STORM THORGARTEN was your classic Teutonic dork -- reserved, devoid of many social graces, and having no life aside from his work. He was outwardly happy all the same, in his small world, with few friendships and only a large black cat named Slash to share his evenings, and a daughter from his first marriage. Thorgarten had given the cat that particular appellation after befriending the animal outside a Guns'n'Roses concert in Berlin in 1992. Nobody could quite remember how Babel got her name, perhaps because it was from the Old Testament when God had balls and wasn't afraid to use Them to teach humanity a lesson.
Storm worked as a research scientist for Siemens AG, specializing in electronic products. They had been hesitant to take him on five years ago as he seemed overqualified for the position and talked a bit too eagerly about some far fetched ideas of his own. Nevertheless, Storm proved he was both methodical and dedicated, able to reign in his natural curiosity and lead his team in developing marketable products along the company's lines.
One of their most profitable lines was stage lighting and several of their devices used for back lighting and special effects had become status symbols among entertainers. This trend caused a modest rise in the company's stock and got Thorgarten named "Engineer of the Year".
After that Storm was able to convince the senior executives -- a panel of cold blooded, purveyors of profit -- to allow him the leeway to launch one of his own ideas.
For the past six months, Storm and his team had been diligently engaged in research and development on a revolutionary strobe light. This device was intended to project flickering blue illuminations at variable frequencies, capable of enveloping an entire stage or honing in on a single performer. When focused on a solitary artist, it had the effect of creating a spectral halo around them, imbuing them with an otherworldly aura. As the light pulsed, an optical illusion was created wherein the entertainer's movements appeared to be "freeze framed". Instead of the fluid motion with which the star was actually moving, the light divided movements into strobes or flashes, lending a jerky rhythm. Against the ghostly halo, the effect was vaguely reminiscent of early film which made subjects move so quickly as to appear comical. Then an even more curious thing happened: the light took on a power of its own. It seemed to key itself to the performers rhythm -- the faster the performer moved the faster the light pulsed, and this worked in reverse as well.
There was still one more aspect of Thorgarten's innovation of which he alone was aware and which he could not share with his team for legal and ethical reasons. Storm knew from his own experience during his headbanging days that the use of marijuana and other psychedelic drugs could greatly enhance the perception of certain phenomena in certain subjects. When you combined pot and strobe with heavy metal music, they experienced some bizarre but highly pleasurable sensations, which beggared even their own descriptive powers later.
After graduation, Thorgarten was compelled by obligations to find a job and other realities, to put aside such "nonsense" and concentrate on serious and more practical pursuits. However, his recent success at Creswell Corp finally afforded him the opportunity to trot out his pet project, which until this time he'd had to confine to his bedroom. Now he was able to "come out" with his toy and engage the multi-million dollar research facility and team in its development; albeit, certain of its attributes must remain with him alone.
What's needed Thorgarten mused is some private way to test this thing without legal or ethical liability. Then the perfect plan emerged one morning in the bathroom -- Mac the cat, 70s love child, would be the ideal subject! Storm had a prototype of the light at home which he had assembled and updated concomitant with work at the lab. Carefully, he placed the apparatus over Mac who lounged in shameless luxury on the couch and watched GOOD MORNING, AMERICA. But Tom was hardly prepared for the result.
