Diana and the Peace Helmet

By Jim Bowden

Dr. Menlow Parks has experimented on the homeless and street people for years, perfecting his invention, the "God Helmet," which creates powerful virtual reality experiences with spiritual overtones. He operates out of a cheap store front, lacking a source of funding. Diana discovers him and decides there is a market for his invention, which she will devote to world peace in the process. She renames the invention the "Peace Helmet." However the media bigshots get wind of her invention and realize that not only could it earn them big bucks, but that Diana might actually steal the virtual reality market if they don't move fast. Diana stages a big party and unveiling of the helmet, giving demonstrations to one and all, to raise money. The syndicate infiltrates its agents, however, and tries to swindle her out of the machine. Fortunately, Diana outsmarts them, with the help of her colorful and ingenious friends.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jim Bowden
• Release date: Jul 7, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301580057

Jim Bowden

I love to write stories of romance, intrigue, and sexual titillation--having spent most of my life programming computers! Now, in between writing novels, I create short videos which are either weird or serious attempts to document the artists who share Sonoma with my wife and me. Please visit the website mentioned below.

Book preview

Diana and the Peace Helmet

A Novel by Jim Bowden

Smashwords Edition

Copyright© 2013 by Jim Bowden

Also by Jim Bowden

Long Night in a Hot Tub

Trillion Dollar Eden

Chapter 1

Dr. Menlow Parks smiled indulgently at his latest test subject—recruited, as usual from the street outside the store-front he used as a lab. This part of town was ideal for a number of reasons—the inexpensive rent (he was not a rich man) and the availability of homeless people to be used as guinea-pigs. He was always careful to ask about a history of seizures and heart problems, and did his best to exclude habitual drug users (apart from nicotine and alcohol).

The subject’s teeth were bad or missing and his skin was blotched and scabby. He was probably forty-five or fifty but appeared much older. The offer of shelter, food, coffee, cigarettes, and whiskey was too much to resist. For a week or two he would have a comfortable life. After that? Probably back to sleeping in doorways.

"Just make yourself comfortable, buddy. Today we’re going to try a new tape. You’ll like it. It’s called The Garden of Eden."

The man stretched out on the low cot and waited for Dr. Parks to slide the helmet over his head. It was a familiar routine. He relaxed and heard the hum as the scientist turned on the wave-generator.

The device sprouted a number of wires leading to a rack of electronic equipment. Known as a God Helmet, it was an experimental apparatus used in neurotheology to produce spiritual feelings. Dr. Parks had modified it to provide input to eyes, ears, and nose as well. When a multimedia program was fed into the machine, the result was a powerful dream experience perceived as reality. Diana had renamed it the Peace Helmet.

To date, there had been no serious problems with the test subjects, all of whom had gone their way seemingly better off than before, often raving about the visions they had enjoyed.

Diana, a buxom woman of about forty-five, came into the makeshift laboratory to observe the experiment and take notes. She had volunteered to be his lab assistant, when she could find the time, since meeting him at a conference on electronic gadgets in Las Vegas the year before. To her, Dr. Parks was a lonely, driven, genius destined for greatness. To him, she was a dynamic link to the world of business, especially the media business, about which he knew next to nothing. She was technically savvy, imaginative, inventive, and, most importantly, a good social mixer—which he was not. She was searching for something to market, preferably an innovative device that would let her create the programming. An amateur playwright, filmmaker, and impresario, she had thrown together a number of venues for amateur but ambitious talent in her Iowa home town. Now trying to make her way in Los Angeles, she was scouting for just the right mix of technology and people to produce a winning combination. Fortunately, the charismatic Diana had a following of admirers who hoped someday to be rich as a result of investing in her projects.

She and Menlow had drawn up papers to share the project fifty-fifty. He would contribute the invention; she would contribute her marketing expertise and whatever money she could raise.

After a few prototypes had been placed with psychological counselors, the plan was to form a company and offer stock to the public. Until then, they would rely on her stable of loyal friends and followers. The two of them spent countless hours together, tweaking the equipment and planning for the inevitable marketing explosion.

World, she said to Menlow one time, get ready to kiss television goodbye. The Peace Helmet is the new paradigm. Life will never be the same again.

Chapter 2

Helmet Log, June 12, 2007

The experiments are coming along very well. My latest subject, Stewart Little, was a homeless man I recruited from a park bench. I explained the project and made the usual offer of a place to stay, coffee, food, etc. After several days experience with the helmet, he said it was enough for now, and he wanted to go off and rethink his life. This is a very common reaction. I offered him $20 if he would come back later and let me debrief him. This he did, about a week later. He reported feeling a deep inner peace that had apparently gotten rid of his desire for drugs, alcohol, and his addiction to watching television whenever and however he could do so—usually in a bar. He talked of a new spiritual awareness and connectedness, unknown before, and said he was taking advantage of a social service program that offered help for the homeless. Diana is pleased with our progress.

Chapter 3

Louise Hornby’s house was what most people would consider luxurious, having a view of the Pacific Ocean, private beach access, and lavishly-landscaped grounds featuring a red-tiled casita. If Louise had not married unsuccessfully a number of times, but divorced successfully almost the same number of times, she wouldn’t have been able to enjoy such ambience. Her current husband, Ken, was reasonably successful at whatever he did (the nature of which she had never quite grasped), but he was not one to spend his money on appearances—unlike Louise, whose mind and personality were focused on externals. The rare internal problem that demanded attention was admirably taken care of by her psychotherapist, Harold Blandings, PhD.

At the moment she was overseeing the preparation of tonight’s bash, which she was staging for her longtime friend Diana Thornton (unrelated to the Thorntons, unfortunately). It was to be a celebration of Diana’s launch of her new company, Helmets of Peace, Inc. Tonight she would address the guests about her plans and the initial stock offering, almost certain to be approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Louise knew that Diana would finish her presentation with a vision of world peace—to be wrought by her invention. Well, it was really Menlow’s invention, Louise knew, but Diana often referred to it as hers, since she had gone to the trouble of securing patents and overseeing its development from a crude tangle of computer equipment to its present marketable state.

It was not that Diana intended to exclude the scientist from his share of credit or glory. Dr. Menlow Parks had been a good friend and associate for quite some time—ever since they had met in the summer of 2007 at a Princeton seminar on neurotheology.

He would be here tonight, of course, since he lived in Louise’s garage. It was headquarters for the new company. Diana liked to say that all the greatest companies started in garages (citing Hewlett Packard and Apple). Besides, the garage was even cheaper than the low-rent storefront Menlow had been renting.

Louise, as an investor, was keenly interested in doing everything possible to assure the company’s solvency and success. Tonight people would be able to experience the prototype in the garage, and with any luck some would decide to buy a piece of the action. New investment money was always welcomed, and the IPO, after all, wasn’t a done deal.

The Peace Helmet had been toned down for the marketplace. It now began by inducing a deep relaxation response. As the program material was experienced—sight, sound, and scent—the machine added emotional amplification, producing an aura of profound realism. Gone were the overwhelming enlightenment experiences that had proved upsetting for some and life-changing for others. However, the God mode still existed and could be activated by professional clients, by keying in a special code. A few prototype units had already been sold at cost to early adopters, who had promised to provide feedback.

Chapter 4

The man lay in the recessed doorway of the storefront. Menlow stepped over him and opened the door, Diana close on his heels. Jackson stirred and mumbled something that could have been, Don’t step on me, man. They set down their packages next to the equipment and turned back to look at him through the open door.

"Do you think he’s