Mind Switch

Prologue

Christmas Season 2010
Isolation—vulnerability! The scene was unsettling. He shivered uncontrollably even though Florida’s early morning temperature was already in the low 70’s. Stillness washed over him. Directly in front of him was a huge, barely illuminated, white sheeted metal warehouse containing several wide truck openings and a single pedestrian door. He briefly thought about trying to access one of the accordion doors, but he knew instinctively that it would be locked. He was expected to enter through the pedestrian door; that, of course, was the unstated plan. Having no alternative, he complied.

As he entered, just above the door a single low watt bulb focused on a bank of four switches to his right. One by one he flicked the switches. Each switch activated a battery of lights illuminating a quarter of the warehouse. The ceiling fluorescent lights gradually shed light on hundreds of appliances stored in perfect geometric rows. When one quarter of the warehouse was brightly lit, the lights for the second segment started to come to life. They abruptly stopped. He hit the last two switches again, but half of the warehouse remained dark and hidden. Of course, he thought, the additional switches would not work; that was also part of the precise plan for him.

Now he just waited for his hidden adversary to emerge out of the darkness. How much life did he have left? It was beyond his control. All he knew was that he would be dead in a few minutes; and he had willfully and in all respects fully accommodated his murderer.