I am amongst the aberrations again, standing at the entrance to the sphere, staring at the WOOM suspended at its center. The thought of making another mistake like Orson Roth unnerves me, but I have to go again, if only to set some distance from those ugly memories.
“Have you made your choice?” Qod says.
“I have. Select subject 2.11317E+29, Dominique Mancini.”
“The medium? Any particular reason?”
“You said she belonged in one of the mundane spheres before you moved her to the aberrations, yes?”
“Correct.”
“So that must be because she was not recognized to have had any sort of … supernatural talent before the aberrations came.”
“Not necessarily. Through the ages millions of people have claimed some connection to a spiritual plane, but not one of them has ever had any genuine ability. Some were frauds; some were deluded; all were wrong. Mediums have been investigated by the Soul Consortium before.”
“But did any of them investigate Dominique Mancini?”
“Processing … yes, she has been experienced on three hundred and twenty-nine occasions, each time by a different person. No repeats.”
I feel a tickle of excitement. “Did any of them discuss her talents as a medium or psychic?”
“No.”
“I knew it. She’s hardly been viewed at all. Nobody recommended her, and nobody considered her worthy of reexamination. Before the aberrations came she was just an ordinary person—no supernatural ability whatsoever. Somehow these aberrations have given Dominique Mancini the ability to speak to the dead. What if she really could do it? What if we can find out what happens after death through her? She may have the answer I need.”
“You’re sure about this?”
“Yes, unless of course there’s something important you’re not telling me.”
“No, but she lived in the first era of mankind, prein-dustrial, sixteenth-century Lombardy. It was considered a peaceful time but hardly civilized in comparison to our standards.”
“You’re telling me that after I lived as Orson Roth?
I doubt the most depraved streets of that place could compare to what I saw in his mind. No, I want to be her. Send me in. She could have the answers I need, and I can’t afford to ignore the possibility.”
Subject 2.11317E+29: Select.
Subject 2.11317E+29: Aberration detected.
Subject 2.11317E+29: Override authorized—ID Salem Ben.
Subject 2.11317E+29: Activate. Immersion commences in three minutes.
A brief silence precedes the predictable lecture.
“Very well … Protocol compels me to warn you that once you have been immersed you will not be able to withdraw until the moment of Dominique Mancini’s death. Protocol also compels me to dictate …”
Silvery fibers slide from the walls to carry me to the WOOM, and as the shackles fix me in place and Qod’s words drift to the back of my attention, a speck of light flits from above to enter the machine—the legacy of Dominique Mancini ready to imprint itself into my mind.
“Farewell, Salem. See you in thirty-one years.”