CHAPTER 51

After Never

Around us, everything spins,

everything moveseverywhere is energy.
Nikola Tesla, May 1891

The great day came.

Wearing shoes with thick cork soles, his six-foot-six frame looked
eerily elongated onstage. The auditorium was enlivened by the faces of
young and old electrical engineers. Both friends and enemies were there.
Of all the forms of natural, omnipresent, and measureless energy,
which constantly changes, moves, and brings the universe to life like
a soul, Tesla lectured, fingers dancing, perhaps the most fascinating
are magnetism and electricity.
At that point, he raised his voice: The explanation of these fascinating dual phenomena lies in the infinitesimal world, in its molecules
and atoms which spin in their orbits, much like celestial bodies.
The listeners imagined minuscule galaxies revolving in their thighs,
eyes, hearts.
Theres no doubt that we can directly make use of this energy and,
from limitless resources, create light, whichhe paused as his gaze
moved from one face to anothercan be transmitted wirelessly.
The great scientific presentation was intended to counter Edisons
circus shows. With a wave of his hand, Tesla signaled his assistant, Gano
Dunn.

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There was a click, just like the one heard in the execution chamber.
The auditorium darkened.
The scientist Tesla vanished.
A lonely actor appeared within a shaft of white.
In the sharp light, his white tuxedo looked starched. The actor
seemed sad and lonely. Every wrinkle on his face was visible.
On the desk in front of the actor there were several apparatuses,
which, for the majority of the spectators, were mere somethings because they did not know their purpose. Next to the polyphase induction motor was a vertical wheel, a silver ball, and a few other more or
less scary-looking devices.
The blue darkness began to hum. Two arcs of light leapt and crackled above the engine. The coil discharged a web of brilliant threads.
The gorgons hair became entangled around the ball. Electricity buzzed
and popped. Behind Tesla, a Faraday cage swallowed the flying sparks.
The audience watched with a mixture of religious humility and
circus-like amazement.
Gano Dunn was as grave as a matador. At Teslas signal, he raised
the frequency. The bright whip cracked between Gods finger and
Adams. The lightning bolts grew longer. With his small mustache
and his appallingly slick hair, Tesla straightened his back like a bullfighter before the kill. Without warning, he stretched his hand toward the machine. At that moment, the electrical cyclone puffed up
his body. The lightbulb he held blinked three times and lit. Cries came
from the audience:
Look, Amelia! Hes on fire!
Electricity is running through his body.
With his hair standing on end, the actor walked among the audience for fifteen minutes and turned lightbulbs and vacuum tubes
on with a touch. He demonstrated that any lamp within the electrical
field in the auditorium would work without being plugged in.
Then he returned to the stage.
The man with horns of blue light spoke from the podium like a
singer hitting a high note.
Even though a single electrical shock can be fatal, it is a paradox
that the exposure to amplified voltage can be perfectly safe. He had
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allowed a much stronger voltage to run through his body than the one
that killed Kemmler.
The applause boomed like thunder. In the loud clapping, he hovered above the stage again. When he alighted, the world was changed.
After the performance, gasping reporters wanted to know how much
voltage his body endured.
You really werent in any danger?
When was it that you first dared to touch an exposed wire?
Were you that sure about your calculations? Did you try it out on
an animal?
Only on myself, responded Tesla. I tried it only on myself.

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