As once the winged energy of delight
carried you over childhood's dark abysses,
now beyond your own life build the great
arch of unimagined bridges.

Take your practiced powers
and stretch them out
until they span the chasm
between two contradictions.
For the god wants to know himself in you.

Ranier Maria Rilke

       Keller had parked his electronics van on a dirt road about a mile from the Parallax headquarters building. In the mix of other vehicles, the van didn't stand out. With the van Eck equipment, Keller had been able to observe the output on any of the computer monitors at Parallax headquarters. It had been easy to identify Gorgon's personal office computer and observe his plans and activities.

      During the past week, Keller could see that Gorgon was preparing for an important meeting with Warfield and other members of the World Geopolitical Council. Keller was determined to obtain as much information about Gorgon's activities as possible, so he had taken a month's leave of absence from his job and rented a motel room close to Parallax headquarters. He knew that what he was doing was dangerous--going up against a demon like Gorgon--so he worked alone. He checked in with Ben Emerson and Colonel Wilson periodically.

      Keller had set up his video equipment in the van so that it automatically recorded whatever appeared on Gorgon's computer monitor. But he liked to arrive at the van as early as possible so he could review what had been recorded. He knew that today was Gorgon's big meeting with the World Geopolitical Council members, so he wanted to arrive at the van extra early. He set his alarm at his motel room for 5 AM. After a quick cup of coffee, he jumped into his Jeep Cherokee and began driving to the van.

       As he turned off the main highway onto the dirt road, a gigantic explosion tore through the air and Keller could see a huge yellow fireball rocketing skyward. He knew immediately that it was his van; Gorgon's henchmen had blown it up. Keller sat in his Cherokee, shaking, stunned by the awareness of how close he had come to death. He wondered why he hadn't been killed. Perhaps Gorgon thought that a warning would be more effective.

      Fortunately, Keller thought to himself, I have that spare van Eck machine back at my motel room. I have copies of the video tapes we've recorded so far. And this time I'll be less conspicuous.

      On Tuesday, Ben and Frank completed plans via phone for the TV debate. They went over their tactics several times. As the time approached, Ben could feel the panic starting to rise in his stomach. So he concentrated on his feeling of confidence in his strategy, certain that he could break through Gorgon's defenses and expose him to the television audience. He had to succeed. America's future depends on what I do, he thought to himself. Sounds grandiose, but Frank agrees this is a matter of life or death. Gorgon could get a stranglehold on this country unless we stop him.

      Joan phoned Ben on Wednesday, reviewing the last-minute details of the debate.

      As he awoke on Thursday, the day of the debate, Ben felt terribly nervous. Throughout the day, as the time for the debate drew closer, he felt both terrified and eager.

      Shortly after noon, he received a call from Keller who told him about the van being destroyed by Gorgon. "But I have a spare van Eck machine," he assured Ben, "and I'm continuing to get important information about Gorgon's operations."

      As if I don't have enough to worry about, Ben thought.

      At five-thirty Ben drove to the TV broadcast studio. They had asked him to arrive an hour early. The live debate would begin at seven. On entering the studio he was met by one of Joan's aides who showed him to a make-up room. He disliked being made up, but knew it was necessary because of the lighting.

      At six forty-five he was escorted on-stage to the debate site. Ben hated the searing bright lights. He couldn't see anything. Coming on stage, Joan quickly said hi and introduced Ben to Gorgon. Ben shook Gorgon's hand somewhat reluctantly. Gorgon barely deigned to shake Ben's hand, saying nothing. Gorgon was very much into his own thing, getting ready for his performance.

      "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," Joan began her introduction, "tonight we will examine a volatile issue: can one human influence the mind of another? As we have recently witnessed on national television, a former national football league player has accused one of our panelists, Dr. Lyman Gorgon, with manipulating his behavior to bring about the defeat of the Los Angeles Leopards in the recent SuperBowl. Dr. Gorgon has graciously consented to appear this evening to speak to these charges.

      "Dr. Gorgon is the chief executive officer and chairman of the board of the Parallax Corporation. He has been and continues to be a consultant to many national personalities and to both corporate and government organizations. We're happy to have you here this evening, Dr. Gorgon."

      The camera panned to Gorgon. He sat comfortably in his seat, smiling. Gorgon was wearing a dark brown suit with a white shirt and red tie.

      "Our other panelist is a distinguished scholar in the field of mind-control, Dr. Benjamin Emerson. Dr. Emerson is Director of Personality Simulation with the Agency for Strategic Analysis, or ASTRA. Dr. Emerson comes from a distinguished family, his father was a well-known Harvard professor and his mother a professor and United States ambassador.

      "We're happy to welcome Dr. Emerson to our discussion."

      Ben was very uncomfortable with the directors and technicians scurrying around in the background, but he tried to produce his best smile as the camera panned to him. The feeling of panic was so intense that he didn't know if he could remain on stage.

      "Our program this evening," Joan continued, "will be something in the way of a debate. I'm assured by both Dr. Gorgon and Dr. Emerson that they have very different views on the subject for our discussion. We will conduct the debate in an informal manner. I'll serve as moderator and referee, if need be." She smiled at the camera. "Let's begin with Dr. Gorgon."

      Gorgon looked into the camera and began speaking immediately. "The accusations of Wally Globus are the workings of the muscle-bound brain of a stupid dolt. Wally probably read a large-print paperback novel and got the idea of blaming some mysterious mad genius for his atrocious performance in the SuperBowl. I know if I had performed as poorly as he did, I'd want someone to blame." The studio audience burst into laughter and Gorgon waited to continue.

      "Wally likely saw my name in the paper--as he himself admits--and decided I was a good mark for his scam. Almost certainly, Wally is being assisted by some Leopards PR man with a vivid imagination; I don't think Wally's smart enough to have thought up this scheme by himself.

      "From my limited experience with professional football players they have only enough intelligence to repeat such phrases as: "We can win if we just follow the coach's game plan," and "We're just beginning to reach our stride." Gorgon spoke the sentences in the tone of a Neanderthal.

      "The really interesting thing about this so-called debate tonight is not the maniacal accusations of a sub-human creature named Wally, but the question of whether it would be possible for someone to manipulate an NFL football team psychologically. As an expert on psychological profiling of human individuals and groups, I have captured the mental patterns of many different human personalities. In all instances, it requires that the personality have a minimum amount of intelligence, so the profiler can see how their mind works."

       "As far as I'm able to determine, a professional football player's brain has no coherent mental structure; it is a jumble of adolescent fantasies, fear of failure, extraneously created hopes, and basic self-doubt. In the psychological study of human personality, scholars have devised a theory called 'crazy states.' This refers to such mentally deranged persons as Sadaam Hussein and Adolph Hitler, men whose minds were such a miasma of psychotic delusions and grandiose fantasies that it would be impossible to control them. I would say that Wally Globus's insane accusations are in the domain of crazy states."

      Gorgon stopped and looked over at Joan.

      "Dr. Emerson, let's continue with your comments," Joan said.

      Listening to Gorgon's remarks had taken Ben's mind off his feelings of panic. "Dr. Gorgon has evidently had wide experience with crazy states--enough to know when another person can be dismissed as a stupid dolt. As I understand it, this debate it is not only to ask if an NFL team member could be mentally manipulated but whether this actually happened or not. Whether Wally Globus's accusations have any possible substance.

      "From what I know of the work of Dr. Gorgon I would say that he could have controlled Wally's behavior in just the manner Wally claims. In fact, I'm surprised that Dr. Gorgon is taking the position he is, because his own company, the Parallax Corporation, claims to be able to influence--if not outright control--the minds and behaviors of any human group.

      "The Parallax Corporation manipulates people to vote for their clients-- sometimes clients that are questionable at best. The corporation manipulates consumers to purchase the products of its clients--often products that are harmful, such as cigarettes. And Parallax develops television programs that manipulate audience feelings and behaviors.

       "Surely there are a lot of Wally Globuses in the target groups that Dr. Gorgon and his colleagues manipulate. In fact, Dr. Gorgon's techniques of mind control might be used to control a whole nation if an insane group of men set out to do it. They'd probably give their group an absurd name such as the World Geopolitical Council, something rather grand, I would suppose." Ben sat back in his seat, staring into the blinding lights behind the cameras.

      Gorgon glared at Ben with an expression of shock on his face. Then he realized that the camera was turned toward him.

      "I'm pleased that Dr. Emerson has done his homework," Gorgon responded. "I'm thinking of hiring him as my advertising agent--he paints such a splendid picture of my business powers. But I'm afraid I must decline to accept such a grandiose picture of our work. Yes, we can, in limited ways, influence certain human attitudes and behaviors. But you notice that I use the word 'influence,' not control.

      "Evidently Dr. Emerson has a lower opinion of human mental capacity than I do. He thinks I could twist your mind around my little finger. And I, on the contrary, believe humans are endowed with an inviolable free will that cannot be manipulated as he suggests. It appears that Dr. Emerson is trying to project his perverted distortion of human beings onto me. His cowardice is clearly revealed by a slanderous Web site he has put up in which he libels me, claiming I carry out illegal activities."

       Gorgon handed Ben an envelope. "This is a subpoena for your appearance in court on a charge of libel."

       Ben was visibly shaken by Gorgon's outrageous behavior of serving a subpoena on a TV talk show. But he managed to keep his cool for the moment.

      "You will have noticed," Ben continued, "that Dr. Gorgon has adroitly turned the argument from himself to me. His own corporate brochures claim that they can predict and control human opinion and behavior--not just influence them. The evidence is unmistakable that humans are being controlled--by television, by advertising, by political speeches--by the things that Dr. Gorgon and his cohorts do every day. And it's important to realize that this is happening, because their manipulation of our minds is only effective if we're unaware of it.

       "I believe Americans can become increasingly more critical in their thinking, examining the evidence--or lack of evidence--behind any claim. Americans can learn to look at many sides of an issue, not just the one that happens to have the most money to make its appeal, or the one that is loudest or appears to be approved by a supposed authority."

      Frank was watching the debate in an anteroom at the television station. He had accompanied Ben to give him moral support. As he listened to Ben now, he raised his right arm with clenched fist in a victory salute. His boy was doing just fine.

      "What I'm suggesting, bottom line," Ben continued, "is that the claims made by Dr. Gorgon about his corporation support the possibility that he could have manipulated Wally Globus as Wally claims. My own background . . . "

      Gorgon suddenly interrupted. "Your own background which includes a family history of mental derangement!"

      Joan was visibly disturbed by Gorgon's outburst. "Dr. Gorgon, this is Dr. Emerson's allotted time. Please wait to speak until it's your turn."

      "Sorry, Madame chairperson, I just thought a bit of reality-testing might advance this rather stale debate."

      "Dr. Gorgon, please!" Joan insisted. She turned toward Ben. "Please continue, Dr. Emerson."

      Gorgon's remark had shaken Ben to the core. He had never expected Gorgon to attack his mother on national television. "You will leave my recently departed mother out of this debate!" Ben exclaimed. "You did enough to her already!"

      Gorgon crossed his legs, waiting until the camera was focused on him. "My my, I knew your mother was in a loony bin when she died, but I didn't know her son was crazy enough to think that I had anything to do with her insanity."

      Joan tried to silence Gorgon, and the program director motioned for her to take a commercial break.

      Frank rushed on-stage from the anteroom to talk to Ben during the break. "Hey, man, get hold of yourself. This is what we talked about. Gorgon's baiting you. Don't go for it!"

      Ben was so emotionally upset that he could hardly hear what Frank was saying. Then he realized what was happening. "Yeah, Frank, you're right. Sorry. That no good son-of-a-bitch really got to me. I can't let that happen again."

      Joan and her director insisted that Frank leave immediately. The debate resumed with Joan trying to set a new tone. "As our audience can see, this issue is a heated one. Both of our panelists have very strong feelings about the question of mind-control. I want to continue now with a question of how much influence such things as advertising and election campaigning have on human behavior. Let's continue with you, Dr. Emerson, since you were interrupted."

      "I apologize for my outburst earlier, Ms. Kendall. This issue has very personal overtones for me." Ben looked at Joan to reassure her.

     "Influencing or controlling another person's behavior, can we do that? Yes we can--and do, constantly." Ben had worked out a new ploy during the commercial break. "But even more interesting is the question of motive. Why, if Wally Globus is right in his accusations, would someone want to control his behavior? Well, about ten billions dollars was bet on this year's SuperBowl--a tidy sum, you'll agree. If someone such as Dr. Gorgon could have manipulated Wally's behavior as is claimed, he might have made something like, let's say, forty-two point three million dollars for his efforts."

      Gorgon suddenly turned toward Ben, staring at him.

      Ben continued. "Control of human behavior can take many different forms. For example, certain corrupt military advisors during the Vietnam conflict used a ghastly method of getting North Vietnamese prisoners to talk. They would take a group of prisoners up in a helicopter. One of the prisoners would be asked a question about the deployment of their troops. If he didn't answer immediately, one of his buddies would be tossed out of the helicopter, to fall to his death. This was a part of the notorious Phoenix Operation. And yes, it did get the North Vietnam soldiers to talk--very definite mind-control. Some of the military advisors for the Phoenix Operation, I understand, were clinical psychiatrists like Dr. Gorgon."

      Joan was bewildered by Ben's comments. They seemed to be only somewhat related to the topic. She decided to take another tack. "Let's pause there, Dr. Emerson, to allow Dr. Gorgon to answer the question I posed about mind-control."

      "Yes, let's do get back to the main issue, Madame chairman," Gorgon said smoothly. "It's interesting that Dr. Emerson has digressed into some areas that evidently are of major interest to him: how a person could realize huge winnings by manipulating the SuperBowl and how, allegedly, North Vietnamese captives were made to talk. It takes a certain kind of mind to come up with such grotesque examples.

       "But let's get back to the issue: can one human influence the attitudes and behavior of another? Well, yes, to a certain extent. As Dr. Emerson points out, that's the essence of my profession--influencing voters, influencing consumers, influencing people who hear or watch our television commercials or programs. But when it comes to very detailed control of a person's behavior--as Wally Globus claims, all the research shows that that's impossible. General modes of group behavior can be somewhat influenced; specific actions by a specific individual--impossible. Unless," Gorgon paused and smiled, "unless Dr. Emerson has come up with some new superpowerful technology that turns free human beings into robots."

      Ben realized that he would have to use more stringent tactics if he was to get to Gorgon. After another commercial break, it was his turn to speak.

      "I'm surprised that Dr. Gorgon is being so modest in his claims. If you read his articles or listen to his sales pitch, you'll find a surprising absence of this kind of modesty. Here's one of his brochures." Ben showed the four-color, glossy, professional-looking brochure to the camera. "In it Dr. Gorgon claims: 'Our profiles of the voters in your district allow you to deliver the precise messages and perform the specific campaign activities that will insure your election.' This is a pitch to political aspirants. Now if their profiles can insure the voter's specific behavior, that's way beyond casual influence--that's definite control. If Dr. Gorgon can do it with voters, why not with a professional football player? Why not with a whole nation perhaps?

      "Dr. Gorgon claims he can insure that consumers will buy a client's specific product. Let's say a business tycoon, oh someone like Warren Warfield comes to Dr. Gorgon. Warfield has vast stock holdings in oil and he wants Gorgon to get people to buy his particular brand of gasoline. Gorgon is not going to tell him he might be able to influence customers to buy the product, he's going to claim that he can control customers to buy Warfield's stuff."

      Again Gorgon looked over at Ben, wondering what the hell he was doing and where he had obtained his information. It was his turn now.

      "Dr. Emerson continues to come up with interesting examples, from his vivid imagination I suppose. And I guess I should be less modest in my claims in this debate. In some ways it is true that I am able to influence human behavior in very specific directions. And I suppose that someone with a depraved mind might misuse the techniques of mind-influence to bring about very destructive results . . . "

      It was Ben's turn to interrupt. "And if he misused mind-control techniques he could re-direct an entire nation toward a kind of mindless acquiescence to the ambitions of, let's say, a group of wealthy people out to control America, possibly the world?"

      Gorgon was taken aback. He suddenly felt challenged by Ben's words. "Yes, that would be possible. In fact it would be easy!"

      "Why easy?" Ben asked. The "debate" had now turned into a question and answer session and Joan was somewhat uneasy.

      "Because American people don't really want to know what's going on," Gorgon exclaimed. "They don't know anything about their government, their world. They'd rather sit on a couch and listen to my commercials and elect my candidates and adopt the life-styles of my television programs than think for themselves. Most of them are as stupid as professional football players, that's why it would be easy!" Gorgon realized that he was moving into some questionable territory, but Ben had pushed his button.

      "So if a powerful group of men hired you, you could control the American people to do whatever this group wanted?" Ben continued.

      "Yes, it's possible. In fact, it would be child's play, because Americans have been programmed for years to passively accept whatever they're told. Bush II's war with Iraq was touted as a way to get rid of an evil, Hitler-like dictator that threatened the world with weapons of mass destruction--none of which were ever found. So Americans marched off to war, never asking whose interests they were fighting for. Certainly not theirs, they don't own oil in the Middle East. They were fighting so the people who were in power at the time could threaten Japan and Germany by showing how their oil supplies could be manipulated, so big American corporations like Halliburton and Bechtel could receive million-dollar reconstruction contracts. But Americans don't want to think for themselves, they'd rather watch the mind-destroying television programs we engineer for them."

      "But it would take a high degree of intelligence to know how to manipulate the mind of Americans, right?" Ben asked, keeping the pressure building.

      "Yes, a kind of intelligence that only a few of us have. A level of intelligence that is even able to use other people's false sense of freedom to control them to do whatever we want them to." Suddenly, Gorgon realized he was going too far. He had forgotten himself. He quickly shifted his body in his chair and looked straight at the camera.

      "But to return to our topic," Gorgon continued, "let's say a particular person wanted to influence the behavior of his wife, for example. Let's say their wife used drugs. Now that's a very specific form of behavior. Could that husband control his wife's behavior to get her off drugs? And if he couldn't, wouldn't it show that he was not very intelligent? That he was too soft, or too stupid, or too much influenced by his family's tendency toward insanity, something?"

      "You son-of-a-bitch!" Ben roared, completely forgetting himself. He raced over toward Gorgon, standing in front of him. The camera followed the action. Suddenly, the blare of the lights behind him forced Ben to realize what he was doing. He turned around, smiled at the camera, and took his seat.

      Joan completed the program with a few face-saving remarks about the volatile nature of the topic. She thanked both participants and the debate ended. Joan was so angry at Ben that she wouldn't look at him. She stalked to her dressing room. As he left the stage, Gorgon glanced over at Ben, smirking.




      In the weeks that followed the debate, Ben reflected on the horrendous outcome of the debate. Ben realized that he had a great deal to learn about himself. He redoubled his efforts to study Cartwright's material on the Perennial Tradition Website in an effort to gain deeper understanding of himself and the world.