The First Stages of Research

The First Stages of Research

The first person I told was my fellow counselor, “Sherman.” It wasn’t his first name, but that’s what I always called him. As the counselor most directly above me in rank, Sherman’s optimism and logical thinking were attributes only out shadowed by his vast intelligence. I only shared my phone’s recent wetting of the proverbial bed with him at first because it was fascinating to me.

There were many other reasons why I should have told him what was happening to my poor phone, whether being his appropriately customized major in “Quantum Mysticism,” (which I found was a comprehensive study of random occurrences, linking theories, and seeming impossibilities, just to name a few), his natural inquisitiveness and willingness to question, or even his ability to make logical correlations between seemingly random events.

I continued to show him my findings for none of these reasons. I kept him informed because he was willing to listen. More importantly, he believed me.

He agreed to look into the dates of January 3^rd, 2005 through January 6^th, 2005 and then check what happened at those times in the Middle East. Honestly, I expected nothing.

At this point, most of the other counselors knew what was happening to my phone. Most of them were willing to joke about it, saying that “New Student Orienting” was making me a bit crazy, making me reprogram my phone in semi-sleep trances. It was easy to laugh at.

I went about my duties, escorting new students to writing and language exams, giving tours of the campus, answering questions. I thought nothing of the entire situation until staff meeting that evening, when Sherman and the other counselors who lived in my hall for the summer would meet and go over the results of our day’s assignments.

When I met with Sherman, he told me about what he had found. On those dates, four major political activists and politicians--all connected individuals--were consecutively assassinated in the vicinity of Abu Dhabi.

Coincidence, obviously. It was a fun fact for me, nothing more. That must have been it after all, because surely my phone didn’t pick a specific set of dates in a certain concentrated region where major specific assassinations had taken place. How could it? With our current world politics, I wasn’t surprised that people had been assassinated on any given day. It prompted little from me.

My questions were multiplied when the next clue came out of nowhere. Sherman and several of the other counselors had found something tangible which brought my streak of skepticism to a screeching halt.

When I found out what it was and why it was significant, I became frightened. The dynamic of my situation was about to change drastically.

Next Week -- The Physical Evidence