CHAPTER SEVEN

“Change is inevitable¹, except from vending² machines.” Robert C. Gallagher “Peanut M&Ms?” “Yes. But with everyone it’s diff erent.” “What in the world are you talking about?” “Have you ever gone into a restaurant or grocery store where you know they have a specific food that you really like, but they never seem to have it when you’re there?” Penelope’s mind flashed to the great grits/risotto incident the day before, but she wasn’t about to tell him how close to the mark he was. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” “Mine was peanut M&Ms. Every store I went to was always sold out.” “You are a very odd person.” “I’ve been told that before.” “I don’t doubt it for a moment.” “Back to M&Ms. Food is an essential of life and the diff erent elements of your mind want to control it. One part of your brain wants something sweet, while another part knows it’s bad for you and wants you to avoid it. When they get into conflict, the power of thought just makes it go away.” “Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?” “Not if you’re dying to have a peanut M&M.” “So all of my problems are related to food?” 55 The Fourth Awakening³ “Now who’s being ridiculous?” “What?” “You asked me for examples of things you wouldn’t understand and I gave you a general one and a more specific one. I gave no indication that it was an exhaustive list.” “Oh, so there is a list now? And you have all of the answers to my problems.” “Of course not.” “Th at’s reassuring⁴.” “Only you can answer some of the questions.” “So I already have some of the answers.” “All of them, actually. But your mind won’t let you accept them yet.” “Yet?” “Yes.” Penelope propped⁵ her elbows on the table, placed her hands under her chin and stared at Walker. He seemed completely sincere. Crazy as a March Hare, but sincere. “If I already have all of the answers, why do I need you?” “Excellent question. In theory you don’t need me at all. There have been many cases where people simply stumble into enlightenment without even realizing it.” “Enlightenment?” “I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.” “You’re right, I don’t believe you.” “You need to, and pretty quickly. Being around me, even for a short period of time, has been shown to accelerate the growth process. Th is will put you at risk.” “Just being in your presence is all it takes, huh? No shortage of ego⁶, I see.” Walker smiled but didn’t answer. “Ok, I’ll play along… what kind of risk?” “Thought is thought. There is no good or evil. A negative thought carries the same moral authority as a positive one. You’re in the early stages, and have not yet learned to control your emotions or how to protect yourself from thoughts you don’t want. Emotionally charged negative thoughts tend to be more strongly felt than positive ones. You run the risk of manifesting something that you really don’t intend or want for yourself or those around you. You need to be very careful.” “So think nothing but happy thoughts.” 56 Rod Pennington & Jeffery A. Martin “Well, preferably positive ones. Especially ones involving uplift ing emotions such as love, peace, or joy.” Obviously Walker was sarcasm⁷ challenged. “Or just think, ‘cancel, cancel’ after a negative thought.” “Cancel, cancel?” “Yes.” This interview was not going at all as she had expected. Th e few questions she had asked and the off the wall answers she had gotten in return had already caused her mind to begin to create a long list of additional questions. She was starting to understand the senator’s warning about him being exasperating⁸. “Positive thoughts; cancel cancel, got it.” Penelope was starting to feel like she had fallen down a rabbit hole and was now having tea with the Mad Hatter. Then something occurred to her. “Is the uncontrolled acceleration⁹ of the, what did you call it, the growth process, what happened on the Hermes Project?” A broad grin spread across Walker’s face as he nodded his approval. “What?” “Excellent deduction¹⁰. That is exactly what happened on the Hermes Project. We inadvertently allowed people to develop too quickly.” “What happened to them?” Walker’s shoulders slumped¹¹ and his face grew dark. “It was bad, but I’ll explain that in due course. Why don’t we get to the questions you really want to ask?” “Okay. Tell me about the Hermes Project and what methods you used to obtain mind control.” “Methods? Mind Control?” “Chemicals, electric shock, mind-altering drugs?” “Wow. You make it sound like we’re reenacting the CIA’s experiments in the 50’s and 60’s with LSD and drug addicts¹², prostitutes, prisoners and mental patients.” “When the government is spending this much time and effort to keep something secret, it has been my experience that it is not usually good.” “Have you considered the possibility we stumbled upon something that could change the world for the better but scares the daylights out of a bunch of powerful people who only want to protect the status quo?” Of all the scenarios¹³ she had contemplated¹⁴ while driving back from Columbia, she had to admit this one had not crossed her mind. “What 57 The Fourth Awakening did you discover?” Walker made a face. “Wait! Wait! Let me guess? You can’t tell me that yet.” “If I told you we had found a new path to enlightenment that didn’t require decades of meditation¹⁵ and prayer, would you believe it?” “Probably not.” “How about if I told you we have opened a door that will change the entire world as you know it, would you believe that?” “Defi nitely not.” “There you have it; I can’t answer all of your questions right now.” “Because my mind would refuse to believe your answers?” “It just did.” She studied Walker for a few seconds as she tried to decide what approach would be the best to get the most information in the shortest amount of time. He had the kind eyes and serene¹⁶ smile of someone totally at ease with himself. Despite her strong initial misgivings¹⁷, she felt herself not only starting to like this man with the annoying speaking style, but also beginning to feel that he was someone she might be able to trust. “Would my mind be able to comprehend what you were doing before you made your earth-shattering discovery?” “I didn’t make it. Dr. Carl Altman did the basic research…” “Who is Dr. Carl Altman?” “He’s a professor of Physics specializing in quantum mechanics and chaos¹⁸ theory at California Institute of Technology, and a Nobel Prizewinning scientist. He’s actually the one who started the project; I came in later.” “How did you get involved?” “The decision was made to move the Hermes Project away from the college campus and turn it over to the research wing of one of my companies… ” “That would be the ultra secret group that does work for the Defense¹⁹ Department?” “This was a request from Homeland Security, not the DoD. Have you always been a conspiracy²⁰ nut, or is this something you’ve just recently acquired?” “During my formative years we had the Vietnam War and Watergate. Forgive me for having a healthy dose of skepticism towards government.” “Healthy? Hmm. Why is it you reporters seem to think everyone in 58 Rod Pennington & Jeffery A. Martin Washington is channeling Richard Nixon?” “Because all too often they are. Can we get back to the Hermes Project?” “Okay. After we had taken over the project, I personally got involved.” “What about it interested you?” Walker let out a deep sigh. “Let me try to put this in terms you’ll be ready to accept. If I start to leave you behind, let me know.” “Okay.” “Two hundred years ago, if you wanted to go from New York City to San Francisco you either spent many months walking or riding a horse across the entire North American continent, or you risked taking a ship all the way around the tip of South America. Both choices were fraught²¹ with danger. Today, you can get on a plane with the biggest risk being that you might get stuck next to a crying child for six hours.” “Is there a point somewhere in my future?” “The point is this. The road to enlightenment has always been either long and difficult, or totally random²² and immediate²³. For seekers it oft en requires decades of commitment to meditation, ritual, or prayer. Many, if not most, people who commit their entire lives to pursuing it never get there. Others who are not pursuing it, and probably have never thought about it, just randomly²⁴ have it happen. In either case, we’re talking about a very small percentage of the overall population, probably far less than one percent. What we’re trying to do is use the explosion of knowledge that has occurred in the past 100 years to make the trip easier. Why walk when you can ride? Why ride when you can fl y? “Do you know how silly that sounds?” “Maybe now, but hopefully that will change soon.”

1 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

2 vending   

v.出售（尤指土地等财产）( vend的现在分词 )；（尤指在公共场所）贩卖；发表（意见，言论）；声明

参考例句：

• Why Are You Banging on the Vending Machine? 你为什么敲打这台自动售货机？ 来自朗文快捷英语教程 2
• Coca-Cola had to adapt almost 300,000 vending machines to accept the new coins. 可口可乐公司必须使将近三十万台自动贩卖机接受新货币。 来自超越目标英语 第5册

3 awakening   

n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的

参考例句：

• the awakening of interest in the environment 对环境产生的兴趣
• People are gradually awakening to their rights. 人们正逐渐意识到自己的权利。

4 reassuring   

a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的

参考例句：

• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
• With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。

5 propped   

支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sat propped up in the bed by pillows. 他靠着枕头坐在床上。
• This fence should be propped up. 这栅栏该用东西支一支。

6 ego   

n.自我，自己，自尊

参考例句：

• He is absolute ego in all thing.在所有的事情上他都绝对自我。
• She has been on an ego trip since she sang on television.她上电视台唱过歌之后就一直自吹自擂。

7 sarcasm   

n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic）

参考例句：

• His sarcasm hurt her feelings.他的讽刺伤害了她的感情。
• She was given to using bitter sarcasm.她惯于用尖酸刻薄语言挖苦人。

8 exasperating   

adj. 激怒的 动词exasperate的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• Our team's failure is very exasperating. 我们队失败了，真是气死人。
• It is really exasperating that he has not turned up when the train is about to leave. 火车快开了， 他还不来，实在急人。

9 acceleration   

n.加速，加速度

参考例句：

• All spacemen must be able to bear acceleration.所有太空人都应能承受加速度。
• He has also called for an acceleration of political reforms.他同时呼吁加快政治改革的步伐。

10 deduction   

n.减除，扣除，减除额；推论，推理，演绎

参考例句：

• No deduction in pay is made for absence due to illness.因病请假不扣工资。
• His deduction led him to the correct conclusion.他的推断使他得出正确的结论。

11 slumped   

大幅度下降，暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 )； 沉重或突然地落下[倒下]

参考例句：

• Sales have slumped this year. 今年销售量锐减。
• The driver was slumped exhausted over the wheel. 司机伏在方向盘上，疲惫得睡着了。

12 addicts   

有…瘾的人( addict的名词复数 )； 入迷的人

参考例句：

• a unit for rehabilitating drug addicts 帮助吸毒者恢复正常生活的机构
• There is counseling to help Internet addicts?even online. 有咨询机构帮助网络沉迷者。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

13 scenarios   

n.[意]情节；剧本；事态；脚本

参考例句：

• Further, graphite cores may be safer than non-graphite cores under some accident scenarios. 再者，根据一些事故解说，石墨堆芯可比非石墨堆芯更安全一些。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Again, scenarios should make it clear which modes are acceptable to users in various contexts. 同样，我们可以运用场景剧本来搞清楚在不同情境下哪些模式可被用户接受。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

14 contemplated   

adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The doctor contemplated the difficult operation he had to perform. 医生仔细地考虑他所要做的棘手的手术。
• The government has contemplated reforming the entire tax system. 政府打算改革整个税收体制。

15 meditation   

n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录

参考例句：

• This peaceful garden lends itself to meditation.这个恬静的花园适于冥想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation.很抱歉，我打断了你的沉思。

16 serene   

adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的

参考例句：

• He has entered the serene autumn of his life.他已进入了美好的中年时期。
• He didn't speak much,he just smiled with that serene smile of his.他话不多，只是脸上露出他招牌式的淡定的微笑。

17 misgivings   

n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧

参考例句：

• I had grave misgivings about making the trip. 对于这次旅行我有过极大的顾虑。
• Don't be overtaken by misgivings and fear. Just go full stream ahead! 不要瞻前顾后， 畏首畏尾。甩开膀子干吧！ 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

18 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

19 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

20 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

21 fraught   

adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的

参考例句：

• The coming months will be fraught with fateful decisions.未来数月将充满重大的决定。
• There's no need to look so fraught!用不着那么愁眉苦脸的！

22 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

23 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

24 randomly   

adv.随便地，未加计划地

参考例句：

• Within the hot gas chamber, molecules are moving randomly in all directions. 在灼热的气体燃烧室内，分子在各个方向上作无规运动。 来自辞典例句
• Transformed cells are loosely attached, rounded and randomly oriented. 转化细胞则不大贴壁、圆缩并呈杂乱分布。 来自辞典例句