Matron tilts your head a little more to the right. "Charmed, I'm sure," they say. "Now, keep still."
You try to remain as cooperative as possible as Matron manipulates your head this way and that.
"This vision," they say. "It had sound, yes? Feelings, scents?"
"Yes," you say, trying to keep track of your thoughts as the skull that encases them is jerked around. "I saw the school—"
"Never mind what you saw, for now," Matron interrupts. "I am a doctor, not a literary critic, and what is seen in visions can be deceptive. What matters more to us is what caused it." They stare into your eyes for a few more moments, then nod in evident satisfaction, finally releasing you.
Next
"As I suspected," they say, stepping back. "Warped pupils, orange discoloration around the irises. It all adds up. Unfortunately," Matron adds, "it comes to a sum total of deep shit."
"What do you mean?" Michelle asks. There's a trace of alarm running through her voice now, and her eyes are wide as she turns to look at you.
"I mean that there is something out there, my girl, causing events and anomalies. Most likely, it is a negative reality inversion, which is the kind of phenomenon that is typically found when the barriers between the above and below are weakened, and elements from either side are able to cross over."
"Sorry," you say, trying to keep up. "When you say 'the below'…"
"Hell," Matron replies. "In a word."
It's as though a cold wind has blown through the laboratory, chilling you right to your bare bones. You turn to look at Michelle: her eyes are wide, and her mouth is hanging slightly open. Any attempt to appear indifferent has gone up in smoke.
"And," Matron goes on, seeming not to notice either of your reactions, "unless we find out where, why, and how, it's going to get worse before it gets better, if there's anything left to get better."
Matron motions to a nearby table, on which lies a complex-looking device. Through a tangle of wires, you can see that it has a screen and a pulsing red light.
"A Dark Detector," Matron says. "It would be quite useful in tracking down the source of this vision. The trouble is, I don't have time to be getting out there and doing the field work: there's so much to do here." They gesture around them at the laboratory. "And it's not like I can exactly hand it over to just anyone and trust them to get the job done. It's a highly complex piece of machinery."