I was in another world, millions of miles away from Earth.  My mind realized that something little short of a miracle had happened, and yet I felt absolutely familiar with all the objects about me.  The glass-like walls that surrounded me, reaching up and forming a dome several feet above my head; the narrow passage in the center of the dome (just as the neck of a bottle would appear if viewed from inside), through which the spirit of Almos had passed to the chamber above; all these were wonderfully familiar to me.

I was in the virator, but it was uncomfortable to remain inside, as the air was oppressively warm.  Moreover, dictated my brain, I must prepare the virator for my return within five hours, and my hand instinctively grasped a lever in the wall of the apparatus.  A door opened and I stepped out, carefully closing it behind me.  Again I was astonished at my wonderful familiarity with everything.  If I had lived on Mars all my life, I could not have had a more intimate knowledge of my surroundings.  I seemed to know exactly how to proceed, and after attending to several important details, and carefully noting the temperature of the virator on a thermometer placed for that purpose, I consulted a chronometer to ascertain how long it would be safe for me to remain on Mars.  I found that, allowing a half-hour for the process of arrival and the same for departure, I had just five hours.

My mind, at first stunned by the new and strange conditions to which it was subjected, now gradually began to realize its remarkable position in relation to the brain.

That the mind and the spirit are one, or so closely related as to be indistinguishable and inseparable, was now beyond doubt, as I was keenly aware of all that had happened to me on Earth, showing that my mind not only existed, but also possessed the same faculty of thought in Almos’ body as it did in mine while on Earth.  Here was a positive proof, in fact a demonstration, of the theory advanced by some scientists, that the mind is separate and distinct from the brain.

But the gulf that lies between life and death remained as wide as ever.  Death was still shrouded in mystery, for my mind knew nothing from the moment it left the body on Earth, until it awakened in the body on Mars.  Flesh and blood, then, were essential to the mind’s existence.  Mind or spirit must have expression through some form.  Although man may achieve much by scientific advancement, that to which he has progressed is but as a grain of sand in the desert, to the wonders that surround him.  Science shall never penetrate the mystery of those things that are withheld from him.

The brain of which my mind now took control, acted merely as the material handle by which the machinery of the body was operated, thus converting thoughts into actions.  But although my mind, having by now become perfectly familiar with the strange conditions, was able to record new impressions on the brain, there still existed the impression of Almos’ thoughts.  It resembled a book which my mind could instantly refer to and be guided by, and thus was I in possession of a perfect knowledge of Mars, its people, and its language.