"And yet you evolved into something very much like us."
"I thought I explained that in our previous discussion. You could check your notes"
"This is all very interesting-uh-prot, but what does paleontology have to do with your upbringing?"
"Everything just as it does on EARTH."
"Why don't we proceed with your childhood, and we can come back to this relationship later if I have any questions about it. Would that be all right?"
He bent over the notebook again. "Certainly."
"Very well. First, let's talk about some of the fundamental items, shall we? For example, how often do you see your parents? Are your grandparents still alive? Do you have any brothers or sisters?"
"Gene, gene, gene. You haven't been listening. Things are not the same on K-PAX as they are on EARTH. We don't have `families' as you know the term. The whole idea of a `family' would be a non sequitur on our PLANET, and on most others. Children are not raised by their biological parents, but by everyone. They circulate among us, learning from one, then another."
"Would it be fair to say, then, that as a child you had no home to go to?"
"Exactly. Now you've got it."
"In other words you never knew your parents."
"I had thousands of parents."
I made a note that prot's denying his father and mother confirmed my earlier suspicion of a deep-seated hatred of one or both, possibly due to abuse, or perhaps he had been orphaned, or neglected, or even abandoned by them.
"Would you say you had a happy childhood?"
"Very."
"Can you think of any unpleasant experiences you had as a child?"
Prot's eyes closed tightly, as they often did when he tried to concentrate or to recollect something. "Not really. Nothing unusual. I was knocked down by an ap a couple of times, and squirted by a mot once or twice. And I had something like your measles and mumps. Little things like that."
"An 'ap'?"
"Like a small elephant."
"Where was this?"
"On K-PAX."
"Yes, but where on K-PAX? Your own country?"
"We don't have countries on K-PAX."
"Well, do elephants run around loose there?"
"Everything runs around loose there. We don't have zoos."
"Are any of the animals dangerous?"
"Only if you get in their way."
"Do you have a wife waiting for you back on K-PAX?" This was another toss from left field, again to determine the effect of a key word on the patient's state of mind. Except for a barely perceptible shift in his chair, he remained calm.
"We don't have marriage on K-PAX-no husbands, no wives, no families-get it? Or, to put it more correctly, the entire population is one big family."
"Do you have any biological children of your own?"
"No."
There are many reasons why a person decides not to have children. One of these has to do with abuse by or hatred of his parents. "Let's get back to your mother and father. Do you see them very often?"
He sighed in apparent frustration.
"No."
"Do you like them?"
"Are you still beating your wife?"
"I don't understand."
"Your questions are phrased from the point of view of an EARTH person. On K-PAX they would be nonsense."
"Mr prot"
"Just prot."
"Let's establish some sort of ground rules for these sessions, shall we? I'm sure you will forgive me if I phrase my questions from the point of view of an Earth person since, in fact, that is what I am. I could not phrase them in K-PAXian terms even if I wanted to because I am not familiar with your way of life. I am going to ask you to humor me, to bear with me in this. Please try to answer the questions in the best way you can, using Earth expressions, which you seem to be quite familiar with, whenever possible. Would that be a fair request under the circumstances?"
"I am happy you have said that. Perhaps we can learn from each other."
"If you are happy, I am happy too. Now, if you are ready, maybe you could tell me a little about your parents. For example, do you know who your mother and father are? Have you ever met them?"
"I have met my mother. I have not yet run across my father."
It's his father the patient hates!
"Run across?"
"K-PAX is a big place."
"But surely-"
"Or if I have met him, no one has pointed out our biological relationship."
"Are there many people on your planet who don't know who their fathers are?"
He grinned at this, quickly picking up on the double meaning.
"Most do not. It is not an important thing."
"But you know your mother."
"Purely a coincidence. A mutual acquaintance happened to mention our biological connection."
"That is difficult for an Earth person to understand. Perhaps you could explain why your 'biological connections' are not important to you."
"Why should they be?"
"Because-uh, for now, let me ask the questions, and you give the answers, all right?"
"Sometimes a question is the best answer."
"I suppose you don't know how many brothers and sisters you have."
"On K-PAX we are all siblings."
"I meant biological siblings."
"I would be surprised if there were any. Almost no one has more than one child, for reasons I have already explained."
"Isn't there peer pressure or government incentives to make sure your species doesn't die out?"
"There is no government on K-PAX."
"What do you mean-it's an anarchy?"
"That's as good a word as any."
"But who builds the roads? The hospitals? Who runs the schools?"
"Really, gene, it's not that difficult to understand. On K-PAX, one does what needs to be done."
"What if no one notices that something needs to be done? What if someone knows something needs to be done but refuses to do it? What if a person decides to do nothing?"
"That doesn't happen on K-PAX."
"Never?"
"What would be the point?"
"Well, to express dissatisfaction over the wages being paid, for one thing."
"We don't have 'wages' on K-PAX. Or money of any kind."
I jotted this down.
"No money? What do you barter with?"
"We don't 'barter.' You really should learn to listen to your patients, doctor. I told you before-if something needs to be done, you do it. If someone needs something you have, you give it to him. This avoids a multitude of problems and has worked pretty well on our PLANET for several billion years."
"All right. How big is your planet?"
"About the size of your NEPTUNE. You'll find this also on the transcript of last week's conversation."
"Thank you. And what is the population?"
"There are about fifteen million of my species, if that is what you mean. But there are many other beings besides ourselves."
"What kinds of beings?"
"A variety of creatures, some of whom resemble the animals of EARTH, some not."
"Are these wild or domesticated animals?"
"We don't 'domesticate' any of our beings."
"You don't raise any animals for food?"
"No one 'raises' another being for any purpose on K-PAX, and certainly not for food. We are not cannibals."
I detected a sudden and unexpected note of anger in this response-why?
"Let me just fill in one or two blanks in your childhood. As I understand it, you were brought up by a number of surrogate parents, is that right?"
"Not exactly."
"Well, who took care of you? Tucked you into bed at night?"