Part 5, where we learn what we're up against
The diary We retired once again to Edward's home, where I set upon Lawther's diary with considerable eagerness. The three met entirely by chance at college, discovering their interests and temperaments aligned despite their differing vocations. Leslie provided the intellectual foundation for the device, Bartley applied his engineering skills to refine it, and Lawther rendered the prototype drawings. Once the contraption was constructed, they required test subjects. Leslie, by then employed in the hospital mortuary department, arranged for an initial trial upon a cadaver, which proved unsuccessful. He then made the fateful decision to test the apparatus upon a comatose patient. Lawther notes the patient was terminal in any case, but the scandal, when discovered, was considerable. From Lawther's perspective, that concluded the enterprise. They remained friends but abandoned the machine entirely. Two years hence, Lawther learns that Leslie has been invited to join the Pacific ...