Where the Lost Things Are Quotes

“His bluegene pill fell to the floor. It made a tiny tic and rolled out of sight. “Oh well,” said Jack, turning to leave the bathroom. “Another one gone.” “Get down on the floor and look for it!” I yelled. “You knows what happens if you miss too many doses.” “I turn into roadkill,” said Jack. “Or so Hector says. But it’s a slow process.” “Not that slow.” With a theatrical sigh, I bent over to peer at the base of the sink cabinet. The things I do for my friends. “When something small drops onto the floor it disappears,” said Jack. “Surely you’ve noticed that, Bart.” “It’s Bert,” I muttered. He was always forgetting my name. “Looking for it makes things worse,” said Jack. “Elementary quantum mechanics. The observer effect. An electron doesn’t have a position until it’s observed. A dropped pill isn’t fully lost until you look for it. And then its wave function sidles away. Across the dimensions.” Bending down is easy, it’s straightening up that’s hard. I managed though, and I looked Jack in the eye, with my pulse pounding in my ears. “Across the dementia?” Jack laughed in my face. “Dimensions! I explained all this to you the other night, Bert. When we were sitting out on the porch watching the cars melt into the night. Did you forget? Or maybe you weren’t paying attention.”
― Rudy Rucker, Where the Lost Things Are