Open Minded

"Open Minded" is a short Cthulhu Mythos story by American author Jeffrey Thomas. Taking place in his dystopian Punktown setting, it was first published in the Chaosium anthology Eldritch Chrome: Unquiet Tales of a Mythos-Haunted Future in October 2013.
==Synopsis==
Fallon Ash, an up-and-coming technology designer in Punktown, is assigned by his company to design a prototype humanoid bionic armature for the extra-dimensional Ogim. The specifications for this device state that it must be capable of being piloted by an artificial brain, although their reasons for requiring such a function are kept secret.
During the course of his work, Ash stumbles across news reports of a series of murders where the victims have all been leaders in their respective fields, and whose corpses have all been discovered sans brain. At the same time he witnesses a secretive test by the Ogim utilising an "artificial" brain and the prototype device, and comes to the obvious conclusion: that the beings are stealing live human brains and implanting them in his machine. Unfortunately for Ash, a technical fumble alerts the Ogim to his snooping.
The story concludes with the Ogim ordering fourteen of the new armatures before departing Punktown. As they leave they thank Ash for his assistance, telling him that they may one day return for "further use of that clever mind of yours". Ash immediately recalls that he had only uncovered details of thirteen of the bizarre murders…
==Publication History==
Since its 2013 debut in Eldritch Chrome, "Open Minded" has also appeared in the collections of Thomas's own works Flesh for Punktown (2019) and Punktown: Volume 1 (2021).
==Behind the Mythos==
Although never explicitly named as such, the alien Ogim are intended to be Mi-Go: their descriptions, their activities involving human brains, their home planet of Yuggoth, and their species name backwards, are all clear pointers towards their true nature.
Category:Jeffrey Thomas works
Category:Expanded Mythos Works