You glance at Renault, who gives you a transparent shrug. Michelle is now watching the developing argument with the air of one who's seen it all before. She probably has, you realize. You've only been here for a week, and it feels like this kind of confrontation is a daily event around here.
Well, you don't have time for it now. One way or another, you need to stop the fight. The question is, how?
"Look, guys," you say, causing Max and Sonia to turn and regard you. "Whatever we decide, we do need a plan. Say it was a vision: What can we do with that information?"
For a while, no one says a word, but the silence seems more contemplative than irritated at your interruption.
"We can work out where it came from," Max says eventually. "Visions are directional. If we get an idea of where we should be looking…"
"Then we can check for anything out of the ordinary," Sonia finishes, nodding. "The trouble's going to be finding out where it did come from, and from how far."
You look at Max. "How far away can they come from?"
"Not too far," Max admits after a few moments' thought. "Call it half a mile for it to affect you that strongly, less if there are obstructions."
"That gives us a radius," you say. "If we start now, we can surely find out where this all came from."
No one says a word, but there's no argument either. A good strategy, it seems, is quite persuasive.
"So," you say after a moment, "where do we look first?"
After a few moments of thought, Max shrugs a massive pair of shoulders. "You were facing that way," he says, pointing towards the north. "And that means that the vision would have been sent from either there…" he gestures towards the east and then the west "…or there." He notes your look of confusion and adds, "It gets in through your ears, see?"
"Okay," you start. "First, we should—"
"First," Sonia says, cutting through your own words, "you should get yourself checked out. Whatever you saw, it was a full-on vision: you don't just shrug something like that off." She turns to Michelle. "Take him to Matron and make sure everything's as it should be. We'll make sure it's nothing too close by."
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