The Road Not Taken

- Project X - Exploration Y -
(values to be determined later)

I knew if I banged away long enough on that old machine, the answer would come to me! I should have known. The spacing of the keys was uncomfortable, far better suited to Belly's long fingers. But it took yesterday's hard spring rain to remind me of the truth. I did not write the manifesto after all! A heavy burden shifted off my conscience, and onto his.

"But you will exceed all of them," said Jesus to Judas, "for you will sacrifice the man that clothes me." An act of brotherhood, not betrayal! For without Judas, Jesus could never have shuffled his mortal coil and risen to heaven. The Gospel of Judas fundamentally alters the meaning of the entire New Testament. And so, of course, it had to be purged from the canon. Likewise the Chapter of Ethics: it may cast an entirely different light on the manifesto. William Bell was no monster! The lost chapter will vindicate him, of this I am sure. But where will I find it? Sense memory is the key! Eyes are not enough. Olfactory and gustatory stimuli implant the deepest memories, in the most primitive and least manipulable regions of the brain. What was I eating back in those days? A sugary cereal of some kind, a breakfast-time tribute to Mary Shelley. Damn, what was it?

- Project 449 - Exploration 5 -

Mr. King certainly wasn't the first to construct fantasies about controlling fire. The Ancients took their turn at that. Prometheus delivered fire to man, and for that he was eternally punished, sacrificing his liver daily. Mixcoatl also gave the gift of fire, but it was his heart that was eaten. Surt led an entire race of fire giants in Muspelheim. In each case, fire (so often a metaphor for technology) was understood for both its productive and destructive qualities. The Romans' fire deity was known by two names: Vulcan, but also Mulciber. Might this dual name have hinted at fire's dual nature? Can it be a coincidence that Susan Pratt also seems to have had a twin?

The ability to direct fire outside the body seemingly rules out a purely chemical [...] the hypothesis of subatomic particles that could possibly mediate [...]

- Project X - Exploration (Y + 1) -

Agent Dunham was right to excoriate me. She deserves answers, and I ought to provide them. For our collective sakes, we need to solve for X and Y.

The solution might very well be found in the lost chapter. But Berry Boom is a sad substitute for Frankenberry. I haven't recovered a single pathetic memory.

A different sense, then. Auditory. William did enjoy listening to Robert Johnson while he worked, and especially while writing his notes. I preferred Chicago, but he insisted on Delta blues. Perhaps if I play those old records, it will jar something loose.