Chapter 27, Encyclopedia Wand, Immortality, Paperclips Summary

The Professor then explains that the Narrator's altered state will be perceived as lasting literally forever because there are no inputs to the system; it is thus a form of illusion of immortality but nevertheless an immortality which will be experienced perceptually. A brief but abortive discussion about the nature of eternity is held, but the Professor dismisses it as delving into the unknowable. He again notes that the perception of immortality could be eluded if the Narrator died before the transition was completed. The Narrator desires to leave; he thinks about a change of clothes and a haircut as appropriate activities for his remaining twenty-four hours of consciousness. The Professor instructs him on how to leave the underground caverns and sends the Chubby Girl along as a guide. The Professor mentions that paperclips, often...