A connection so rare the universe won't let us part.
― Nikki Rowe
Astrid
We flew to London to meet up with Perry Landers, the man who was eager to spend vast sums of money in the attempt to find the lost Necromanteion of Phyra, and presumably contact his dead wife.
We intended to spend a night getting to know him at his Cotswolds estate before jetting off to Greece. At least, that was the plan.
When we got to Landers’ estate in the Cotswolds hills, it resembled an exclusive spa, rather than an Arcadian retreat.
An ornate, gold painted sign at the estate gate announced Landers was hosting weekend retreats called Reunions.
Apparently Landers developed a sophisticated virtual reality system as a psychomanteum to facilitate communication with the dead.
It was ironic in a way. There was evidence of Neolithic settlement in the hills nearby as evinced from burial chambers on the Cotswold Edge. This business of consorting with the dead had been going on there a good long time.
But Astrid and I were completely taken aback by the large number of people who were making a pilgrimage to the villa in the hope of contacting a deceased loved one.
We were beginning to suspect Landers might be a flim flam man, but when we met him over dinner, our fears were allayed.
We saw a man haunted by loss and obsessed with contacting his dead wife.
“After dinner, I’d be glad to give you a tour of the facility,” he told us, “I’ve made every effort to facilitate a reunion between living and dead.”
Astrid seemed fascinated, but I was more skeptical. I decided to challenge him.
“But isn’t a Psychomanteum simply a mirrored room set up to communicate with the dead—and didn’t Raymond Moody describe these in his books on near-death experiences?”
Landers chuckled affably. “On one level, I suppose you’re right. Anybody can go into a darkened room with a mirror and try it—but I go one step further. I tailor the experience to the individual.”
“But how do you do that?” Astrid seemed totally absorbed in the topic.
Landers took a sip of wine, leaned back in his chair and patiently explained the process.
“Let’s say a man wants to relive a precious moment with a departed spouse. And,let’s say he remembers one time in particular. He gives us the date and time and location and then, using a computer program we try to replicate the conditions to facilitate re-establishing the connection with the loved one.”
Astrid frowned for a moment and then asked, “What if it involved lying under the stars in the desert, in the land of Nod—could you replicate that?”
My heart began to pound—it was a sacred memory for me—and now, I could see it was for her as well.
“Recreating that experience would be easy. We’d simulate the temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction—the smell of the sand and even the configuration of the stars. You’d think you were right back there with Paul—or, with whomever you shared the experience.”
“It was Paul,” Astrid said quickly, and then stared at me with her huge brown eyes.
I felt a warmth spread through my chest. I smiled back.
Maybe it was the wine, but the atmosphere in the room grew mellow and I had to ask Landers the question preying on my mind.
“If you can relive these memories with Susi, why do you need to finance an expedition to search for the Necromanteion?”
He didn’t flinch. “I don’t want to just remember, or even relive—I want to commune with her.”
A silence fell among the three of us. I had my answer.