A Very Unordinary Matter

D.M. Lloyd

Description

In this science fiction story, a physicist makes a turbulent discovery, embarking down an unexpected path that leads to a provocative realisation about reality... and himself.
When Charles Darwin finally completed his life’s greatest work, On the Origin of Species, he waited twenty-three years to publish it. That's roughly the life expectancy of a man in the fourteenth century, for scale. It took a mediaeval lifetime to contemplate whether or not the disruption to mankind’s way of life was truly worth it. When Leonidas Archibald Agglesfield found the missing 95 per cent of the universe, however, he neglected to apply the same degree of contemplation.
From Socrates to Descartes, perhaps the question that has pestered mankind the most is: What makes us human? Are we human because we think or because we feel? Are we humans made in the image of the one true God? Or have we fashioned God in our image to imbue ourselves with the power to determine our own fate and immortality? What Leonidas found... was not what he had bargained for. And as a Doctor of Dark Matter, his findings did not disappoint.
God would be joining the black rhino on the endangered species list. And while that was precisely what Leonidas Archibald Agglesfield had thought he wanted... he had no idea of the ramifications.
There are forces that we might have once thought to be outside of our control. But perhaps we're capable of more than we think. And sometimes what we need the most... has a way of finding us instead.

Sujets

• Science Fiction
• Astrophysics
• Consciousness
• Dark Matter
• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: AuthorHouse UK
• Date de parution: 26 mai 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9798823082686
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

A Very Unordinary Matter
D.M. Lloyd


AuthorHouse™ UK
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Bloomington, IN 47403 USA
www.authorhouse.co.uk
Phone: UK TFN: 0800 0148641 (Toll Free inside the UK) UK Local: (02) 0369 56322 ([phone] from outside the UK)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
© 2023 D.M. Lloyd. All rights reserved.
 
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.
 
Published by AuthorHouse 05/24/2023
 
ISBN: 979-8-8230-8269-3 (sc)
ISBN: 979-8-8230-8270-9 (hc)
ISBN: 979-8-8230-8268-6 (e)
 
 
 
 
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
 
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
Contents
Preface
Part 1: The Matter of Immaterial Things
Chapter 1 An Unexpected Guest
Chapter 2 From the Great Outdoors to No-Man’s-Land
Chapter 3 Game Theory
Chapter 4 Century-Old Floorboards
Chapter 5 The Visiting Monk
Chapter 6 Transcendence at Four Thousand Metres
Chapter 7 Too Much Honey
Chapter 8 The Truth according to Both Physics and Monks
Chapter 9 The Toppling Domino
Chapter 10 An Unexpected Detour through an Invisible Gateway
Part 2: Discovering the Universal Brain
Chapter 11 The Schizophrenic
Chapter 12 Insightful Living Arrangements
Chapter 13 Evangelically Approved Tarot Cards
Chapter 14 A Panic Attack and a Priestess
Chapter 15 The Curfew at the End of Memory Lane
Chapter 16 Neither Blank nor Empty
Part 3: Dangers of a Seen Universal Order
Chapter 17 The Topography of Indra’s Net
Chapter 18 Finding Enough
Chapter 19 The Interview
Chapter 20 Alone
Chapter 21 Inception
Chapter 22 Manipulation
Chapter 23 The Call
Chapter 24 The Letter
Chapter 25 The Next Chapter

For the family who has unfettered and activated my life. You know who you are. 
Preface
We do not grow in straight lines. 
The beauty of life is that it so often takes unexpected twists and turns that keep things interesting. The period during which I wrote this book traversed what has been perhaps the most liberating, nourishing and transformative phase of self discovery in my life to date. It’s the first work of fiction I have ever attempted and completed, and the process of publishing it and letting go has felt raw and vulnerable... and at times just plain scary. 
As children we’re not only curious and explorative— but we start out with a magnificent innocence that tells us we can try anything. There is no concept of being ‘bad’ at something because how can you be anything other than imperfect when you try something new? Yet as we grow up it seems as though these outrageous expectations— and therefore embarrassment— seep in, in increasing measure, into everything that we do. Whether we should even have the capacity to be conventionally ’good’ at something or not, it doesn’t matter. We tell ourselves that we either have to a) be pleasing to others, or b) not try at all. 
The prevalence of embarrassment in a human’s life seems to mimic a bell curve that starts out low in childhood, then peaks from puberty through adulthood (sadly the grand majority of life)… until it finally, graciously tapers off again somewhere towards the ‘senile’ end of the spectrum. I don’t want to wait until I’m old to get over that hump in order to allow myself to be curious, explorative— and yes: embarrassing in the process. So I’ve challenged myself to publish this book. To put it out into the wild as an effort to learn from my younger self. The child within me that believes the best in both myself and others.  
This book unravelled as I wrote it. I came to love these characters and found that they revealed so much to me along the way. Who I was when I started writing-- is definitely still a part of me today-- but she is now joined by so much more, and has found herself to feel so much more free, loved, connected and invigorated by the world and those around her. I am fortunate to have found a community-- a chosen family-- that has provided me with support and encouragement along the way. I’ve been finding myself and finding that my values and belief system is wholly malleable through community. Nothing is static. And that process of finding what you believe (even if it may only be what you believe for a short blip of time) is equally individual and collegiate. You’ll find some of that ethos in this story. I’ve decided that I want to forever position myself to learn and therefore evolve my frame of mind.  
So may this book be tangible encouragement in the hands of readers. May you find that you’re not alone should you desire to ‘put yourself out there’ in scary ways. And that who you are and what you believe doesn’t exist in isolation. It also doesn’t need to remain the same as what it was yesterday. This book is something special to me, I hope it might make some magic for others, too. 
Part I
The Matter of Immaterial Things
Chapter 1
An Unexpected Guest
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
—2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV)
Leonidas’s discovery shocked the world. Unlike the many that had come before, it was a discovery that could not be confined to mere preference or matter of opinion. It was one that quite dramatically altered the course of humanity and what it meant to be human, whether you believed in his discovery or not. With the rapid pace of modern day innovation fuelled by such findings, burying one’s head in the sand was no longer a valid option for conscious existence.
Blissful ignorance was permanently off of life’s menu.
Leonidas was in laudable company, however. When Charles Darwin finally completed his life’s greatest work, On the Origin of Species , he waited twenty-three years to publish it. Twenty-three years , or what was roughly the life expectancy of a man in the fourteenth century, for scale. It took a mediaeval lifetime to contemplate whether or not the disruption to mankind’s way of life was truly worth it.
Of course we cannot precisely know what was going through Darwin’s mind prior to publishing his perturbations, but we can assume that he was probably stuck in a mire of fear and moral dilemma.
How might the pious population react? Does anyone have the right to challenge the safety and comfort that religion provides to the masses? What might publishing such findings mean for one’s social calendar in a country built on biblical principles?
Perhaps the last item was of less importance when compared to other, wide-reaching ramifications, but let’s agree that it was highly likely to have scuttled across Darwin’s mind at least once. We are social beings after all, no matter our creed, scientists included.
Can you imagine? Leonidas wondered. Darwin dithering about whether or not overtly challenging creationism was worth the loss of his Tuesday coffee date with the church-going chaps at the club. A grin crept across his face at the thought of one of the world’s foremost influencers baulking while perusing his diary for the week.
Once a creature of the faithful majority, Darwin would go on to become part of the minority—a minority of one at first. But perhaps that truly was the least of his concerns.
If his book happened to transform minds, he must have questioned just how capable it was of revising the social norms and constructs that humankind had fashioned. The foundation faith had fortified up until that point in time not only underpinned governmental influence, but also determined one’s weekend agenda.
Sparse as it was, Leonidas was nonetheless abundantly aware of the potential discord his discovery might introduce to his own diary. Its sparseness he enjoyed. Its sparseness was a kind of respite.
Leonidas’ gaze travelled outside. It was dusk on a summer’s day. The air quality was crisp, and the sunlight had a sepia-tone glow with just a hint of Mother Nature’s warm breath in the air. In other words, it was a perfect English summer evening.
Passersby chuckled as if staged on the film set of a romantic comedy, hand in hand, as they exited a nearby pub and began to walk down the street. The aged pub door clattered shut behind them. Leonidas’ eyes couldn’t help but follow the pair. He gulped. The cues were triggering, and he wondered if perhaps he had made a mistake.
A betting man would have been unlikely to guess that this quaint English vicarage off of Bermondsey Street would contain such a turbulent discovery, a vicarage that in 1823 was inhabited by a vehemently puritanical vicar.
Leonidas was quite ironically the opposite.
He was, in many ways, what you would expect from an aspiring physicist and doctor of dark matter. Standing at 6'3", his arms and legs were thin yet had a certain grace about them as if they belonged to a danseur in a parallel universe. And perhaps Leonidas would have assumed such a career had he not been bullied so horrendously during the tender ages spanning primary school. But that was a separate matter. Leonidas shuddered upon recalling a very specific memory, as if to free his mental sleeves of disgust and a speck of shame.
While tall and perhaps sparing on bodily musculature, Leonidas’s face was pleasant. With a strong jaw and kin