A Plague of Madness

Of all the miscellaneous attributions of the various concise notions created by the human race, it is quite possible that none have been so notoriously simplified than the basic concept of geometry originating as to be centuries before the notion of Euclidean Geometry and that of a reasonable pattern of mass or volume, so much so that even an axiom so bold in its qualification such as color has been deemed by the monotonous thinking of society to be trivial in itself. These were the thoughts of the mad analyst, Thomas Wilson, sitting upon a plane he was not even fully confident was interpreted correctly by his own mind. It nearly bewildered him to think of the fact that merely hours before, the world with which he had been familiar had been a matter of physical sense as it had always been, in which the prospect of an insanity plague obliterating the common sense of even his superior brain wave function was rendered absurd. This chain reaction of thought had now reached a point in which it coincided with a chain reaction of a different kind, which began with the very rare, and what seemed unrepeatable, event of a meteorite of some kind proving resolute against the protective lower stratosphere and was now predicted to be headed for the central portion of the city of London. On this eventful day, Thomas was feeling very unamused of the spectacle attracting the large crowd so predictably entertained on the toned day with a lack of warmth, threatening storm accumulation.

A meteorite was simply not a matter of deluded euphoria as was the opinion of Thomas, as it could be easily predicted by even the most dumbfounded astronomist. He then proceeded to cross the moist pavement and enter into the facility that was the area of his employment. As he entered, he was greeted with the object of his anticipation: cheerful noise pollution at the prospect of what knowledge this astronomical occurrence could bring. As the minutes passed, Thomas was left to endure the sound of the steady rise of jubilation as the meteorite approached at a high rate. At last, the moment of expectation arrived, as the meteorite struck the city, forming a spacious fissure in the pavement as a cascade of debris crumbled into itself in multiple pieces of dried tar. Within half an hour, the usual, yet once again predictable, traditional precautions took place in order to transport the meteorite to the very laboratories where Thomas conducted scientific research.

Soon Thomas found himself observing the structure in question along with a group of intellectuals similar to himself, yet despite all the mundane speech patterns defeating the silence of the space, one individual in particular proved to be more apparent to him than the rest, who was silently observing with an expression of utmost concentration nearly, if not entirely equal to, his own, the iron-like sphere that was the meteorite in the observation room. After the observations had taken place, a rather controversial decision was discussed. The topic being whether the contents of the sphere should be explored, or if the sphere itself should be left intact in order to be kept in a state of physical conservation. It was not long before the reasonable conclusion was made to look to Thomas for the solution to the conundrum, which was now left in a ponderance of physical ethics and scientific curiosity.

In the moment of controversial silence previously stated, there was an interruptive statement made with contrived clarity, “If I may intervene, I believe you would find it relevant in this discussion to see that the matter of scientific truth renders, in this scenario, the prospect of future preservation insignificant when compared with the possibility of present knowledge.”

The source of this voice was immediately sought out and was soon traced to be the same scientist who so carefully observed the sphere. Though this reply was trivial, its philosophical depth was proportional in quality to the very same conclusion to which Thomas had nearly come, and so the decision was made to pierce the outer structure of the meteorite and observe what may be located inside and perhaps finally answer the abnormality of how the meteorite resisted the Earth’s atmosphere still intact. Thomas soon found himself in the observation room with the mysterious sphere. He wore a radiation suit as a safety precaution of choice, lest any poisonous gases or fluids should escape the interior of the meteorite upon fracturing the surface. The tool deemed appropriate for the procedure was a high powered laser device operated elsewhere beyond the safety glass where a large gathering of other scientists stood taking notes, among them the same silent observer from before whose intellect Thomas had nearly come to admire. Usually, the laser device was used to split various metals or metalloids, but due to the iron-like structure of the space debris, it was rendered reasonable.

As Thomas was situated closer to the structure, the device operator raised the machine, and the procedure began easier than even Thomas had anticipated. As the first seconds passed, it appeared that the laser was working properly on the meteorite, while cutting a linear crack upon it, but soon the structure began to cave into itself, much to the surprise of all, in the formation that a rock crumbles. Thomas was contemplating whether to lean forward to receive a better view when suddenly he was met with an utmost unusual occurrence that he was sure would not have consequences of good content. A light of some kind, but not quite, had suddenly erupted from within the structure, in a color that Thomas did not recognize. This was even more peculiar considering he had an eidetic memory. This was followed by a nausea that Thomas had never known before and his imminent loss of consciousness.

Thomas awoke some time later upon his side facing the safety glass, where he was met with a startling sight. Every scientist had undergone a form of mental metamorphosis. One had never removed his sight from where the meteorite had been located or even blinked. His eyes were extended as far as his eyelids could reach, making his eyes some shade of scarlet. Another was simultaneously attempting to scratch the glass while trying to remove himself from the area. All the others seemed to be experiencing severe trauma as well, ranging from unable to properly stand to on the verge of experiencing some form of pestilence. One scientist simply stood with his back turned and appeared to have his arms crossed.

Thomas made a motion to stand, and once he had done so, he was greeted with a voice derived from the scientist turned away from the meteorite, “I believe you will find turning to the right will prove an utmost unwise decision.”

Being analytical, Thomas did not question this exhortation and soon recognized the voice as being the same as the one from the scientist that had shared his thought of opening the sphere, an action that had proven to be ultimately not well, due to the context. He thought it wise to reply to this particular individual’s urgency.

“May I ask what has occurred here to cause the current state of these people?” he questioned.

“If you must know, it was the contents of the meteorite that caused these men to go insane. I anticipated this, and I therefore trained my mind just before the reveal of the contents to jerk my head elsewhere after a sudden glance at the item in question. However, I do not think it is an item at all, but is instead an object that should be deemed non existent by all scientific standards and denies centuries of human evolution to believe a basic concept of mass, color, and matter, the effect being madness. I believe it is a plague,” stated the intellectual.

“Why so, and why have I not been affected like said individuals?”

“Before I turned away, I noted the surroundings of the peculiarity, and I noted that there appears to be an airborne wavelength that increases by range per second, spreading like radiation as well as visually spread. In reply to your second question, I fear you have, in fact, been infected. You were simply standing at such a close range when the sphere erupted that you have not received the initial shock of the pestilence. It is likely you will lose your sanity within two hours at the most.”

At this, Thomas began to feel quite nervous despite his tendency to not be subjugated by fear.

“Can this dilemma be delayed or perhaps counteracted entirely?” he questioned.

“Fortunately, I believe so. But your few moments of sanity are fickle at the moment, therefore I suggest that we proceed,” replied the mysterious man.

Once again, Thomas found the advice from him to be quite advisable. Some time later, they found themselves outside the facility where Thomas was met with an alarming sight. The plaguatory light from the strange massless orb had been noticed by others, infecting all in the premises. Repulsive vocalizations vibrated the air deriving from the infected.

“It is as I anticipated, the pestilence has spread. We must seek the solution elsewhere. Follow,” said the companion.

Thomas followed without question as they wandered central London where the infection had spawned full devastation. At last, Thomas and the individual found the area he was searching for: a barricade had been constructed surrounding central London where armed forces had arrived, their eyes shielded from the spectacle. It was obvious they, too, learned the consequences of gazing upon the unseen. Thomas and the unknown scientist approached a nearby guard, easily climbing upon the barricade to speak with him.

“Excuse me, sir, I expect you are, but may I ask the obvious and ponder aloud whether you are keeping recorded results of this pandemonium?” asked the intellectual.

The guard revealed an expression of one who has seen the effects of the terror of gazing into the universally unknown.

“Indeed, we are,” replied the guard.

“Very well, may we see it?” asked Thomas’ companion.

“I suppose.”

An hour had passed, and Thomas was subtly feeling the effects of the loss of his sanity, when the intellectual returned from observing the recorded results.

“We must return to the laboratories, it is urgent for the remainder of your mentality.”

Thomas pensively followed, though his perception of reality was rapidly beginning to fade. He gazed upwards and saw the buildings beginning to turn at angles not known to any expert of geometry, and the sky was under rays of unknown origin; the closest color he could hypothesize it could be was scarlet. In mere minutes, London, which had always been a city resembling all correct geometry, shade, and all proper attributions to physics, had made a startling metamorphosis into H.P. Lovecraft’s city of R’Lyeh.

“Quickly! We must proceed up the stairs and into the laboratory. Do not heed these hallucinogenic notions, for you are beginning to succumb to this plague of madness,” informed the intellectual.

At last they reached the laboratory. Thomas’ capability of taking the primary caution was gone with a single glance at where the meteorite had been. There, at last, he finally saw the horrible misshapenness of the color of nothing without a mass or a stable form.

“Quickly! Grasp the orb and deposit it into the particle distribution mechanism. This is the final solution,”stated his companion.

In Thomas’ sanity deprived state, there was nothing left but to accept the exhortations and place the orb into the mechanism and then activate it by the push of a button. He looked to his companion and saw he, too, had some form of scarlet about himself.

“At last, the solution has been made,” the intellectual uttered.

With that, he disappeared into the monotonous mass, along with every other physical form, and so Thomas was alone in his insanity, not knowing whether the Plague had ever been or just a hallucination experienced by him alone. But he was aware for the first time that he experienced euphoria in that desolation of madness, and he was freed from the true plague of the society constricted about him.