The Dalai Lama's question hung in the air accompanied by a sense of anticipation. Had the computer found the soul? Alan rolled an answer around in his mouth, not entirely reconciled with the terminology. It was a good first approximation, no worse than those they had used in the early phases of discussion, "Well...in a sense, yes."

The cavernous white laboratory, serving as an impromptu lecture hall, swelled with discussion briefly as the finding was commented upon. The mix of voices drowned out individual words, while still conveying the mood of those assembled. Skepticism primarily, it was a feeling Alan how become all too familiar with in recent years. The brief commotion receded like a wave rolling back out to sea, leaving the hall silent and expectant.

"And when I say 'in a sense' it is because the state of this 'soul', which we should not call it, is one that does not readily conform to a pre-existent theological paradigm, though it does bear striking similarities to some in certain regards."

"Excuse me," said a man with spiked graying hair and a close-cropped beard, "if I may ask a question?"

"Ah...yes, Dr. Robert Lanza, I believe. How auspicious you were able to join us today."

"Uh, thank you. So, uh, how exactly has this been determined?" Lanza's Bostonian accent was quite pronounced in his excitement, "We have plenty of models and some indirect evidence of consciousness exiting the space-time continuum, but it sounds almost as if, no, it does sound as if you're saying it's now proven!"

"Ah," contradicted Alan, "I didn't go so far as to state that consciousness, as we conventionally conceive of it, has been traced leaving the space-time continuum. Which is why I cautioned against the term 'soul'. Nor did I mention the space-time continuum at all. But it is quite astute of you to surmise as much, and in that respect you are at least partially correct, that which is measured does indeed 'step outside' of space-time as we know it, so to speak.

"As to how this has been determined, well, I have to trust Christopher on this to be honest. I am these days largely an engineer. And though I have aided in the manufacture of the devices Christopher requested to run his experiments, I am not an experimental physicist."

An older man with a bald pate and narrow grey beard directly next to Lanza raised his hand, "Can I ask a...?" he said, barely waiting for Alan's acknowledgement, "Uh, thanks for taking my question. And what kind of devices made these measurements?" His features were drawn in intense concentration as he continued, "I have been trying for some years to design a machine to do just that."

"Ah, and you are, sir?"

"Hameroff. Stuart Hameroff."

Alan glanced back and forth between his fellow centenarians, "Jack, you ran point on the modular instrumentation, would you like to take this?"

"Sure," Jack began, pleased as the opportunity, "Well, we've manufactured a large number of unique and I dare say exotic instruments here at the facility in keeping with Christopher's wishes. The instrument that achieved the measurements you are asking about, I believe, is called an interdimensional quantum frequency spectrometer. I know, quite a utilitarian description. But, basically, it traces quantum energy signatures during an interdimensional transmission."

"There is a method of direct measurement?" commented Hameroff in a voice that wavered somewhere between incredulousness and disbelief.

"For a few years now, yes," responded Jack.

"Years?" interjected Lanza, "How long have you known about this... spirit realm?"

Alan adjusted his faded green bow tie as he considered his response, "Ah, quite some time now I suppose. The first quantifiable data that began Chris's unraveling of this mystery came in about, oh, four years ago I think. The preliminary formulated results suitable for human cognition were only distilled a few months ago, which is what led us all to be here today."

"If I can butt in here," interrupted Hugh, "and in consideration of our task here today, it would be better to avoid employing metaphysical terms that evoke existing belief systems or imagery, like 'soul' or 'spirit realm' or we run the risk of muddying a scientific explication with a theological debate. Not to disparage our spiritual guests today of course.

"For a simple reference, we could call it simply 'the other side', though I am not fond of that either because this also evokes the idea of a trans-dimensional consciousness for many cultures. Here at The Facility we have settled on the term 'the omphalos' for lack of a better one. It is, as best we can understand it, a sort quantum energy parsing and redistribution center."

"Like a recycling center or something?" asked a sly but mirthful voice from the middle rows, causing a few chuckles in the audience.

"Hmm...yes, actually. Something like that," answered Hugh good-naturedly. The brief moment of humor seemed to spread a soothing balm over the audience, even if just for a moment.

"So... where was I?" Alan looked back to his notes, grateful to feel the tension in the room dissipate slightly at the humorous interjection, "Ah, yes, this quantification of an interdimensional quantum signature appears, at first glance, to align with many religious systems' theological postulates, though there are some... significant deviations that we will attempt to describe it today."

"Wait a minute," came the same voice again, "Recycled how exactly?"

Alan looked back to Hugh, "Well, Hugh, you entertained the notion."

"So," began Hugh in a calm and steadied tone, "There is a very easy way to explain what is happening and the position in which we collectively find ourselves. It is only a first step to the full consequence, but a step nonetheless.

"Imagine if would, when you die, you were to feel and experience everything you made someone else feel or experience. If, for example, I recall my first broken heart, from when I was a very young man. The young woman, whose name I will omit, ran off with another man. I was miserable, I felt unwanted and betrayed. It was a very emotional time. Those emotions create a sort of energetic signature.

"When she passes on, and I must suspect she already has, she will experience those self-same feelings that I had upon her departure. She will also experience how I loved her and how over time my feelings towards her changed until today, when she is a fond albeit somewhat faint memory. For my part, I will experience her feelings, as I was responsible for them, when I die.

"In a sense, this is what is happening. It is a kind of karmic consequence, or perhaps a consequential karma, the process of which transpires on the other side in the omphalos. We know this because Christopher has indeed proven it is possible to quantify this 'redistribution' of emotional energy.

"After our bodies die, we - and I mean all of us - will feel what we have made others feel during our lifetimes. From the happiness our mothers felt holding us as children, to the pain of those we have wronged. We will feel it all.

"In short, karma is real and it is an ongoing process."

Lanza raised his hand and spoke without waiting to be acknowledged, his tone dubious, "But Dr. Turing stated that consciousness isn't maintained during the transition out of our space-time, if I understood him correctly, so how are we to experience these 'emotional energies'?"

"Quite right," responded Jack, twirling one of end of his moustache between ancient fingers, his eyes a-twinkle with something akin to mischievousness, "How indeed?"

...

To be continued in Eternity is a Closed Circuit - Chapter 7: Metempsychoses of the Multitudes

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