My last novel started as a piece from here and I figure this is a good way to bank some of this for November, assuming I will do NaNoWriMo this year. — Ed.

Doctor Atlas

32601691 "looked on", "amused". Or rather "he" would have had "he" been capable of looking, of being amused, or even of being a "he". But saying "It perceived what Dr. Martin Atlas was doing at a particular vibration rate" doesn't really communicate what was happening either. As to why it interested 32601691, it's because Dr. Atlas truly believed he had found not only a way to measure spiritual energy, but to actually tap into it.

Dr. Atlas first came to this idea after being in a serious automobile accident. As he survived and recovered, he said he felt a warmth or glow around him helping him heal. His wife assured him it was just the blankets and the drugs. But Martin found out that people had been praying for him after the accident, although he was undecided on the matter of deity and doubting of religion. He was convinced that prayer and spirituality was a tangible, quantifiable force that could, in fact, measured empirically.

He broached the subject from an angle with one of his colleagues and, sensing resistance to even the concept, resolved to keep his work secret until he could prove it. Even from his wife. As far as she knew, he was building a radio telescope. 32601691 was interested in all of this because he knew Atlas was right, but did not believe Atlas could make the machine work. Of course 32601691 was also assigned to observe this, so he would have been perceiving this anyway.

Dr. Atlas hooked a cheap clock radio up to terminals coming from his spirituality wave filter, then sat down and focused positive thoughts on his wife. He then pulled the switch. And everything changed.