Jeremy Goldmann
Chapter 1 - The Hollow Man
Bremen
Bremen endures a violent psychic intrusion during takeoff, forced to simultaneously experience the panic and mortality of 187 other passengers. After the mental assault, he opens his eyes to a calm cabin, realizing the plane has not exploded despite his brief fear of a terrorist attack.
Chapter 2 - Shadow at Evening
Bremen / Jerry
Bremen drives his Triumph from the hospital to the beach, shielding himself from Gail's pain while projecting visual and sensory memories to her. He walks the dunes at Barnegat Light, maintaining a shared mental connection with her until she dies just before dawn.
Chapter 3 - A Banner There Upon the Mist
Bremen / Jeremy / Jerry
Bremen endures a series of visits from colleagues and neighbors, using his psychic ability to uncover their hidden selfish motives and desires. He retreats into his grief and the overwhelming 'neurobabble' of other minds, ultimately deciding to burn his house and outbuildings to the ground and flee on a plane, leaving Gail's Volvo behind in the barn.
Chapter 4 - Eyes
Jeremy / Bremen — aliases: God, a god
Bremen boards a plane and undergoes a profound internal monologue about his telepathic abilities, the loss of his shared mindshield, and the cruel secret of a hidden pregnancy within him that he carries even from himself.
Chapter 5 - Out of the Dead Land
Bremen
Bremen suffers a crushing psychic assault from the latent mortality fears of his fellow passengers, visualizing their secrets and violent impulses. He fights to maintain control, accepting a meal from a flight attendant only to spit it into a napkin, and holds onto his seat with white-knuckled force to withstand the tidal wave of mental noise until the captain announces their destination.
Chapter 6 - On the Joyless Beach
Bremen
Bremen arrives at a remote shack in the Everglades, vomiting from psychic overload and grief. He purchases fishing gear and groceries from Norm Sr., then departs on a boat with Verge, carrying a revolver he found in his luggage.
Chapter 7 - Eyes
Jeremy / Jerry
Jeremy excitedly shares his thesis breakthrough with Gail, explaining how holographic wavefront theory and interferometry elucidate the mechanism of telepathy and human consciousness. He reveals that fundamental physics research is independently discovering the same standing wavefront patterns in the universe, connecting the microscopic and macroscopic scales of reality.
Chapter 8 - Lasciate Ogne Speranza, Voi Ch’intrate
Bremen
Bremen rises on the third day to fish along the riverbank, feeling a sense of happiness before a psychic echo of Gail induces a wave of despair. He attempts suicide with a revolver, visualizing the kinetic energy of the bullet, but lowers the gun to toss it into the river before being intercepted by Vanni Fucci. He is forced at gunpoint into Fucci's skiff and taken across the river.
Chapter 9 - Eyes
Jeremy / Bremen
Jeremy reflects on the concept of death, recalling the traumatic death of his mother Elizabeth and his father's reaction, as well as Gail's early philosophical stance on mortality derived from her childhood experiences, ultimately accepting the 'silence and a void' as the shared nature of death.
Chapter 10 - Where the Deadmen Left Their Bones
Bremen — aliases: the retardo
Bremen is forced into a Cadillac by Fucci and sits silently, using his telepathic ability to sift through the gangster's violent and chaotic thoughts while observing the passing Florida landscape and its elderly inhabitants.
Chapter 12 - In the Twilight Kingdom
Bremen / Jeremy — aliases: Goofy
Bremen suffers from sensory overload among the crowds before escaping into the backstage areas. He dons a Goofy costume to conceal his identity, then finds a group of terminally ill children, sending them telepathic comfort and whispering private reassurances before departing to catch a bus to his safety.
Chapter 13 - At the Violet Hour
Bremen
Jeremy travels by bus toward Denver, shielding himself from the psychic noise of other passengers by curling into a fetal position. He endures the telepathic presence of Burk and Alice Jean's lust, Donnie and Donna's conflict, and the violent intentions of Kushwat Singh, eventually wishing for death to silence the mental assault.
Chapter 18 - Eyes
Jeremy / Jeremy Bremen — aliases: Jerry
Jeremy and Gail undergo fertility testing, providing a sperm sample at a genetic counseling clinic where he observes humorous signage. He analyzes the genetic probabilities of birth defects with horror, hiding his terror of imperfection and his jealousy of any potential child from Gail through mental shielding, while remaining unaware of the second secret she keeps.
Chapter 20 - In This Valley of Dying Stars
Jeremy Goldmann
Bremen walks along the desert road, is detained by Deputy Collins on suspicion of car theft, and is released after Miz Fayette Morgan claims him as a worker. He climbs into Morgan's truck, relieved by her mental static which blocks the psychic noise, and accepts her offer to work at the Two-M Ranch.
Chapter 21 - Eyes
Jeremy
Jeremy meets with Jacob Goldmann to validate his wavefront theories against Goldmann's MRI and S-CAT data, leading to a shared realization that human consciousness is a holographic standing wave reflecting the universe. He engages in a dense discussion of quantum physics and the Many-Worlds interpretation with Goldmann before agreeing to eat.
Chapter 23 - Eyes
Jeremy / Jerry / Bremen — aliases: the observer
Jeremy explains the complexities of quantum mechanics, the two-slit experiment, and Hugh Everett’s theory of parallel worlds to Gail, asserting that human consciousness collapses probability structures to create reality. He hides his anxiety about the implications of his work behind a pedantic tone, eventually shutting down their mental link upon returning home.
Chapter 24 - Wind in Dry Grass
Bremen
Bremen performs backbreaking manual labor, from digging postholes to cleaning manure, surviving on the relief of Miz Morgan's psychic static. He experiences a terrifying storm-induced hallucination, digs up a buried skeleton, hides the skull in his bunkhouse, and eventually leaves to answer Miz Morgan's summons.
Chapter 25 - Eyes
Jeremy — aliases: Jerry
Jeremy ponders the physical intensity of his union with Gail and her memory, then immerses himself in chaos mathematics using supercomputers before discovering through a medical exam that he is the source of their childlessness, immediately concealing the diagnosis behind his mental shields.
Chapter 26 - There Are No Eyes Here
Bremen
Jeremy climbs the hill to Miz Morgan's hacienda, only to be ambushed in her bedroom when she reveals razor blades set in her dentures to attack him. He evades her lunges, suffering wounds to his thigh and side, and flees the house, running past the baying dogs to the illuminated driveway where he stands his ground against her with a shotgun.
Chapter 28 - The Eyes Are Not Here
Bremen
Bremen staggers into the cold house, sliding a chain free from the hasp to gain entry. He hides behind hanging meat and then climbs onto the corpse of a middle-aged black man to evade Morgan's shotgun fire and a released attack dog.
Chapter 30 - And Saw the Skull Beneath the Skin
Bremen
Strangles a rottweiler with a chain to gain time, then climbs onto the roof of the cold house. He freezes Miz Morgan with a fire hose, collapses from exhaustion, and closes his eyes.
Chapter 31 - Eyes
Jeremy / Bremen / Jeremy Bremen
Jeremy and Gail retreat to Barnegat Light to escape the gloom of Gail's recent illness. After a day of playful intimacy and a shared sexual encounter mediated by their telepathic link, he silently vows to her that she will survive her condition. He spends the freezing night holding her tightly, wrapping them in a blanket and projecting promises of life into her sleep.
Chapter 32 - We Are the Hollow Men
Bremen
Bremen heals his wounds, retrieves weapons, and enters the cold house to confirm Miz Morgan is frozen solid. He releases the dogs, packs food and water, and drives away from the ranch, eventually running out of fuel near Panaca, Nevada, where he finds clarity and direction.
Chapter 33 - Eyes
Jeremy
Jeremy supports Gail through her illness with mindtouch and physical care, sharing hopes and fears. He struggles with the secret of his varicocele and resolves to confess his past shames to her at Barnegat Light, but wakes to find she has died alone while he slept.
Chapter 34 - Malebolge
Bremen — aliases: civilian, high roller, kid
Bremen spends weeks in Las Vegas, using his telepathic concentration to win vast sums at poker tables while masking his identity with expensive attire. He is eventually recognized by casino surveillance, summoned to the office, and forcibly sedated by Vanni Fucci and his men after perceiving their plan to kill him.
Chapter 43 - Eyes I Dare Not
Jeremy / Jeremy Bremen
Jeremy walks Gail through the surreal landscape of Robby's mind, retrieving a revolver from his study desk before setting it aside to pet the cat. He explains the physics of their existence to Gail, realizing they are holographic structures sustained within the boy's closed system, and leads her to bed.
Chapter 45 - Eyes I Dare Not Meet In
Jeremy / Jerry
Jeremy stands in the orchard trying to summon Robby's attention, then joins Gail to theorize that Jacob Goldmann used a Luger pistol to force a quantum branch into existence. He sketches probability waves on a napkin, explains the concept of 'ultimate perceptives' altering reality, and reflects on the Garden of Eden as a metaphor for the Tree of Life while listening to the stars with Gail.
Chapter 46 - Eyes I Dare Not Meet in Dreams
Jeremy / Jerry
Jeremy and Gail walk on a surreal beach before being confronted by a radiant projection of Robby. Realizing his presence is destroying them both, he breaks their telepathic link, shares a final fierce embrace with Gail, and walks into the surrounding fog, causing himself to fall into nothingness.