The Strange Compulsion

Synopsis

A college student awakes every morning one and a half hour before his alarm is set, only to find himself writing scientific formulas he has never seen before.

Characters

John
Dr. Malone, a science professor
Dr. Black, Dr. Malone's assistant
Tom, John's friend

Excerpt

             His hand was drawn to the chalkboard.  He could do nothing but write formulas he had never seen before.  The strange thing was they were correct.  Every single formula matched a formula in science, and he had no way of knowing them.  He looked down at his watch:  7:15 a.m.  Just fifteen minutes earlier, he was drawn to the science lab, even though his alarm was set to 9:00 a.m.  He never woke up at such a strange time without an alarm.
            “Very good.”  A voice was heard from behind him.  No doubt the mastermind who had gotten him into this mess.  “And you are doing this without any prior science knowledge.  Another breakthrough in the scientific world.  I can control the hand of anyone without having to do surgery.  Very Old Testament.  If I’m not mistaken, in the book of Daniel, this would have been known as ‘The Writing on the Wall.’  King Belshazzar would be proud.”  The scientist paced around the room, watching the student’s every move.  “Just imagine.  You are the first human to ever be controlled telepathically by another human.  Unless, of course, someone else has beaten me to this experiment and not publicly published the findings.  It’s higher than robotic technology.  It’s “Goodbye ‘I, Robot.’  Hello, ‘I, Human.’  This kind of technology has been thought of before, but it’s not actually been done—until now”.
            “Why have you done this to me?” the student demanded.  “I didn’t do this.  You brought it on yourself,” was the only reply. 
            The student continued writing the formulas, as his arm was forced to the chalk and the chalk to the board.  “When will you stop controlling my mind?”
           “You have all the willpower to stop it yourself, but you are still young in this telepathic mind.  I expect that you will gain that power in a few years.  You still have a lot to learn about this new ability.”
           “So you will keep me writing these formulas until I get strong enough to fight off the power?”
           “I will let you go now if you stop asking me questions.  I prefer this ability to remain as unknown as the reasons for me choosing you are right now.  When the time comes, you will know everything.  Until then, expect to be back here at the same place and time when the sun rises next.”
          He was, of course, referring to the next morning, unless he could control the sunrise as well, which was, of course, very likely.  But if he could control the sun, he hid it well.
          The student dared not tell a soul what he had witnessed and gone through that morning, especially if the scientist had control of his mind when he had never met the student and had given the student the urge to go to that lab without having been in the student’s room that morning.