Having arrived at a decision, even though Alex understood she could still change her mind if she wanted, she and Deanna were taken by Joseph to a laboratory in the basement. It, like the castle, looked like a movie set. The thing that looked like a rabbit-ears TV antenna had lightning crawling up itself, just as it should. Large test tubes of colored liquids stood in racks, and some slopped over onto the table top. Several even bubbled happily. The only thing missing was someone named Igor to ...
They both jumped when a sudden raspy voice behind them said, "Hello, my name is Igor." He was shorter than Alex, bent over, and had a humped back. He was also quite handsome.
"And you're taking us to see your master," Alex joked.
"I beg your pardon?" Igor replied. "I'm here to teach you about how to travel in time by mental control." The raspy voice was gone, replaced by a pleasant baritone.
"Oops, sorry," Alex said.
"No problem. People see the hump, and assume that 'hump' means 'laboratory assistant'. Or 'bellringer'," said Igor.
Alex blushed and said "There've been too many surprises for me to think clearly. I'm really sorry."
"Don't worry about it. Let's get started," he said. "Lie down on that couch over there. You can move some of the props."
Alex moved a stuffed black cat onto a table. Deanna perched on a stool. Alex started to say, "This couch has a hole in the middle," then remembered the hump and said nothing.
"Have you ever hypnotized yourself?" he asked.
"No," Alex said.
"It's really very simple," he said. "It involves making yourself relax all over, and letting your mind drift."
"Mom says I'm good at that," she replied.
"Good, let's start by getting you to relax," he said. "Start with the bottom of your feet, and relax them as much as possible. Both feet. Let all the tension drain out of the bottom of your feet. Now your ankles: relax the muscles, let your feet fall sideways if they want, let out all the tension ..." He talked his way upward until tension was draining out the top of her head. She was surprised that she actually felt much more relaxed, and that any physical tension was gone. Also, with his strong, pleasant voice repeating the instructions over and over, the tension was draining from her mind too. Even when she felt totally at peace, she continued to drift with his voice.
"Now that you feel completely at rest, I want you to cut off all feelings from outside yourself. Do not feel the couch, close your eyes, and hear only my voice." He repeated this until nothing but his voice existed for her.
Next, he told her that, while his voice might help her this first time, soon she would be able to do it completely by herself. And he gave her a special word, 'alyssum', that would help her concentrate and enter this dream state more quickly.
"When you've cut yourself free of all sensory connections to this time, your mind is free to choose its own time. There is nothing holding you to this year, except my voice, except my voice ..." which he repeated several times more. Then he said, "let yourself drift with my voice, because my voice is drifting to another time, another year, 1990, 1980, 1960, 1930, 1890, 1889, 1888, 1887, 1886, 1886 ... my voice has drifted to 1886, and you have come with me." Then suddenly all was quiet.
Alarmed, she opened her eyes. Igor was not there. Deanna was gone. She could tell by the light in the room that it was a different time of day. The room was still disordered, but the disorder was different. Several large machines were in the room, and she didn't remember them before. Strangest of all, everything glowed slightly, as though electricity danced over all the surfaces. Panicked, she started to call "Deanna", then fainted.