever you want to change is normal. You want to have super strength? You have to believe that you have it. You want to look like Ryan Gosling? You have to believe that's how you always look. And even if you can, you have to maintain that belief the entire time. As soon as you stop concentrating, your brain will revert back to its normal state, making your projection look and behave how you would in the real world. It's very difficult to do, especially for an extended period of time, and especially when there are a lot of distractions around."

"Like if I'm fighting the dream man."

Neil nodded. "There are tricks to make it easier, though. There are always tricks when it comes to psychology, or so Ms. Stafford always says. The mind is capable of changing your thoughts, dreams, memories, perceptions, senses... and the Worldmind is made of those things. If you can master your mind, you can do anything."

"What are some of these so-called tricks?" Ethan asked.

"Well, one, it gets easier to convince yourself that things can work differently when you actively see them behaving differently, and especially if you make them work differently yourself. The more times you manage to trick your mind into thinking you're super strong, the easier it will be in the future. Another trick is by dressing a certain way in the real world."

"Say what?"

"Like, if you were to wear tights and a cape, you would feel your body wearing them when you enter the Worldmind. If you'd been wearing them long enough, and if you saw yourself in the mirror with them enough times, you would actually project yourself in that outfit."

Ethan squinted. "What good would that do?"

"Remember, the Worldmind is the world's collective unconsciousness. That includes their beliefs. People believe Superman can fly. I mean, that's why he's Superman, right? Heck, plenty of kids actually believe he's real. He has power in the Worldmind because of that. So, if you dressed up like him, projected yourself as him, the Worldmind would be more inclined to accept that you have all his powers. Now, assuming you can convince yourself that you are Superman, you could theoretically be the man himself. Inside the Worldmind, at least."