Eyes of the Oracle (part two)

The voice that replied was a husky one.

"I see...well, meet me at Outram Park MRT in 1 hour's time. I'll be wearing a red cap."

The man didn't say anything more, and Lisa was left wondering what it was all about. She was sure that anyone who dealt with people like Kin couldn't be simple. She had to be prepared...mentally...physically.

As it turned out, the person who showed up really wasn't simple. It was already so hot yet he wore a thick brown coat as if it was the tundra. The red cap he wore simply didn't make him look sophisticated, rather a failed hybrid of a kid trying to be a man. Lisa cautiously approached him. He too was wearing sunglasses, could he be like Kin?

The man saw her approaching and greeted her. He took off his sunglasses and Lisa was relieved that his eyes were perfectly normal.

"We'll talk as we walk, it's not too far from here," was all he said to her for the next 5 minutes. Lisa followed him into SGH, did Kin want her to be a nurse? She had no nursing experience or whatsoever, her whole life had been dedicated to herself only...

"No, you're not going to be a nurse," said the man grufly, as though he had read her mind. "Kin found you for a purpose, after saving your life, he expects repayment."

Lisa finally said something.

"How did you know what happened?" she asked.

"Kin always finds the same type of people. People who are attempting suicide or have suicidal tendencies. He's gathering them to accomplish his goals, at the same time helping them find a new lease on life."

Lisa decided to wait to see more before she said anything else. Kin and this man, what were they up to? She didn't need to wait too much longer. The man took her to the emergency ward and entered the elevator. He pushed a sequence of buttons, 1,3,8,2,8,6. To Lisa's surprise, the elevator emitted a strange murmuring sound. Colourful lights were emitted from outside the door.

"Put this on," the man gave Lisa another pair of sunglasses. "The finale's as bright as a nuclear explosion."

Lisa hastily put on the sunglasses, just in time. After a brief period of darkness, a blinding flash came from behind the door.

"We were told never to look at the sun directly," said the man. "Even with sunglasses. A nuclear explosion is at least 20 times as bright. Those sunglasses are made of special material, it can protect anyone of us. It was Kin's idea to put the blinding light to blind any outsiders who may have decided to stray in here. That way, anyone who shouldn't see what you're about to see, would never see anything ever again."

Well that was freaky. The lift door opened slowly, and the light vanished, revealing a gigantic factory like lab. There were many people working with complicated instruments, all dressed in neat lab coats.

"Where is this place?" Lisa asked. She hadn't felt the lift move at all.

"You're in a sealed dimension," said the man. "Kin saw this dimension hidden under SGH, and was elated by the coincidence. It was perfect for building a hidden lab. In the 3 dimensional world we live in, there is no way this place could be seen by a normal human. Only people with the Eyes of the Oracle can see it."

"Wait...you mean Kin's not the only one?"

The man gave her a glare, then smiled.

"I see Kin hasn't told you. Today in this world, there are 2 people with the Eyes. There may be more, but we don't know how the project's going."

"Project?" Lisa was confused now.

"Project Oracle. The ingenious project to create people who can see true reality. Ever since the solving of the 248 dimensional E8 Lie Group, there have been hundreds of scientists hoping to find a way to exploit it. There was one, his name was Damien Lee. He was a brain scientist, and he found ghastly parallels between E8 and the patterns of the brain. The brain patterns which we understand today form an incomplete picture of E8, but now that we know E8, we could work out a way for the brain to implement the remainder of the dimensions. It has been said that E8 could be the key to finding the theory of everything in physics, so Lee deduced that a brain that works like E8 could see true reality. As such, he collaborated with stem cell researchers to create a hybrid human, one whose brain could do such a thing. That was how Kin came into this world."

Lisa pondered over what the man had said. She had heard of the famous theory of everything, how great scientists have been trying to solve that problem for years. The E8 was totally new to her though.

"So... what have you brought me here for?"Lisa asked.

"Let me finish the story first, I'll explain it as I speak. Damien Lee was proud of his creation at first, but he totally underestimated what true reality could do to a person. Kin was born with infinite compassion, almost the heart of a boddhisatva. However, he was afraid to go outside to see the world. When he was only three, he told Lee, 'I don't want to leave the house, everywhere I go, I see pain, suffering, it's terrible...'. Naturally that puzzled Lee. Singapore was such a stable country, what pain and suffering could there be? Lee asked Kin to elaborate, and Kin described how he saw greed, anger, envy, jealousy, present everywhere he went. When Lee pushed for more detail, Kin said it was beyond the human language."

Lisa nodded. Kin had said that to her as well.

"But Lee somehow didn't realise what this all implied. Kin saw that Lee had harboured similar thoughts as well. The creation of Kin was for the purpose of becoming famous. Kin wanted to show gratitude to Lee for giving him life, but it got to a point where Kin didn't want Lee to make anymore mistakes, so he killed him in compassion."

That really made Lisa jumped. She heard of euthanasia, but this was ridiculous.

"After that, Kin escaped and found like-minded people, who saw the world as a dark place full of suffering. To them, to me included, he is the hope for the world, one who can change it for the better. Now, why does he choose people like you?"

Lisa looked at the man, finally, she was going to get her answer.

"Kin understood the E8 pattern very well. He could see it in practically every aspect of nature. For people with suicidal tendencies, their brain pattern would occupy a special portion of E8. The very same portion is occupied by events which cause great sadness, such as natural disasters or wars. Despite that, that portion also has the ability to change things for the better. In his words, great disasters are tragic, but they make people learn. When you lose all your possessions in a flood, you realise how illusive everything is. When you lie in bed from an incurable disease, you realise how useless modern medicine really is. For people who survive, they carry this invaluable lesson, and forever become better people. Likewise for suicidal people, if there is someone who can save them from killing themselves, and can talk them round, such people will have a brighter view on life, a more enlightened one. What Kin saw over your shoulder was a representation of E8, with the patterns of your brain highlighted in that special area. At least that's what he says he sees, in truth, no one can describe it."

Lisa was actually quite fascinated.

"My God! You're saying a mathematical model like E8 can explain so much?"

"Exactly. That is the power of E8, that is Kin's power. Now, he wants to make use of the brain patterns of such people to bring about change to the world. He is collecting their energy, and once he has enough, he would unleash it on the world and make it a better place."

Lisa was delighted. She was going to help in changing the world! She never realised that she could actually be so useful. As a matter of fact, she was so happy, that she neglected to ask a crucial question. It was only after the man took her to a waiting room did she remember to ask.

"Erm...what is the nature of this change you talk about? Is it describable in words?"

The man stopped at the door, then turned his head back.

"Not completely, but you may see it like this. If you realise I've been dropping you hints. Suicidal tendencies and great disasters occupy the same E8 area, so what do you think?"

Lisa was horrified.

"The apocalypse?!"

To be continued...