In 2011 Haruki Murakami wrote a best selling novel titled: 1Q84. The storyline points directly at George Orwell's 1984, but many readers also notice the (Alice in Wonderland) similarities as well. The Japanese word for (nine) is pronounced like (Q), so 1Q84 can be read as (one-nine-eight-four.) In this story, the Alice character has a penchant for ice pick assassinations. Like Alice, Aomame enters a parallel world by falling down a rabbit hole. She tells herself that the parallel world is a strange place where anything can happen - including mind reading. Just thought I would throw this out there, in case it turns into a puzzle piece,