"It's possible," Trisha interjected between Joe and Alex's nervous talking, "There was incense in any case. Didn't recognize the smell, but I'm not in drug enforcement. But it wasn't a hallucination. We've all seen it and I don't think a collective, shared hallu is - plausible."

She had to pause for a moment, thinking about the use of the word plausible. None of what had just happened was, technically, plausible by any stretch. How could she discard the notion of a collective hallucination as far-fetched when the alternative was to accept that she had just seen a, for all intents and purposes, monster? When it meant that she had to admit that something like this existed, that it was real? There were no good options here.

"Sometimes," she went on, sounding a bit wistful, "we find out that there are things in this world we wouldn't have thought possible. Happens all the time when you're young, but there are surprises even for adults. We just have to adjust."

Adjusting was hard in this case. There were so, so many unknowns. About the creature itself: what was it? What motivated it? How did it operate? Where did it come from, where would it go? Where *could* it go? Was it intelligent? Were there more? Could they procreate? Could they die? What from?

There was no body of knowledge to rely on here, no scientific papers to consult or even just a basic wikipedia article to read. And Trisha felt decidedly unenthusiastic about establishing the basics through empirical testing in the future. Of course, there was one person who might consult her on the ins and outs of what had just happened - what had he called it again? An 'obscure event'? The term fitted like a glove.

"But more importantly, I want to dig. I can't rightly say that we've been made victim of a crime, but I sure do want to talk to McCoy. If that's his real name, I'm sure I can find him soon."

There was no guarantee, of course, that there ever was a doctor by that name. This could all have easily been a hoax to force them into a trap. But why? She could see no conceivable motive. If the goal was to get them killed there would have been far more effective methods. So much more effective that she wanted to rule out the possibility that murder was the motive. But what else could it be? Was it just a set-up to make them *see* the thing? Was it a way to force these people, and herself, to expand their notion of what was real in a way that exposed them to danger, but did not kill them? But again, why?

She needed to find the doctor, and soon. If for no other reason than to better establish a basis for further investigation.