Behind the door appears to be a featureless corridor, indistinguishable from the one seen from the other doorway. My plan is to discover whether this corridor is also one-directional, whether traversing it is more a matter of movement through time than space, and of course what, if anything, is on the other end.

My thinking about these corridors — or these versions of a single corridor (language is not suited to these experiences) — has been influenced recently by some of the work of Charles Hinton. He published in the 1880s and later, but his work seems quite relevant to what I’ve found here. I wonder whether any of the names inscribed in these caves — Pym, Monroe, and the others — were perhaps working in the same field as Hinton. This cave was clearly known to some in those days. I cannot stop wondering whether this very cave, or at least details about it, influenced Hinton.

But speculation can wait; DP is standing at the doorway now. It’s time to go exploring again.

I find this presents more questions. If I go through this door, will I find another one-way corridor? And if the artifact is truly a map, and this corridor leads to the isolated node, is there a way back?

I can fathom no way to discover whether my present cave is connected to the isolated node. At least, no way other than going through the door. And of course, I don’t truly know whether the artifact is a map or simply a coincidence.

I am fascinated by the notion that there are version of me in the other caves, and perhaps two of them are facing the same decision. One may be in a cave without a connection to an additional node. It is an odd feeling to think that even if there is no return from the isolated node, only one of the four versions of me will be trapped there. But can the other three ever know?

There is another possibility, at least regarding the possible doors. It has to do with the techniques I use in controlling the merkaba and finding the artifacts. I’ve been trying to practice, but it seems the more I practice the less able I become to do it. So I’ve abandoned practice. DP is giving me a hard time about it, but as I’ve tried to explain to him, it’s like a very dim image that you can only see by looking slightly away from it. I’m going to see what happens, while DP watches for any activity outside. We continue to be apprehensive after the warning we received.

Map of the cave

DP and I have attempted to map the cave, at least what we know of it so far. It averages three meters in width, and varies widely in height from just under two meters at the mouth to approximately five meters just past the door, after which the roof of the cave slopes downward. As indicated, it becomes impassable after a point. Although it seems to maintain its width, the height is impossible to even crawl into. We have directed the beams of two of my flashlights into that area, and it appears to continue for some distance.

There are several areas of radiant heat in the cave, two of which are hot enough to cook over. Although we are in a frigid environment, these heat sources keep the cave itself quite comfortable.

In addition, and most curiously, there is a source of radio frequency radiation — simple RF static — near the mouth of the cave. I have only the simplest instruments with me, so I cannot investigate this thoroughly. It does not appear local to emanate from any single point in a wall or floor, but instead is simply there, just inside the mouth of the cave.

I have marked the points at which I was able to extract artifacts from the rock. I believe there are probably more artifacts hidden in the cave, but extracting them is difficult and I cannot always manage it. Extraction requires a process very similar to how I have learned to control my merkaba; it is to some degree a mental exercise. Extraction is more difficult, however. I shall attempt to forward my notes about this process to someone who can perhaps shed more light on it.

In the meantime, my nervousness has returned since Mr. Emery warned me about BSAI possibly moving against me. I also saw a rather threatening comment signed BSAI on Norene’s page. For some reason, both Mr. Emery and BSAI themselves seem to be under the impression that I have some idea why they are pursuing me (and DP) so aggressively, I assume because we each have a merkaba. Unfortunately, I know them only through their website, which does not explain their motivations. If Mr. Emery is correct, some of the information presented there is not entirely true. As he has helped me and they have pursued us — and I believe they mean us harm — I find myself inclined to believe him.

However, I do not know very much about Mr. Emery and his Linian Society either. He appeared in my life fairly recently, and has remained somewhat mysterious about many aspects of his background and the Society. He implies that they have information I lack. And I know that some of the notes and other things I inherited are of great interest to him. But something has held me back from sharing them with him.

There is a great puzzle here. I have enough of the pieces to believe that there is great danger approaching the world. Maddeningly, though, I cannot tell for sure what it is. This cave, and my merkaba, are ample evidence that the world — at least some of it — is not quite what we may think. I feel sure the danger is somehow connected with these things.

In the meantime, it’s time for some rest, and tomorrow I am going to work with DP to see if his merkaba can be controlled — or really “influenced” is a better description — like mine. I also have a growing suspicion about the cave that I want to try to test out. And finally, part of the mapping exercise was an attempt to determine whether there is another door, which would suggest that the artifact is some sort of map.

The distance I refer to, of course, can take many forms, and I attempted to allow for this. I called on Lyman Emery to make the choice, invoking simple physical distance (I believe he is located somewhere in the United States, virtually on the other side of the world). I also asked Mr. Emery to make the choice by some method unknown to me, invoking distance in awareness. Finally, Mr. Emery is not directly involved in any events here, invoking distance in intentionality.

I have reason to believe that intentionality and awareness are keys to the “technology” — if it can even be called that — of the L society. They are certainly central to the little I have learned about my merkabah. However, the multiverse has not yielded to my attempt. I believe what has happened is that each version of me proceeded in a pattern precisely matching my movements from cave to cave. Thus we never met — when I entered a cave, versions of me entered each of the other caves simultaneously. Perhaps this is a perverse characteristic of the multiverse; that one can be aware that one has duplicates, but can never succeed in meeting them.

My next investigation, however, may bear more fruit even in this regard. I intend to proceed on the hypothesis that the artifact I extracted from the cave is a map. If so, there are two locations still to be found: I have simply labeled them “unknown locations”. I am particularly puzzled about #2; it has only a single connection. So far it seems the corridors operate in one direction only. Does this mean that location #2 is a dead end from which there is no return? Mr. Emery warned me away from this location, perhaps perceiving that risk precisely.

The artifact as a map

And yet I am intrigued. What would it mean to be a “dead end” in a multiverse? Would all version of myself meet there, finally?

I am troubled, as well, by a question I cannot dismiss. What I know of the multiverse conjecture contains no suggestion of a limit. Particularly a limit as low as four. If DP and I are in a cave containing some sort of inter-multiverse connection, as seems to be the case, why are there only four caves? I believe theory holds that there should be a virtual infinity of caves.

There is, of course, an alternative explanation. Perhaps the artifact is not a map at all, and an infinity of caves does exist — and the only limit present is a pattern of four inscriptions that repeat endlessly from one universe to the next.

Give my regards to DP as well.
Best Wishes,
Lyman


Randy

So if I decide we should all meet in the Pym cave, it’s just as likely that another version will decide on the Reynolds cave, another on the Liedenbrock cave, and so on. So what is needed is an effect external to any of us — that is, someone else to pick the meeting point. DP is probably too closely associated with me and with the situation. I’ve decided to try to contact Lyman Emery from the Linian Society. He has helped before, in rescuing DP.

I’ll simply ask him to pick one cave as a meeting point, the cave to be identified by its inscription: Pym, Reynolds, Liedenbrock, or Malone. The choice might be alphabetical, or by inscription date, or best of all, be made according to some criterion completely dissociated from this localized situation.

It would seem that the other versions of me are probably having nearly identical thoughts and experiences right now. I’ve tried to fathom a way to “meet myself”. I don’t see why it wouldn’t be theoretically possible. It should be possible to take advantage of the fact that all four versions of me are thinking the same thing I am. The key to this is that the caves are not identical; each one has a different inscription. If I decide to go to one of the caves and wait for the others to appear, and I choose which cave it will be, the other versions of me would make the same decision. Allowing for the time apparently required to traverse (or at least take a nap in) the corridor, all four of me — us — could be physically together in a day.

This prospect is almost unbearably exciting. I’m going to start getting ready as soon as I talk to DP.