manson When have you ever looked inside at how your thoughts come to be?
ebb I never have.
manson You couldn’t even if you tried. You have no control over it, do you?
ava I don’t sense any control from Ebb over his mind.
manson The evidence is certainly lacking.
ebb I do control my mind! Who else could control my mind?
manson Your mind?
ava He can’t reach inside his brain and feel where his thoughts are coming from!
manson I suspect, Ebb, that whatever thoughts you have and most of the decisions you make are beyond the reach of your conscious self. Your brain does a lot of work, Ebb. It looks after your body and regulates your processes and one of the things it does is produce a little personality called Ebb which is useful at analysing and interpreting certain kinds of information.
ava That’s you, Ebb, you’re the little personality.
manson But you’re just one little part of your mind, Ebb. You’re a very small player in the world of your brain. Try and feel where your sentences come from.
ebb My sentences...
manson No, don’t just speak without thinking about it. The next sentence which you have an urge to say – what is it?
ebb What the hell are you talking about?
manson Where did that sentence originate?
ava Did you feel it arrive fully formed in your mouth?
manson How did you decide to say those words?
ava Did you pick them out of a list?
manson Was there a little mental list in your head of all the words that you could say? Did you assemble the words into a sentence like pieces of a puzzle?
ava Or did they just come to you?
manson Did that sentence just appear in your head for you to say?
ava Where did it come from?
manson Where are your thoughts coming from, Ebb?
ebb Can you feel yours?
pause
manson ...with difficulty.
ava If I stop to think what I want to say, I... I don’t find the words to, to... say.
manson We’re still the same species, the three of us. Certain mental phenomena are bound to keep recurring, broadly speaking, bound to maintain their structural integrity over a... over a swathe of... I mean that’s how we’re able to talk to you today. I mean we share a language, of course we do, but that’s not enough on its own to allow understanding between two... or over a spectrum of... a broad spectrum... I mean we wouldn’t be talking here if we weren’t the same in one or two respects.
ebb Well then why don’t one of you figure it out? Go away and think about what you’re thinking and what’s making the thoughts happen and if you figure it out you let me know. Give me a phone call. Or send me a copy of your report. And in the meantime, you’re both dry, you’re both dressed – why don’t you get on your way?
ava I’m not quite dry. Not 100%.
manson You’ve towelled yourself most thoroughly.
ava There are always one or two crevices.
manson Ah, of course. There are always a few crevices. Creases. Clefts. Which retain moisture.
ebb You can take the towel. Go on, have it. No, I don’t want it back, we’ve got others here. Take the towel and you can dry yourself as you walk. You might even get a bit of sunshine after dawn. Now do you mind?
ava But I’m not dry yet.
ebb I don’t believe you.
ava Are you calling my bluff?
ebb What bluff?
ava Do you want to find out how wet I am?=
ebb Yes.
ebb and ava step towards each other challengingly. ebb is going to reach between ava’s legs and ava is going to give his fingers access to her cunt but interruption
manson Ebb, don’t call the Rooster Goddess’ bluff. Ava, don’t... Just dry yourself as best you can. Please. Now Ebb, you’re wondering why we’re asking you to examine your relationship with your thoughts and mental processes and not just doing it ourselves. Very fair question. The answer lies in the fact that different work produces different outcomes. What the Rooster Goddess and I do is useful in one respect. What you can do is useful in a very different way. Ava and I prepare for our work by completing certain rituals, going through certain exercises.
ava I like to listen to rock and roll music.
manson Ava likes the rock and roll music that they play on the electric radio. FM twenty-one...?
ava FM 21.1.1.1! All the latest rock and roll, rock-a-billy, rhythm and blues and British invasion pop!
manson I like to drip a bit of blessed water on my tongue and in my mouth. Just to spruce up my lips and gums and give my tonsils a bit of a treat. But of course, I wouldn’t recommend that you try it. What I find valuable and invigorating you would find constricting. Your preparation is different.
ebb Preparation for what?
manson What I find valuable and invigorating, you would find crippling. It would render you virtually incapable of carrying out your work.
ava Blessed water in the mouth, is that what he’s suggesting? Bad idea. Very bad idea for you.
ebb I don’t want any blessed water.
manson Wise.
ava What you want is to prepare yourself as best you can.
ebb Prepare for what?
manson Nothing out of the ordinary, Ebb. For you, anyway. A little out of the ordinary for us. But not exceptionally so. I’m sure that Ava and I would be capable of handling it without too much stress or heartache, but it would be an effort.
ava An effort.
manson For you, on the other hand, it falls well within the compass of your skills. It will hardly register as a task. Just a little sidenote to get out of the way before your day begins in earnest.
ava ...be more than an effort.
ebb What is it?
manson Something that would be best approached after a small period of introspection.
ebb Tell me what it is.
manson Ava, have you checked outside?
ava Not in the last few minutes.
manson Would you like to have a look?
ava He’s not ready yet.
manson I know, but he will be soon.
ava How long?
manson I don’t know, how long have we got?
ava I’ll have to look outside.
manson Yes.
ava hesitantly opens the door and steps out. she returns a few seconds later.
ava Yes.
ebb What is it?
manson How close is it?
ava Yes.
manson Yes what?
ava Yes, close.
manson How close?
ava There’s more than five of them now.
manson Right outside?
ava One a few metres right above the door. The others... spread around.
ebb What’s spread around?
ava Jellies.
ebb Jellyfish?
manson Close, then.
ava Yes, close.
manson All right then, Ebb. This is the question, and I know you’ll answer it as honestly as you can: Can you assume responsibility for your actions?
ebb Can I-
ava No follow-up questions. Just the answer.
pause
ebb I am responsible for my actions. I make decisions and then carry them out.
manson Good.
ava Is that enough?
manson He’s ready. Open the door.
ebb Wait, what am I going to do?
manson What you decide to do. There’s only one part of your brain that we have any communication with. The part of your brain that constructs a personality that thinks of itself as Ebb. The part of your brain that cut a deal with us.
ava opens the door and moves away from it. Ebb stands at the doorway looking out in horror.
manson We’ve been working on your personality for a good many months, now. No matter what decisions you make, they’re decisions that we approve of. Just don’t let panic or nausea processes kick in.
ava And don’t get aggressive.
manson That’s right, keep a fairly tight lid on the adrenaline.
ebb They’re huge... They’re floating...
ava Enjoy the weather, Mr Ebb.
ava pushes ebb through the doorway and shuts the door.
ava You know most jellies can’t control the horizontal direction they move in, but they can swim upwards or downwards. At night, all the jellies in the ocean rise out of the depths to eat the plankton near the surface. It’s the biggest migration of living matter on the earth.
manson I hope he addresses the problem quickly.
ava It’s not likely.
manson I know.
