The enigmatic call through the phonograph had left Merlin and the Council deep in thought, even as frantic defensive preparations continued. "The Grid... the United Consciousness..." Merlin repeated the words, mentally consulting his vast repository of arcane knowledge. The Emerald Tablet, attributed to Hermes, spoke of underlying unity, of "as above, so below," but the term "Grid" (or "Lattice" in more obscure alchemical texts) suggested a more defined structure, a fundamental pattern. And the "United Consciousness"... did it refer to a collective effort?
"Alatar," Merlin ordered, "use your skills. Forget the distant future. Search for... anomalies of consciousness. Unusual concentrations of focused mental energy on this planet, now."
The old diviner closed his eyes, his mind reaching out, guided by Merlin's urgency. Tense minutes passed. Suddenly, Alatar's eyes snapped open. "I find something... faint, but intensely focused. Off the coast of... Mexico? Near the Yucatán Peninsula. A cluster of human minds... straining, trying... to stabilize something? They're very close to the main disturbance emanating from the sea."
Merlin nodded. Yucatán... Cancún... right on the threshold of Cthulhu's awakening. And focused on "stability," "coherence." It was too much of a coincidence. "I must contact them," Merlin decided. "If they're working on the 'Grid' from another angle, their knowledge could be vital."
Ignoring the worried looks from the other wizards about the risk of dividing his attention, Merlin closed his eyes and projected his consciousness across the globe, guided by the faint but distinctive mental signature Alatar had located.
Cancún, Mexico - Same moment
In the makeshift laboratory, the pressure was almost unbearable. The air vibrated. The lights flickered. The sound of the waves outside had become a guttural, unnatural roar. Mateo huddled in a corner, fighting the nausea and fragmented visions that assaulted his mind. Elena, Javier, and the others desperately tried to apply the shamanic techniques inferred from Grinberg's notes—rhythmic chants, forced breathing, intense visualizations—but they felt they were only delaying the inevitable, like building a sand dam against a tsunami.
It was then that a figure appeared in the middle of the room. It wasn't physical, but a projection of bluish-silver light: an elderly man with a long white beard and piercing eyes filled with ancient wisdom and desperate urgency.
The group stepped back, startled. "Who... who are you?" Elena stammered.
"I am Merlin," the projection said, his voice echoing directly into their minds. "Magician and counselor. There is no time for detailed explanations. We sense your struggle. You are working with the structure of reality, the 'Grid,' as we call it, correct? Against the madness that stirs in the sea."
Elena nodded, stunned. "Grinberg's Synergic Lattice... yes. But it is not enough."
"We know," Merlin said. "We too face this threat, along with others. We have studied the Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus for centuries, but we are missing something. And the call we receive... your efforts... I believe you are close to another piece of the puzzle."
Quickly, Merlin conveyed the essence of his own dilemma: knowledge of the Tablet's universal principles, the power of magic and the Keystones, but a lack of understanding of how to apply those principles in a structured and universal way, the operative laws that govern vibration and manifestation in the Grid.
Elena listened, and a sudden understanding illuminated her weary face. "The Hermetic Principles! Jacob mentioned them... he believed they were the philosophical key underlying the phenomena he observed. Mentalism, Correspondence, Vibration, Polarity, Rhythm, Cause and Effect, Gender... They are the operative laws of the Lattice!" She turned back to her notes. "But we lack the structure, the map... How to consciously apply intention to that Grid!"
"Exactly!" Merlin's voice echoed in their minds. "We have texts that describe that structure... sacred geometries, the patterns of creation that are reflected from the micro to the macro. The Kabbalah speaks of the Tree of Life, the ancient builders used the Flower of Life... They are representations of the Grid itself!"
In that instant, both groups, separated by thousands of miles but united by an existential threat and a thread of shared understanding, understood. Umbria had the "what" (Emerald Tablet, magical power) and the "map" (Sacred Geometry), but lacked the "operational laws" (Hermetic/Kybalion Principles). Cancun had the "how" (Consciousness-Lattice interaction, shamanic techniques /synergic) and the "operative laws" (Hermetic Principles), but he was missing the "map" (Sacred Geometry) and the fundamental "what" that the Tablet represented.
They needed both pieces of knowledge. Now.
"We must share," Merlin said urgently. "There is no time to travel. I will transmit the essence of Sacred Geometry and the Hermetic Principles as we understand them. You... transmit your understanding of conscious interaction, the techniques of Grinberg and Pachita."
Closing his eyes again, Merlin began to project not just words, but images, concepts, complex geometric patterns—the Tree of Life overlapped with the Flower of Life, golden spirals intertwined with cubes and tetrahedrons—and the essence of the Seven Hermetic Principles.
In Cancún, Elena and Mateo, acting as conduits for the group, opened their minds and began to "transmit" their own knowledge: the data of coherent neural fields, shamanic visualizations, the sensation of "pushing" or "molding" the Lattice with pure intention, the rhythms and altered states Grinberg had documented.
A desperate fusion of knowledge, a bridge built through magic and consciousness across the globe, began in the last moments of calm before the storm. Two radically different approaches to reality converged, desperately searching for the key to surviving the awakening of a mad god. Time had almost run out.