Kill Switch by Jonathan Maberry Page B

few seconds to work up to it.
    Finally Greene took a breath and said it. “Prospero does not believe he is a human being. Not entirely. It’s his belief that he is either an alien from another world or perhaps another dimension, or that he is a hybrid of human and alien genes. It is his belief that he is not your actual son but the product of some kind of genetics experiment. He believes that you ‘adopted’ him only as a means of profiting from the genius he gets from his alien DNA.”
    Bell uncrossed and recrossed his legs. “Kid has some imagination.”
    â€œHas he said any of this to you, sir?” asked Greene.
    â€œDon’t change the subject, Doctor. Tell me what Prospero’s told you about the God Machine.”
    â€œWell … your son has been researching the artists and philosophers of the surrealism movement and believes that their works represent visions of the world from which he comes. Notably the paintings of Salvador Dalí and Max Ernst, and the pulp fiction horror stories of H. P. Lovecraft. Your son is uncertain as to whether the surrealists are from the same world or if they somehow traveled there in dreams. I think he’s leaning toward the latter opinion.”
    â€œAnd the machine is what?” asked Bell. “A phone so E.T. can call home?”
    â€œNo, sir,” said Greene. “Your son believes that it will somehow open a doorway and allow him to return to his true home.”
    â€œDid he say anything about EMPs?”
    â€œI’m not sure what that is.”
    â€œElectromagnetic pulses. Has Prospero mentioned that at all?”
    â€œNo, unless a ‘null field’ is the same thing.”
    Bell’s eyes flared momentarily. “What did he say about that?”
    â€œNot much. He said it was an unwanted side effect and he was trying to correct it.”
    â€œ Correct it?” Bell shot to his feet and for a moment Greene thought the man was going to punch him. Then Bell sagged back and sat down hard, shaking his head. “Correct it, Jesus fuck.”
    â€œIs something wrong?” asked Greene.
    Oscar Bell ran trembling fingers through his hair. “You wouldn’t understand if I told you.” He took a breath and bolted his calm back in place, one iron plate at a time. “Exactly how was he planning on correcting it?”
    â€œI’m not sure. Something about a mathematical pattern that he couldn’t solve unless…”
    Bell’s eyes hardened. “Unless what , Doctor? I need you to be very specific.”
    â€œVery well,” said Greene, “but believe me, I’ve looked into this myself and there’s nothing to it. Not even a mention on the Internet. Prospero believes that the key to making his God Machine function properly requires a sequence code that can be found in certain rare books he refers to as ‘The Unlearnable Truths.’ These are, according to him, books of magic that have been hidden for many centuries. He said that they are guarded because they contain dangerous secrets.”
    â€œWhat kind of secrets? The God Machine isn’t magic, Doctor. It’s absolutely bleeding-edge science. I have forty physicists scratching their heads trying to understand what the fucking thing does, do you know that? I have guys at MIT, Cal Tech, and Stanford losing sleep over it. I’ve got two Nobel laureates about to go into therapy because my twelve-year-old son’s designs make their heads hurt. The only thing they agree on is that the machine is real. It will do something, but wild as it sounds, Prospero understands quantum mechanics on a level that no one alive can match. No one. I sat down with Stephen Hawking and he started to cry when he read Prospero’s notes. It was like he was having a religious experience, and we’re talking about Stephen goddamn Hawking.”
    â€œNot to be rude, Mr. Bell,” said Greene, “but what makes you