Atmospheric Disturbances 6

Everything that has happened in Leo's life has only been causing him greater and greater confusion. He began questioning whether his wife was real. That led him to Buenos Aires where he began to wonder whether Rema had another husband. Whil this is happening he is still wondering about Harvey,the Royal Academy of Meterology, and their enemy, the 49 Quantum Fathers. He is having great difficulties trying to rationalize everything so he calls the number he believes to be the Royal Academy Of Meterology and, "Our "conversation" was not progressing well, and then on impulse I dropped Harvey's name-which I of course immediately regretted doing-but suddenly there was a little bit of tender piano music,I was being transferred"(Galchen 110). He is receiving more and more evidence that the Academy is real. This is hard for him to accept because he had always assumed that it was something in Harvey's head. He is slowly coming to accept things that may seem a little far-fetched. They have a conversation and he is only more disoriented afterwards. He is having a hard time dealing with this and, "Just as I was beginning to successfully forget about that phone conversation, I saw Harvey"(Galchen 168). His appearance shocks Leo initially as they catch up on what has happened to each other. Harvey seems to know that Leo's wife is a fake and offers his help in resolving his problem. This raises many questions in Leo's quest for the truth. He doesn't remember telling him that he thought Rema was a fake. However he accepts his help as they begin to try and discover the truth.
Now that he has begun to accept these things he has new fears. He is starting to fear the 49 Quantum Fathers and wonders what they're capable of. He wondered if, "The 49 had perceived the actual weaknesses in my marriage, that Rema and I had been targeted because the 49 wagered that given the attenuated state of our relationship, I actually might not notice,or respond to, the swap(Galchen 200). He is starting to believe that the Quantum Fathers had something to do with the disappearance of the real Rema. With Harvey by his side there are a lot of questions that have appeared. This book shows how much power the mind has over our actions. He believed that his wife disappeared and a fake replaced her and this led him to do a lot of things peopel would call crazy and irrational.

Atmospheric Disturbances 5

Leo has gone off to Buenos Aires to seek Rema's mother hoping to solve his problems. Rema's mother,Magda, doesn't realize that Leo is Rema's husband because Rema and her mother haven't really had contact with each other. He poses as a friend to try and discover more about Rema. He leaves to a diner when Rema calls. When he answers his inablity to lie causes him many problems. He blurts out that he is in Buenos Aires and after the call he realizes his mistake. The reaction was, "I practically ran back to Magda's home"(Galchen 92). He didn't want Rema to call her mother because it might endanger his investigation. His characteristics abd personality are capable of getting him into a lot of trouble. He likes Magda and fears that his relationship with her could be damaged if his lie was revealed. Leo has started to think that this is much more complicated than he previously thought. He thought Rema was fake but now he's wondering, "Who Rema's other "husband" was or had been"(Galchen 94). He has gone way beyond his previous beliefs. He now thinks that Rema had another husband besides him. Everything around him is just getting more confusing as he becomes more paranoid.
He tries to calm himself down after these events. However things only get worse when he gets an e-mail and, "The urgent e-mail appeared to ve from Harvey"(Galchen 98). Harvey has been gone for a while now. His sudden contact with Leo is very confusing to him. He is not quite sure what Harvey is talking about at all. All the things that have happened to him is only making him more wary of his surroundings. This can lead him to believe he has more problems than he actually does.

Atmospheric Disturbances 4

After everything that has happened, he is still not closer to the truth he is seeking. He is looking but he is not actually getting anywhere. After his research in the library he is still lost. This is when suddenly, "I knew with the most certainty what to do next"(Galchen 60). He decides to go to Buenos Aires to see if the place where Rema grew up could help him. Even though he is a very logical person he seems to come to a lot of conclusions in his life off of his feelings. He likes to use a logical process to seek his answers but that is not how he usually reaches a decision. He feels that he can't tell the fake Rema the truth about his trip to Buenos Aires. He makes an excuse by saying, "something had changed and I just needed to get away"(Galchen 61). This is obviously not a good reason but he doesn't like lying. Therefore he is trying to keep it vague so he can avoid lying. Once he sets his mind to something he will do anything to try and achieve it.

When he is leaving he remembers when he and Rema first met. He remembers thinking, "Normally people's conflation of psychoanalysis with psychiatry irritates me profoundly..but when Rema conflated the two,I was not irritated"(Galchen 66). When she does something that he dislikes, he isn't irritated because he is in love with her. Her cares deeply for her and that is why he feels that finding Rema is so important.