Hunter had eventually broken down and rented a conference room at the hotel. The quartet spent most of the day in that room, watching television, surfing the web, and reading articles. Their attempts to guess at Ghaelvord’s next move seemed increasingly hopeless.

Tiyana spoke, “Virgil, back in Africa, he said, according to a recent research report that he had read, that we may be on the verge of discovering something better than nuclear energy. I’ve been reading new articles for weeks now, trying to figure out what report he was referring to. Do you suppose that this new thing, whatever it is, is his real goal, that the whole nuclear energy diatribe was a ruse?”

“It would not surprise me.” Virgil said.

Tiyana looked thoughtful. She sifted through the pile of journals and documents splayed out across the large conference table. She picked one up and started reading.

The article said, “Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider are finally winding down their efforts to collect data on the Higgs boson. Discovered in 2012, the boson was heralded as the greatest discovery of the inchoate twenty-first century. A deluge of papers opining on the details of the Higgs field have been published. Efforts to refine the ideas expressed will continue on for many decades to come. The buzz, at this point, is still palpable. But what about the Large Hadron Collider itself? What will its fate be while the data from the now-legendary series of recent experiments is analyzed? Will it continue to operate? What will it do? This reporter will answer those burning questions.

With untold terabytes of data to analyze regarding the recent and wildly successful proton-proton collisions, the Large Hadron Collider will move on to bigger things. The accelerator is being retrofitted to accommodate an increased level of heavy ion collisions. These voluminous collisions will push the colossal synchrotron to its limits.

The increase in lead-lead collisions will allow scientists to devote further study to quark-gluon plasma, a novel phase of matter with zero viscosity. This will be the final series of collisions using the old ATLAS detector. With the new magnet upgrades, the collision energy will be pushing thirty teraelectronvolts. Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider will be conducting the hottest, most energetic experiments to date. The resulting radiation absorption by the ATLAS detector is expected to push it into its grave. The lead-lead collisions will run until the ATLAS detector can no longer give reliable readings, at which point it will be retired and replaced with the new ETHER detector.”

“Atlas holds heaven in his tireless arms... and Ghaelvord needs to find him.” She muttered to herself the words of Shenouda.

“What’s that?” Virgil asked.

“He needs mass to become a Titan and he will take it from the field.” Tiyana said.

Virgil dropped his computer. It made a loud crash as it hit the floor.

“Hey!” Hunter shouted. “Those are expensive.”

“What?” Virgil asked.

He could see an epiphany in Tiyana’s eyes.

“This is it. I’m sure of it. The Higgs field, the field that gives mass to particles. The bosons that interact with the field to spontaneously break symmetry. In the collider, they’re free and there’s energy there, lots of it.”

Tiyana had been talking fast. She slowed down. “In the collider, particles are broken apart and spread out in jets in ways that only occur at the edges of our atmosphere where cosmic rays from outer space hit the earth’s atmosphere and explode. Hunter, I’m talking about the same cosmic rays that you’ve been conjuring for the declopse. I’m talking about the energy that the Dahjaat need to become what they become. It’s there and it roams free throughout the detectors. There’s radiation shielding.”

Hunter lowered his eyebrows, “What are you saying?”

“Hunter, in a few hours the largest, most powerful manmade particle collisions in history will happen at the Large Hadron Collider. They are cranking it to the max before retiring the old Atlas detector. It is only a two hour drive away from us.”

“And the significance of this is what?” Hunter asked.

“Hunter, the same conditions that occur at the edges of our atmosphere are being recreated here. You and you-know-who use energy to increase your mass. Him and Malacoda, they summon energy from the earth’s core. That’s why the ground melts beneath them in the declopse. Your energy comes from cosmic rays. Somehow, you’re able to keep them from detonating in the thermosphere and they feed you. But what would they do to him? What could he do with that technology?”

Hongo stood up. “Are you sure?’

“Blimey!” Tiyana cried out. “It’s just an idea. I never know with these things. Look at the Pyramids in the shape of the mastaba. That was just an idea. I never know what the ideas will bring.”

“They’re generally spot on.” Hunter said.

“Spot on what, though?” Tiyana asked rhetorically.

“We must leave now!” Virgil almost shouted.

Hunter looked at the broken computer on the floor at Virgil’s feet and shrugged. He tossed his tablet computer over his right shoulder. It dropped hard on the floor. Even the hotel carpet could not absorb the shock. The face of the device cracked. Everyone got the idea. They left their stuff and bolted out the door.