There was no reception at the train station in tiny Shelby, Montana. Nobody moved Leo’s container off its flatcar, or sidetracked the flatcar; consequently, Leo knew that he was going to get a very short visit while the train loaded and unloaded.
As he stood on the flatcar looking out over the little town, only one person was in view. A man waited quietly for Leo to notice him, then stepped up to the flatcar. “Would you be my guest, please? I know you won’t be here long, but I have something important to show you.”
“Of course.” Leo swung down to the siding and accompanied the quiet man a few blocks to his home. It looked about like any other. On the way, the gentleman explained that there was no militia in Shelby because no one had seen the need. As there was no militia, there was no direct connection to the revolutionary center; hence no reception.
“I knew you were coming because one of my students follows your wife on social media, and I hoped to get your attention for these few minutes.”
As soon as Leo sat down in a comfortable chair, his host began:
“Commissioner Torres, I believe I am about to apprize you of a scientific breakthrough that will change all human relations for the better. As far as I know, nobody else has done what I have here, and I am going to ask you to make sure that it is adopted on a national scale, or even on a world scale if we reach that far.”
Leo cautioned him: “You probably know that I’m not a scientist. I’m not even an engineer, and I’m pretty ignorant about scientific breakthroughs. As far as I know, the only scientific thing I hear about is the need for better ways to create and store energy.”
“Be that as it may, my invention is going to be needed by any future government, and you are, so far, the only representative of that government or future government that has come so far to Shelby. My name is Wendell Hood. If you had been a scientist you would have known about one of my great grandfathers, Leroy Hood of Shelby. He worked on the original human genome project.
‘On the subject of storing energy, I’m sure your engineers have already figured out that all they need to do is convert the energy they are already making into kinetic energy, which can be stored for as long as necessary. Water from hydroelectric dams, for example, can be siphoned from the bottom to the top of the dam and then re-released as needed. All that’s needed are towers that are taller than the dam itself so the siphoning process works.
‘The windmills producing wind energy during peak production times can lift heavy objects into tall towers using block and tackle equipment presently used in oilfields. Then, when the windmills aren’t producing but energy is still needed, lowering those heavy objects can drive dynamos. Or, if that’s too complicated for them, the lowering of weights could actually turn the windmill blades when there is no wind. Solar power would work similarly, just lifting weights during peak times and lowering them when needed. I’m sure they are already doing those things.”
Leo had to admit that he didn’t know if such devices were already employed or not, but he liked the simplicity of the idea.
Hood continued: “What I am about to demonstrate to you is far more critical than the energy problems. If you would, please put the headband by your chair over your own head. I’ll put another one on mine.”
When Leo hesitated, Hood went on: “I assure you that the voltage going to those tiny wires in the headband is considerably less than anything you would notice. There is absolutely no danger.”
Leo did as asked, and found the headband a snug and comfortable fit.
Hood: “Your brain, and mine, function through electromagnetic energy. It isn’t exactly the same as the energy we use in household appliances, but it is analogous. Like our kind of usual electricity, electromagnetic activity produces discernible waves. In other words, our thought processes are producing electromagnetic waves that, with the proper equipment, can be picked up by sensors outside our heads. Do you follow?”
Leo nodded.
“Any kind of electromagnetic wave that can be detected can, using the proper equipment, also be amplified. Once strengthened, it can be transmitted. We’ve known that for a long long time. What we didn’t know, until now, is how to read brain waves. Once they can be transmitted and understood, they can be translated into new brain waves detectable by a second brain. Now you see why we are both wearing headbands.
‘Let me ask you now, to close your eyes momentarily and tell me what you think of.”
Leo concentrated, then said: “All I hear is background noise, kind of like crickets chirping.”
Hood: “That is ordinary tintination. Lots of people hear it. But I’m not asking you what you are hearing. I am asking what you are thinking about.”
Leo: “I guess I’m thinking that I should be receiving some message, but I’m not.”
Hood removed his headband. “You didn’t think of a letter of the alphabet?”
Leo: “No, I guess not.”
Hood: I’m disappointed that I couldn’t show you how this works firsthand. But it does work with any number of my students. You should have been thinking of the letter “H.” I transmitted it for personal reasons, I wanted you to remember that it was Hood who first showed you this process. But I was already aware that it doesn’t work immediately for everybody. If you had time to work with me, you and I would be sending letters of the alphabet back and forth to one another with a certain amount of ease.
‘My students and I are already transmitting whole sentences, one letter at a time, through this device without ever speaking or even seeing one another. Distance is absolutely no barrier. One person’s brain waves, using our device, can be interpreted by another! It’s only a matter of time until we have learned to transmit more than the alphabet. We will soon be transmitting our higher thoughts, immediately, and over vast distances, without the intermediate step of speech. Think of the possibilities!”
Leo: “I wish it had worked on me, and I don’t doubt that you’ve made a breakthrough. I don’t know any scientific stuff firsthand, but I believe that a revolutionary situation creates the possibility of many breakthroughs that would have seemed miraculous under the old circumstances. I look forward to reporting on your project to the Center, and, if we succeed in setting up a committee for a world government, I can bring It up there – I wonder what effect this might have on diplomacy?”
Hood: “It will profoundly affect all aspects of human relations. We are, and probably soon, going to be able to break the restrictions of speech. All I ask, for now, is that you report that someone in Shelby is going to revolutionize human interaction, just report it and I’ll go on improving the process. Now, let’s get you back to the railroad.”