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"You may be correct on the matter, Darling. I have tried to ease her gently into learning but such a savagely shrewd mind as that of our Leticia would not be deterred by a few lessons. A wonderful exposition of trepanation, that was. I could not have said it better myself. Of course, you know I had to wonder. The things that others consider evil, if they are so, or they merely go against the grain and part of the?inner kernel. The truth that society wants us to suppress about ourselves. The original sin, that is also the source of our glory.

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I have attended to some lunatics. Some of their eyes are unambiguously dulled, some are too feverish to reason with. Yet others, I have found myself understanding why Dr Reynolds selected those few for his experiments. It is a kind of a blessing and a cure. The curse is in not being able to control themselves. The blessing is, according to Dr Reynolds at least, to be able to see into higher realms. They do see something, as you say, only I have to wonder,?if they see outside. or inside, into who they are supposed to be. The primeval state that man was born into on purpose, rather than by accident. Of course, as we have all concluded, there is just something special about me that makes me see such things. The natural state might not be so natural for others.?It may very well be the catalyst that drives the lot of them crazy, because they don't know how to be the normal self,, how to function as one. The mind might not like suppression for its own sake, but could still find the comfort of understanding it, ability to handle it well.

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The treatment is fairly severe. But when you think about it, should the human mind be deprived of the natural state of predatory cognition that horrifies it so, it might be a blessing for it. The pain, the change, as radical as may be, perhaps they all contribute to the mind feeling at peace with itself. I may shudder at such a notion of peace, and you certainly would, but the rest of them might even welcome it, without being aware of their relief. I have to wonder, from the scientific point of view, how many faculties they can preserve after the surgery, and where those all go. After all, just because they remain dormant, does not mean they are nonexistent. Dr Reynolds experimented extensively with locating such hidden faculties, both before and after the surgery, He believes to have located the higher mental function in some cases even after chunks of the brain tissue were removed, which may be the one thing that fascinates me the most about the whole study of brains.

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For if it doesn't vanish,?cannot work fully within the mind itself tangibly, and cannot be traced with electro magnetism to the surrounding area, exactly where can it go? I?suspect there may be more to the physical theories of Ether than meets the eye.??Maybe he does make them schizophrenic, and maybe, something else, less and more at the same time. Several of his patients learned to know things they were not supposed to see, know, or understand. Things about the world, of which they had no learning, and things about the future which was far from obvious. The results were not conclusive enough, too few successes for any serious scientist. But if Reynolds makes them see something, I am coming back to the same quandary. Does he make them look outside, inside, or towards some other location altogether?" Henry speculated with a curious smile that spoke of his delight with the question, and lack of satisfying answers to it. The combination that enabled him to exert himself and his creative imagination in the most unusual, and most importantly, original ways. ?

"He started treating people's very brains, if you can imagine such a thing. Found some document in the Oxford Library that described in Greek how?a student of Hippocrates,?Triptolemus, performed some complicated form of trepanation, with a method unheard of by contemporary scientist. You don't have to know what trepanation means, I barely know what it means, but suffice it to say it sufficiently inspired Reynolds to?pursue a semblance of a medical career.

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He was treating patients like myself, but likely got bored with them. First focusing in physical disorders of the brain, then moving on to?abnormal brain conditions present in lunatics. And even that was not enough for him. He decided to look into what matters more, how to establish the spiritual causes of mental ailments. I don't think Dr Reynolds could truly be described as medical doctor anymore," Henry admitted, recalling the various trinkets, bowls, and equipment which would be more at home?in an alchemical laboratory or an astronomical observatory.

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"He did make some progress though. In areas,?technological, physical and mostly spiritual. It turned out that he could use the various mental problems to open the eyes of his patients. Where they could see more of the world than we do. Say, people who do not believe in God, often refuse to believe because they cannot see Him. But, just step into Dr Reynolds lab, and he might show you how to see. I wouldn't recommend it in earnest though. The procedure is somewhat painful. Or, at least it is if you are healthy, when you are mentally ill, the pain lessens somehow. I suppose I would call my colleague a kind of a in between expert. An experimental?scientist, to be sure. A great, if strange theoretician of consciousness, probably. Which figures, his greatest role model is the Egyptian Imhotep, who combined the physical sciences and the journeys into the Egyptian After World," Hyde thoughtfully explained.

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"As for souls, I am not sure. Other people experience connection like that on the physical level, although perhaps they do not endure in such cases. I suppose the mind can observe and recognize in another the features important to it, especially when they are so outstanding. But if there is a particular soul connection, I would not know precisely how to explain it either. If it is on the level of?a soul, than the greater general question could be: what allows for such connections to form where souls are concerned?" Henry wondered skeptically.

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"Well, yes, the shade of green was starker somehow, brighter, more exciting at once. Perhaps it was just my mind playing tricks on me, suggesting what could be. There were other peculiarities, longer...fangs perhaps for the lack of a better word. And then there was the forest with the tall trees. Never have I seen trees of this height anywhere around. I haven't gotten to talk to an expert yet, if there is any in regards to ages of trees,?perhaps if such trees are only possible somehow in the future, that in itself would be indicative,"?Hyde shrugged with an uncertain smile.?

"Well, the very reason I can see Leticia's point is my understanding of the Emerald Tablet. Balinas may have said it first, but it makes perfect sense to me. Things don't happen out of nothing, basically, something has to precede something else, as it's cause. At least in the physical realm. A contradiction can be reached through the logic of infinite descent if we take the statement as absolute. But if we regard any finite chain of events, then one thing does appear to lead to another.

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I might be missing something, but a linear chain of events makes sense to me. In the example of me reaching out for something like my potion, Leticia's logic makes sense. Because I already have something, I subsequently reach for something else. But being special, is a different matter. Something has to lead to me being special. Unless of course, well, I have these dreams, almost like memories of being rather, well it would sound silly, but different from a human. A different green shape I occupy in my imagination. If I could believe such an imagining could be true, I suppose it could explain to my satisfaction what makes me special.

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Otherwise, my efforts at self understanding are flustered. Would I have to accept Dr Reynolds nonmaterial ideas then? He could accept that a physical?event has no physical antecedent, but a spiritual one. I suppose his attempts to breach the gap between the physical and the spiritual could be called successful, but I feel a little queasy when something physical cannot be explained in physical terms. It's so...messy, I suppose.

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As for these?'dream demons,' I could surmise that the time flows differently for them than it does for us. After all, this has been reported about the fairies, so why not demons. Very interesting all around, even if I can make but little sense out of it all," Hyde thoughtfully concluded.

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"I see what you are saying. Yet for one to be special, does there not need be a certain, I don't know what to call it precisely? How do scientists in your world explain the notion of being special then? I could see it as a strange combination of alchemical substances or some such, but what triggers?the imbalance?initially, if not genetic material? Dr Reynolds has come along way towards establishing varying degrees of brain activity, observing it, stimulating it, but even such deviations ought to have some physiological explanation, or so it seems. I find myself forced to resort to dissatisfying metaphysical arguments instead of the physical ones, but even they do not allow me to establish a prior cause to a unique human creation like myself...Most fascinating it all it," Henry?thoughtfully concluded.

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"Dream strength that, also, expresses itself in physical terms? It is?very puzzling, how they can achieve such a state of affairs. The transference of energy, the increase of your powers, I fail to see how it works precisely. Do they not expose the powers you already have? Or do they open you up to newer powers? The later possibility is harder for me to understand, though I suppose if they are completely spiritual entities of some sort, and can operate like traditional demons, well even then. I could never quite understand how the demons of lore were able to modify the physical world, if they are not its inhabitants. I think Dr Reynolds has a theory about electricity?being the one force external entities can produce without resorting to the physical realm. If you are correct,?if he is correct as well, that would certainly present some possibilities for myself.

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Although, even if such a boon from the demons is possible, I might prefer to deal with an outside witch than a demon. I have no experience working with one, but the thought of a lesser, controllable evil is more reassuring that that of a demon, however unconventional. The main problem is, I am not sure I would even feel my soul drifting away at their command, because I wouldn't know what to look for in an instance like this. Fortunately, I have not been approached by any demons yet, despite all of my unquestionable wickedness," Hyde?chuckled with amusement at his own words.??

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"So, you, yourself, can take energy? That sounds even more unlikely in a sense. As if you were a demon. But the energy has to go somewhere, where does it go, when you take it? You cannot use to physically sustain yourself can you? That would seem...too fantastical, I suppose, though perhaps a development one could expect from the very distant future..." Henry grew serious once again, alternating between fascination and skepticism in equal measure.

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Henry considered it all and nodded. He had thought of it as expansion, but it was hard to believe in the veracity of Tabula Rasa. Even the Greeks like Hippocrates or Galen seemed to have known that special parents produce special children. There was a dependence of sorts between what came before and later. Nothing started in emptiness, not in the physical world. He had to have some seed that allowed him to be different. The very fact that Rena mentioned him having barely any equals even in her own world had to mean his?special nature was highly pronounced. He?could wonder how it came to be, but had to accept it as true.

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"Yes, I must have some of that.?Although...I am?still wondering how," Hyde suddenly admitted. "Neither of my parents showed any signs of being thusly distinguished. Perhaps they were better at hiding how they felt, or if I inherited mine from somebody further down the ancestral line...How peculiar, that you must be right, and yet, the possibility never crossed my mind. Deeply meaningful it may be,?but true, that I already have what I have been trying to bring out..." Henry marveled.

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"As for demons, well I?am not a great believer in them, but?I think their main fault is, as far as?humans are concerned, at trying to get us to do what we already want to do at any rate, and choose not to, for unclear reasons. Look at all the medieval caricatures of the devils. They are not evil looking, not menacing, but a joke waiting to happen. As if they know something we do not. Something like, we want to do the bad thing and yet dare not, until we find their clawed hand graciously extending their unwelcome help. The Greeks, it seems they viewed them differently, to some degree. As a raw power, as a middle stage between godhood and humanity, that could help if it chose to, or was swayed by skillful sacrifices. Not such a bad deal the Greeks had with their demons, ancestor spirits or former heroes. No loss of soul, only some equity, I rather appreciate their style," Henry admitted with a sheepish grin at his own unquestionable wickedness.?

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I'm friends with the monster that's under my bed.
I get along with the voices inside of my head.

Warming up to his partly lecturing, partly sharing tone, Henry Hyde found himself pausing at the barmaid's?remarkably astute observation. He had to puzzle it over. He had believed himself trying to reclaim what was lost. It seemed so right, that he would be a pioneer, treading an unknown, and thus thrillingly perilous path, with benefits beyond measure should he succeed. And yet, she had to be right. He had to have some?understanding of what was lost and needed reclaiming. He had believed such understanding to be?theoretical in its entirety, but it was tempting to think some practical elements in him called for their own expansion, through the medium of the potion.

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How strange it was that he never cared about the barmaid before, never even considered her lasciviously for his target, and yet, found such good rapport with her. Perhaps Rena was the trigger to new things. Like a ripple on the surface of the pond, she spread her influence through his mental and?physical needs. Of that he was already aware. But expanding his social circles... he would never have believed such a thing?had he not witnessed it himself.??

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"You might have a point, though I could not gather?what unique combination makes me so unusual. I suppose some people have to be born that way, but I haven't met many who were very similar to me. Oh, it is customary to say sugary things, such as we are all special in our own way, but it does not seem to be true in my experience. And?yet, though I could be deemed special,?in particular if you're correct, I cannot account for it in scientific terms..." Henry?pondered, somewhat bewildered, and a bit thrilled to think of himself in this new fashion.

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The obvious conclusion, that Rena? may just prove to be even more special than himself was not lost on him. What powers she possessed, he could not even begin to contemplate. Her awareness of his discoveries, it began to make him uncomfortable until she offered a reassurance, though how sincere, he could not say.

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"None like me?!" Henry repeated, both pleased and mollified. "So, I am the only one who manages to reclaim what was lost in humanity, despite all the achievements of your future world, I am the only one? And do people, scientists of your time, know what makes me so special?" the good doctor wondered seriously, almost embarrassed at his own earnestness. ??

"That's right," Henry agreed with Leticia's assessment. "You did tell me to behave, so you must have the skill of discrimination. Well done," he complimented, genuinely pleased that the quandary he presented she was able to successfully resolved. Working with dichotomies and how to reconcile them was a valuable skill that most of his assistants sadly lacked. They could still get the job done for a while of course. But being trusted with sensitive materials, that was a different matter. Hyde found himself both surprised with the barmaid's innate intelligence, as he was with his desire to trust her good will.

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He should not have trusted her, should have been on the alert for some sophisticated trap. He almost wanted to feel that way towards both ladies. They could trick him, use his unlikely trust against him. It would feel safer to only divulge partial information to them, he knew. But somehow, the fact that Rena did not seem alarmed, put his mind at ease, and convinced him to trust his instincts.

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"No, Darwin should be sufficient to be familiar with. Those other people, they do point out some interesting ideas, but in an obtuse sort of way, they lack genuine understanding into the nature of men, or so I tend to believe," Henry explained thoughtfully.

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"And you seem to be understanding everything I said. I mean, I would not be interested in your assistance if I thought you dull or inapt, but that is a different level of intelligence altogether. At any rate, yes, I am pleased to see you getting it. The man as we know it lost something, and that something I intend to reclaim. I am not exactly sure how to characterize it precisely. As a kind of predatory intelligence. As a dark vitality that is not in the least inhibited by superficial morality. The kind of thinking that allows the king to feel superior to his subjects, and an intelligent man, to his inferiors. It is of no consequence, the definition of what the ancient man lost, I suppose, except as a point of curiosity. But yes, by all the gods of nature, you certainly got it!" Henry admitted with an open admiration that was replaced by instant surprise upon Rena's casual pronouncement.

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"I have? But, well, in all of my ideas? Why, that is remarkable....Isn't it remarkable darling, you don't seem to treat?it as remarkable somehow? How does...well...are men like me that common in your future world then?" Hyde wondered almost peevishly. He found himself almost relieved that there were more like him, and hurt, that his wonder quest was more mundane that he could have imagined. And above all, he found himself developing a great deal of respect for that future he truly wanted to see as possible now.?

"Truly?" Henry Hyde asked with mild skepticism. "You don't strike me as the obedient girl necessarily, and it is that characteristics?of yours in particular that does not displease me. I often find the most obedient?people to be the less discriminating, and as you can probably guess, never have been an obedient?one myself, not even as child. Although I suppose?in times of trouble, it feels reassuring to know that you would listen without an argument. Considering that times of troubles may be upon us,?your readiness to follow instructions?is good to know indeed," Henry admitted, his wicked smile turning into an unlikely serious expression, One by which most of his friends and colleagues would recognize him.

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"Immortality is not to be frowned upon, the savage strength and speed are certainly desirable. but there is another factor I don't expect you to appreciate, Leticia. Perhaps not any woman, for all I know,"?Hyde shrugged, uncertain if even Rena fit his description or not. She was outstanding, but subject to the whims of her sex nonetheless in some regards.

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"I have been trying to somewhat follow the theory of great Darwin, retroactively, so to speak. What I mean is that the entire evolutionary project is fascinating to me. But equally remarkable is the idea I hold very dear, that?what we think of the primitive man is largely untrue. That?the civilized man, gaining the comforts?of modern developments, the relative safety away from wild beasts, the laws offering protection from the more dangerous humans, also lost something in the way.

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A kind of a brain that made?the modern man into what it was. That fanciful stuff of early religions in Mesopotamia, I speculate that by that time the early man already lost his stature, and had to rely on those insignificant symbols, tokens of other powers. I don't think it?should have been done this way. I don't even think it could have been done this way. How could this weakened human deal with those savage animals that mauled it, while also worshipping them? It makes no sense whatsoever to me, no matter what Petrie Flanders and Wallis Budge claim in their?Books of the Dead.?

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The Germans, strange as they may be from what we have seen in our Victor fellow, are at least right in their philosophy, that Nietzsche, in particular, with his views on individuality.

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Philosophy aside, I am enthusiastic about the ability to restore man to his full grandeur. To make his brain go back to its original state. To have the already present instincts back to their sharpened state.?Some scientists would call my kind of human devolved, using parts of the brain deemed atrophied from lack of use, but then do those giants of stagnation even understand Darwin's theory at its fullest? I have found actual means to induce the change in myself. It is the next step of human evolution, it is surely the next step?in my own, but after failed experiments at communicating my truth, I no longer expect the magnitude of my achievements to be intelligible to anybody," Henry sadly admitted, his gaze serious, focused, concerned and intense, all at the same time.??

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He had?only planned to answer the barmaid soon to be his assistant, but his response turned into something grander, a kind of sermon he could expect himself to give to modern Heretics, obstinate?about what they refused to accept, however plausible.

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Forcing himself to bring his mind back to something lighter, the kind of topic?his female companions should better appreciate, Henry shrugged again, coughing with some self embarrassment. "Well yes, the servant is ideally supposed to save you all the hassle. And if I am correct, Leticia would be quite busy?in the days to come. Thus her help and guidance would be more limited than the steady assistance you might require, dearest Rena," Henry shrugged once again, his mind still teeming with the possibilities of becoming the first among a new kind of men, one that was?destined to be by the scientific mechanisms behind the process of creation itself. ?

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