Forget What You Know

When the police give a lie detector test, they start with a few innocuous questions to measure your reaction.

"Place of birth?"

"I can't answer that."

"Sir, this is not a game."

"You'll be upset. I could tell you and you still wouldn't know."

"Just answer the question."

"The Dog Star, as you call it. Sirius."

The two detectives and the man running the lie detector sighed at one another.

"I can't accept that as an answer."

"Does it show as a lie?"

"I need an honest answer to set an honest baseline."

"I gave you one."

The tall detective spoke up. "You're from another planet? That's your story."

"Not everything is as it appears. Forget what you know."

The men queried each others' faces.

"You're going to sit in that chair until you answer truthfully."

"No, I'm not going to sit in this chair unless you can prove I'm lying."

"Look, pal," said the short detective. "I don't care what kind of game you're playing, we won't stand for this."

"Your game. Your rules. I'm following them, you're not. No way I can stay in this chair if you don't accept the truth."

"Is that right? You going to zap us with a ray gun?"

"There are no weapons in space. That would be complete insanity, like devising something to blow my own arm off."

"How convenient: 'no weapons in space.'"

"There's a structure to the universe you clearly do not understand."

"Well, buddy, I'll tell you what I do understand -"

"Your violence speaks for itself. You are at war with yourself, you can see it in your eyes. Once you move beyond that, the universe will pour forth, simple as that."

"We're not interested in the universe, only our investigation."

"Th universe is your investigation. Open your eyes! You're crying out for it, pleading for hope and an everlasting way to life."

"If you keep refusing to cooperate we can only infer the worst."

"Infer as you please. I have not spoken falsely. Search within and ask yourselves. Determine for yourself what is right and what is wrong. Anything else is a betrayal."

"How is it we can make you understand we don't care about the universe??"

"You might as well say you're not interested in breathing - while you do exactly that!"

"OK, I've had enough of this. But I'm going to get this much on the record: you know so much, tell us just what the universe is."

"You already know."

A murderous silence entered the room. Up and down reversed. The three inquisitors instinctively felt the urge to kill. The angriest of them exploded.

"I can tell you one thing! I can tell you what the universe is NOT! It's not LOVE!!"