MIND BLOCK 401.
The next day I began working with Pearl and La Señora Falcón on developing their mind blocking skills.
We met above ground at the quiet empty boathouse at Lincoln Park. Situated on a man-made lake, the boathouse is only a couple of blocks from the General Hospital. I wanted a place with lots of visual stimuli. Around us ducks swam in the lake, children played at an adjacent playground and traffic rolled by on either side of the park on Mission and Main Streets.
Joining us was Filomino Brancos, who was now the de facto military commander of La Familia.
“Consider me your third student,” he said . “I want to know everything about mind blocking.”
The night before Pearl had filled me in on the plan to infiltrate the Oñate compound at Amboy.
“The cover story is that Mrs. Falcón and I are mother and daughter,” she had told me. “We’re retracing the route La Señora Falcón, my make believe mother, took when she gave birth to me on a cross country trip from Texas. She went into labor as she and my father drove through Amboy and I was born in Barstow. Now mother and daughter are visiting Amboy for old times sake.”
Learning about the cover story for their infiltration gave me an idea on the mind blocking technique I would develop for them.
“The principal is the same as blocking a mind reader with the image of a sunset,” I explained.
I was sitting on a folding chair in the empty patio of the boathouse, opposite Mrs. Falcón and Pearl. As was his style, Filomino preferred not to sit, instead leaning against the building’s red brick wall.
“The idea is to focus on something so intensely that it dominates your mind, hiding what you’re really thinking. But instead of one single image like a sunset, I want you to develop a series of intense thoughts, a sequence of images.”
“Like what kind of sequence?” Pearl asked.
“I’ll want you to use something that’s in view or that you’ve seen recently. For example, take a look across the lake at those ducks. Think about the ducks and how you would try to catch one. Make it simple. I’d go around the lake, wade in the water, and try to isolate a single duck and pursue it till I caught it.”
I could sense the minds of Pearl, Mrs. Falcón and Filomino as they formed the sequence of thoughts in their mind.
“Now repeat that sequence of thoughts over and over again. Think of it as your left hand on a piano playing a simple chord. Just repeat till it becomes automatic.”
I waited until I sensed the intense thoughts in each mind.
“Now, I want you to try to keep that thought sequences going but also look at the kids playing in that playground, I want you to count them, how many boys, how many girls, how many adult supervisors. You’ll find you can do both. It’s like playing a melody on a piano with your right hand on the keyboard while you left hand plays the chord over and over again.”
I tried entering Pearl’s mind. It was a jumble of thoughts chasing ducks and children playing.
“Pearl,” I said, “I can read both of your thoughts. I need you to focus more intently on the chasing the duck while still counting the kids.”
I waited a few minutes, then tried entering her mind again. This time, the scenes of Pearl chasing down the duck were strong. I could barely make out the counting of children.
“Much better, Pearl. Keep it up.”
I noticed Filomino nodding his head in agreement.
“Smart,” he said. “Chasing the duck will hide their real thoughts as they take a look into the Oñate stronghold, count the troops, locate the arsenal.”
“Exactly,” I said. “It only takes a minute for me to see that the mind I have penetrated is involved in an innocuous activity. The duck chasing sequence or whatever Pearl and La Señora Falcón come up with on the spot should put any mind reader at rest.
Throughout the training, Mrs. Falcón had been quiet but now she spoke.
“Mijo, what if we slip up? If Pearl and I let our we let our guard down? Is it possible that they can read our minds and find out about our plans?”
“We have a safeguard for that,” Filomino interrupted.
“And what is that?” Pearl asked.
“Me,” I said with a smile. “I’ll be coming along with you.”
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Copyright 2014 by Lazaro De La Tierra and Barrio Dog Productions Inc.