The Empaths
“We’ll all be able to understand each other at last!”
Dr. Qworm the Mad Scientist was ecstatic. Apparently, the new invention he was about to demonstrate to his fellow Welgon Agers was a scientific breakthrough.
“What is it?” asked cookie the harlequin.
“A Cerebral Scanner,” Dr. Qworm announced proudly.
“And what does it do?” asked Sarkon the Prophet.
“It stores all data, fluxes and polarities in brain cells, and transmits this information directly to someone else's brain cells, thus allowing one person not only to see through someone else’s eyes, but also to feel and to think like that person does. It is the ultimate tool for understanding each other!” Dr. Qworm exclaimed.
“I don’t understand,” General Kwar the Dictator shook his head.
Dr. Qworm rolled his eyes. “Soon you will,” he announced.
“Did you make it?” asked Sarkon. “Usually, your inventions are…” he hesitated.
“…Junk? Not this time,” affirmed Dr. Qworm. “The Cerebral Scanner is a true and tried machine, invented over forty years ago by an eminent scientist named Charles Cogsworth,” he explained.
“Why hasn’t any of us heard about it before, then?” wondered Sarkon.
“This is a very legitimate question, since such an invention should have revolutionized human relationships,” Dr. Qworm agreed. “As we know, such a revolution never happened because the Cerebral Scanner destroyed the life of its inventor, who then threw it away in disgust. It is one of the saddest stories in post-modern science.”
“…Which we are going to be told soon, I presume,” prophesied Sarkon.
“You could use the Cerebral Scanner to learn about it, too,” proposed Dr. Qworm.
“We’d rather have it the natural way, thank you very much,” snarled General Kwar.
“A story? But it isn’t bedtime yet,” protested cookie.
“Maybe it’s a long story,” explained Sarkon.
“C’est une histoire à dormir debout,”[1] explained Dr. Qworm, which reassured cookie. “Anyway, here is this sad, sad story…”[2]
* * *
“Charles Cogsworth was an eminent scientist who wanted to overcome one of the great limitations of life. For him, the ability to perceive the world only through one's own body and mind wasn't enough. He wanted to know how the world was like through other people's eyes – see if what he called green was seen as the same green by other people; see how it was when a taste he hated was loved, or a smell he loved was hated; see how it was to know and believe different things; see how it felt being of another sex, or a child again, or even a baby. And, above all, he wanted to understand all these differences. For he believed all evil came from misunderstanding each other, and by engineering the Cerebral Scanner he wanted to make the world a better place. After all, how could you harm someone if you felt yourself how it hurt? How could you wage war on people if you understood their point of view utterly? His was a truly worthy research, and when he finished building the first Cerebral Scanner, it looked like humanity would take a giant leap forwards.
"Unfortunately, there are things even the boldest scientific visionaries cannot foresee. The first person on which he used the Cerebral Scanner was the person he wanted to understand most, the one he felt closest to: his beloved and fiancée Valery.
"This turned out to be a crucial mistake.
"Charles Cogsworth had known Valery as the embodiment of all charm and delight, and loved her with all his heart. For him, she was an angel. She in turn loved him just as intensely, and their romance seemed as close to perfection as human beings could wish for. They were in heaven.
"Alas, they didn't know it. Charles, especially, wanted their romance and understanding to be even more perfect. He wanted them to be as one, and in order to achieve this symbiosis, he proposed they use his newly invented Cerebral Scanner on each other. He wanted them to be the first two beings in the universe to understand each other utterly. Besides that, he secretly also wanted the bliss of actually being the one he loved most for a few moments. He tried the Cerebral Scanner first…
"…And a catastrophe happened.
"At first, he didn't understand what he saw, felt and thought. After having accustomed himself to Valery's mind, though, he noticed with horror how shallow she was compared to him. He was startled by how much less she knew than him – she hadn't the slightest understanding of physics or engineering. He felt like she was a moron, and while being her, he felt like he was a moron, and it was unbearable. She had some kind of knowledge, of course, but what she knew and felt about poetry and literature seemed to make no practical sense to him. Besides, he realized she had feelings for almost everything – from animals to trees and even rocks. How aberrant and pitiful! He was overwhelmed by all these feelings he wasn't used to, and because of this rush he could barely think anymore!
"Then he also noticed her feelings for him, and although he recognized the tenderness he used to have for her, he shrank at the mind this love came from, for it was like being loved by a pig.
"Unable to stand his beloved's mind any longer, he tore himself away from the Cerebral Scanner and ran away from her in disgust.
"In the days that followed, he refused to see her in spite of her pleas to explain her what happened and why he didn't want to see her any more. Knowing how she was, who she was, he just couldn't stand her any longer.
"She, of course, was utterly distressed, and in her need of understanding, turned to the only thing that could maybe help her: the Cerebral Scanner. She put it over her head like Charles had done, and set the target at the mind of the last person who had used it: Charles Cogsworth.
"At first, she didn't understand what she saw, felt or thought. After having accustomed herself to Charles' mind, though, she noticed with horror how unfeeling he was compared to her. She was startled by how much less he felt than her – he hadn't the slightest feeling for objects and nature. Animals and trees and rocks were just abstract concepts for him for which he felt nothing. He was as cold as stone to her, and while being him, she was as cold as stone, and it was unbearable. He knew a lot about physics and engineering, all right, but he didn't even feel anything about this knowledge: to him, it was just practical. There was no trace of poetry in his mind, either, and literature was just stories. Nothing more.
"Then she also noticed his feelings for her, and she shrank in horror, as she felt nothing but disgust and pity.
"Unable to stand her beloved's mind any longer, she tore herself away from the Cerebral Scanner and gasped for air. How could she ever have loved this man?
"So it came that these two beings who seemed made for one another, who loved each other so deeply and genuinely, never saw each other again. As for the Cerebral Scanner that had destroyed their lives, Charles Cogsworth never tried it again."
* * *
"That was a sad story," said cookie. "I don't want to sleep now."
"It shows that there is more to understanding than just knowing each other," lectured Dr. Qworm. "It shows that sometimes you understand someone even though you don't know him very well, and sometimes, even knowing someone perfectly doesn't help you understand him."
"We have to be very careful with this Cerebral Scanner, it seems," remarked Sarkon.
"We don't want it to make us hate each other!" warned General Kwar.
"This is why I am telling all of you its history," explained Dr. Qworm. "We must prepare to accept our differences, as harsh as they may seem, and beware about being judgemental of each other!"
"We've gone a long way already since we fought for Ultimate Power," smiled General Kwar.
"And since we squabbled about weapons and substances," added Sarkon with a wink.
"True. But we still have our differences," said Dr. Qworm. "And these differences are what I now want to understand! Before we try it out, however, there is a second part to the Cerebral Scanner's history. Listen…"[3]
* * *
"Nothing was heard about the Cerebral Scanner for over forty years. Then, however, it inexplicably surfaced again between the 7th and 8th floor of a building in a place called New York City…
"Apparently, Charles Cogsworth had stored the Cerebral Scanner in the depths of a small tunnel between these floors. A hapless office employee discovered an entrance to this tunnel, and was sucked into the mind of the person that was currently on the Scanner's program.
"This person was an actor named John Malkovich.
"As to why Mr. Malkovich was on the Cerebral Scanner's program, we can only guess. One possibility is that the Scanner sent its host straight to the mind that was closest to the late Charles Cogsworth, and it so happened to be John Malkovich's. Another one is that Mr. Malkovich being an actor, he had maybe played Charles Cogsworth or a scientist quite like him in a movie, and the machine had set its instruments on his mind as a consequence of it.
"The office employee, in any case, spent fifteen minutes being John Malkovich, and found it to be an amazing experience. Not only had he had his fifteen minutes of fame, so to say (John Malkovich was quite a famous actor), but he also had had the unique opportunity to experience the world from another perspective as himself.
"Unfortunately, not everyone is a selfless scientist like Charles Cogsworth. The office employee, formerly a puppeteer, set up a business by making people pay to enter the tunnel leading to John Malkovich's mind. Soon people were queuing to enter Mr. Malkovich, and with a whole crowd walking into his head, the latter soon began to notice.
"Malkovich got wind of the puppeteer's business, and decided to check it out himself. Furious, he walked through the crowd that waited to enter his mind and ordered the puppeteer to stop that. He was proposed to try it out himself for free, and, baffled, let himself be lead to the tunnel.
"Thus John Malkovich entered his own mind…
"…And a very strange thing happened then: the 'I' and 'non-I' in himself reversed, like peeling a banana and turning the skin inside out. Suddenly, he saw everything outside himself as 'I', and his inside, being a crowd of other people, became 'non-I'. Remember the Center of the Universe theory, 'all lives are lived by I, thus I live all lives'?"
Sarkon, General Kwar and cookie all nodded.
"Well, that's exactly what Malkovich saw when he entered his own mind: for a few moments, everyone else had his face, his voice, his body. For a short while, he saw everyone else as himself. For a couple of minutes, he saw The Truth.
"When he got out of himself again, he was greatly disturbed. He told the puppeteer angrily that he saw things that no one was ever meant to see – a true statement, since we are programmed to have the illusion that there are yous or hes or shes.
"Strangely, Mr. Malkovich then let go his acting career to become a puppeteer himself, while the puppeteer that had entered his mind was never heard of again."
* * *
"That was a frightening story!" cookie shuddered. "I don't feel like sleeping at all now!"
"I had to warn you about the consequences of using the Cerebral Scanner: when you get into someone's mind, you become him for a while, and when you leave, some of him remains in you, and some of you remains in him," explained Dr. Qworm. "Experience changes people, and the experience of being or hosting someone else is not likely to be forgotten."
"Why would we use the damn thing in the first place, then, if it is so dangerous?" asked General Kwar.
"Because the benefits are larger than the side effects," said Dr. Qworm.
"What are these benefits, exactly? Up to now, all you've told us about the Cerebral Scanner was negative!" remarked Sarkon.
Dr. Qworm took a deep breath, and looked at the three of them intensely. "We could become empaths," he whispered.
"Empaths? What is it?" asked Sarkon.
"Does that word even exist?" asked General Kwar.
"It does now," Dr. Qworm answered proudly. "An empath is someone who is capable of total empathy, understanding other people to the point of knowing exactly what it is to be them, because he can be them!"
"But that's impossible!" burst out General Kwar.
"The Cerebral Scanner makes it possible," affirmed Dr. Qworm. "Remember that we are nothing but genes and experience, an experience that is stored in our brains. Reproduce my exact polarizations, connections and neurotransmitter secretions, and you have my experience. It's as simple as that."
"But I don't want to know anything about measuring the speed of stone!" complained General Kwar.
"I would actually be interested in that," intervened Sarkon. "I always wanted to know how irrational beliefs come into existence."
"We were all stupid at one moment or another in our lives," sighed Dr. Qworm. "Anyway – knowing each would only be a first step. After being in absolute peace and understanding with each other, we could ask other people to join us. And if all living beings in the universe shared their minds, we'd have universal peace, and we would all become The Empath – the one who knows everything that consciousness ever experienced…"
"…And we'd be back to square one: an omnipotent being with no needs that has no reason to exist except to flee from himself," finished Sarkon. "Didn't I tell you that's a state we want to avoid?" he sighed.
"All right, we don't have to overdo it, then. Maybe I got a little carried away," admitted Dr. Qworm. "But then, maybe that's the natural cycle of consciousness: from cell to omnipotence, so that a new universe can then be created again. Maybe the Cerebral Scanner is just a natural step on this evolution."
"Maybe you're just a mad scientist," joked General Kwar.
"Maybe you're very impolite," countered the Mad Scientist. "What do you say, cookie?"
All eyes turned towards the small harlequin. Once again, it was up to him to decide how things would go on.
"I don't like stories without an end," cookie said.
"Good. 'Thus they kicked the Cerebral Scanner down the sky and lived happily ever after!'" said General Kwar with a grin.
Dr. Qworm rolled his eyes. "Spoilsport," he complained.
Sarkon looked at Dr. Qworm, and felt how unhappy he would be if his Cerebral Scanner wouldn't at least be tried out. "You can try it on me," he proposed softly.
Dr. Qworm looked at him in surprise. "That's very empathic of you," he praised.
"So we don't need any Cerebral Scanner!" exclaimed General Kwar. "We're empathic enough!"
"You definitely aren't!" countered Dr. Qworm. "I was speaking to Sarkon, mind you!"
But the decision had been taken: Dr. Qworm would try the Cerebral Scanner with Sarkon as target.
* * *
"Will life even be interesting any longer if we agree on everything?" asked General Kwar.
"I'm confident that you will always find something to bother us!" called Dr. Qworm while programming the Cerebral Scanner. "Sarkon, please put your head under this helmet."
"I thought you wanted to use it!" protested Sarkon.
"Your brain data must be recorded first," explained Dr. Qworm.
Sarkon put the helmet on.
"It sure isn't the latest fashion," commented General Kwar.
When Sarkon's brain data was recorded, Dr. Qworm put the helmet on himself. "Welcome into Sarkon's world," he whispered to himself as he let the data overtake his senses.
* * *
The first thing Dr. Qworm noticed while looking through Sarkon's eyes was how ridiculous he looked under this helmet. It was both weird and embarrassing, but also a little funny.
Then he became aware of something quite strange.
He didn't see the color green differently through Sarkon's eyes than through his. The air didn't smell another way, either. He didn't feel that different, also – it was just a little strange to be taller and to have a beard.
He did, however, notice how much nicer everyone seemed to be.
"You're all really nicer than I thought," Dr. Qworm said from under his helmet.
"I guess that's because I believe everyone is good at the core," noted Sarkon. "I'm kind of naïve this way."
"And I who believed everyone of you was out there to compete with me! Well, guys, Sarkon isn't! He only wants our good!" Dr. Qworm called with a grin.
"That's very interesting to hear. Now we know we can ruthlessly take advantage of him!" General Kwar blurted out, rubbing his hands.
"Now I'm not stupid!" protested Sarkon. "If you believe that I'll let you…"
"But it's strange…" Dr. Qworm went on. "Sarkon, you don't seem to fear anything at all!"
"Well…" Sarkon thought about it. "Sometimes I fear I won't have that special idea that can make a day," he said.
"But I mean, you fear nobody! There's nobody who you'd be afraid of!" specified Dr. Qworm.
"When you believe in the goodness of humankind, there's no need to be afraid of anyone," explained Sarkon.
"An irrational belief," commented General Kwar. "There are so many people out there looking just for themselves –"
"I agree it is supposed to be stupid, but it really makes you feel serene," described Dr. Qworm. "I guess it's like believing in god… Oh wait, here's what Sarkon thinks about me!"
There was a silence, and Dr. Qworm went red. He cleared his throat. "So that's how stupid my research about the speed of stone was," he stuttered softly.
"It looked very illogical from outside," Sarkon tried to explain as an excuse.
"I'm sure Sarkon's thoughts about this episode are much milder than my own," General Kwar commented dryly.
"At least he's praising me for my work ethics – he was very impressed with my working schedule. And by the way, let's see what he thinks of you, ha!" Dr. Qworm looked for General Kwar's presence in Sarkon's mind.
"Wait – isn't that an intrusion into my privacy?" called the Dictator, afraid of what the Mad Scientist might find.
"Your privacy? But it's my mind!" protested Sarkon.
"But these are thoughts about me! They are your thoughts, Prophet, and maybe they should remain your thoughts!" argued General Kwar.
"My thoughts about you are not that horrible that they have to be hidden from the rest of the world," shrugged Sarkon.
"But –" General Kwar was clearly afraid.
"Don't worry," sighed Dr. Qworm. "They are much less negative than what I think of you!"
"Oh?" General Kwar seemed relieved. "On second thought, that doesn't surprise me at all," General Kwar counterattacked. "By the way, I think you've had enough time being Sarkon! Let me try him out too!"
After some unsuccessful protesting both from Dr. Qworm and from Sarkon, who complained that people could at least ask him before entering his mind, General Kwar was under the helmet, ready to explore the world as seen through the Prophet's eyes.
He immediately noticed something must be wrong, because he was looking both at Sarkon and himself and feeling rather annoyed at having left the Cerebral Scanner. Also, he was ridiculously small.
"Oh no – I'm Dr. Qworm!" the Dictator shrieked.
"Oh I forgot –" Dr. Qworm (and General Kwar with him) quickly turned a dial on the machine, and the Dictator's mind went blank for a split second, and then he saw himself under the Scanner and Dr. Qworm moving away from it. "The Cerebral Scanner keeps the data of the last mind that used it in its memory, and it is the mind visited by default when someone next uses it," explained the Mad Scientist. "I had to reprogram the Scanner on Sarkon's mind."
"So I was you for a couple of seconds? It was weird," described General Kwar. "And now Sarkon… Hey, you guys are nicer people than I thought!" he exclaimed. "Heck, even I am nicer than I thought!"
"Don't let yourself be fooled by Sarkon's kindness!" warned Dr. Qworm with a laugh.
"And this urge to have ideas… Wonderful," commented General Kwar. "I thought only power could give such kind of satisfaction! But wait…" Through Sarkon's eyes, General Kwar saw his body become tense under the Cerebral Scanner. "…You utterly despise power, Sarkon! How can you do that! It's heresy!"
"Apparently, we don't believe in the same things," sighed Sarkon.
General Kwar scrambled out from under the helmet as fast as he could. "This was the most awful experience I ever had!" he panted. "For a few moments, I felt that the one thing I cherish most, namely power, was utter crap!"
"Isn't it?" Sarkon mischievously wondered aloud.
"Absolutely not! It makes you feel important, worth something – good!" argued General Kwar.
"I feel good when I have a great idea," said Sarkon.
"And I feel good when I make a great scientific discovery," emphasized Dr. Qworm.
"It just shows how different we are. Now let's not judge each other because of our differences," warned Sarkon.
"We sure have some," remarked General Kwar.
"By the way," Sarkon went on, "isn't it my turn now?"
* * *
They had fun with the Cerebral Scanner all afternoon – except for cookie, who had fallen asleep. They even tried getting into their own minds, and thus had the John Malkovich experience of seeing everyone else as themselves.
"I think empathy should be taught at school," said Sarkon as they were taking a pause. "Kids could really learn from being aware of each other's feelings permanently."
"It's actually interesting to guess what others think and feel," admitted Dr. Qworm.
"Maybe it would also avoid some bullying," estimated General Kwar.
"It would be a sure step towards emotional intelligence, in any case. I think I'll try to prepare a two-hour empathy course one of these days," decided Sarkon.
A silence followed Sarkon's last words.
"We sure know each other now," said General Kwar.
"Not entirely. I've had a new thought since you last got into my mind," answered Dr. Qworm with a wink.
"And that is?" asked General Kwar.
"There is one thing we haven't tried yet," said Dr. Qworm. "The Cerebral Scanner is big enough for two of us…"
"So?"
"We could try to enter each other's minds at the same time. If entering one's own mind has such a weird effect, imagine what that experience could teach us!" proposed Dr. Qworm.
"Why not? I'm in!" agreed General Kwar.
Dr. Qworm reprogrammed the Cerebral Scanner, and they both got under the helmet.
"Are you sure about what you're doing?" Sarkon was worried. "Mistakes have been made with this machine in the past, and we have no idea what to expect…"
"That's exactly the point: we want to know what happens. Scientific curiosity," explained Dr. Qworm. Leaving no time for Sarkon to protest any further, he turned the dial.
Everything went very fast – faster than it takes to be described in words. On another hand, Dr. Qworm and General Kwar had the first glimpse of infinity ever experienced by two human beings, kind of like being stuck on a black hole's event horizon. It went like this: Dr. Qworm entered General Kwar's mind, and was General Kwar entering Dr. Qworm's mind, who was Dr. Qworm entering General Kwar's mind, who was General Kwar entering Dr. Qworm's mind, who was Dr. Qworm entering General Kwar's mind, who was General Kwar entering Dr. Qworm's mind, who was Dr. Qworm entering General Kwar's mind, who was General Kwar entering Dr. Qworm's mind, who was Dr. Qworm entering General Kwar's mind, who was General Kwar entering Dr. Qworm's mind, who was Dr. Qworm entering General Kwar's mind, who was General Kwar entering Dr. Qworm's mind, who was Dr. Qworm entering General Kwar's mind, who was General Kwar entering Dr. Qworm's mind, who was Dr. Qworm entering General Kwar's mind, who was General Kwar entering Dr. Qworm's mind, who was Dr. Qworm entering General Kwar's mind, who was General Kwar entering Dr. Qworm's mind, who was Dr. Qworm entering General Kwar's mind, who was General Kwar entering Dr. Qworm's mind, who was Dr. Qworm entering General Kwar's mind, who was General Kwar entering Dr. Qworm's mind, who was Dr. Qworm entering General Kwar's mind, who was General Kwar entering Dr. Qworm's mind, who was Dr. Qworm entering General Kwar's mind, who was General Kwar entering Dr. Qworm's mind, who was Dr. Qworm entering General Kwar's mind, who was General Kwar entering Dr. Qworm's mind…
[1] French expression whose literal translation is, “It is a story to fall asleep standing,” and whose meaning is, “It is a story that doesn’t make any sense.”
[2] Dr. Qworm would like to thank Raphael Aloysius Lafferty for his short story entitled "Through Other Eyes", available in the short story collection Nine Hundred Grandmothers.
[3] Dr. Qworm would like to thank Spike Jonze for his movie Being John Malkovich.