Commentary (Forwards): “But he died of natural causes so it’s not so bad, right, not like we did anything really, and if you keep having those migraines then maybe you should take something, maybe you should just relax baby, let me help you, let me. Don’t be like that, let me, why you gotta be that way? Palpitations, you say that like it’s a bad thing, that’s what I love about you baby, you have such a big heart: a big fat heart full of love and warmth and plaque and knots and pain. So just breathe, just breathe, just breathe, go do some yoga, take a pill, calm the hell down. You know we can’t stop yet.”
Commentary (Backwards): “Them either.”
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12. Sphere-shaped visual deformities of the emulsion or pixels, often observed at sites where teams are trying to record various psychic phenomena.
13. “This just gets better and better.” (Dr. Abbott, ibid).
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Photograph #4:
Close-angled shot of greasy black writing sprawled across what looks like the tiled wall of a bathroom shower-stall; letters vary radically in size, are imperfectly formed, seem (according to Graphology) inconsistent with “tool-bearing hands.”14 Letters read: “aLWaYs TheRe.”15
Notes: “Automatic writing observed at Apartment C, renewed five separate times over a period of eight days. When advised that a cleansing exorcism was the best option, owner refused to cooperate.” 16
Commentary (Forward): “We have to stop we can’t. We have to stop we can’t. We have to stop stop stop we can’t can’t can’t, oh Christ I want to stop this, what are you, stupid? There’s too much at stake, we’re in too deep, no going back. we can’t stop now.”
Commentary (Backwards): “Behold, I shall show you a great mystery, for we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. And you can consider this my formal letter of resignation.”
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14. “‘Tool-bearing’? Most messages of this type are produced telekinetically.” (Dr. Abbott, ibid)
15. Naturally enough, opinions vary as to who (or what) might be responsible for these markings.
16. The single shortest annotation. This photo has since been tentatively identified—within a fairly narrow margin of error—as having been taken inside Slaughter’s former condo, the site of her death. Even more significant, in hindsight, may be Dr. Abbott’s recollection (confirmed through studying her coroner’s inquest file) that Slaughter’s body was found in her bathtub on August 23/05, partially immersed in shallow water.
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Photographs #5 to #9:
After close examination by various Freihoeven staff members, photographs #5 through #8 have been conclusively proven to show one of the Institute’s own experimental labs. The blurry image in the extreme foreground of each
seems most consistent with an adjustable Remote Viewing diorama17 which was set up in Lab Four from approximately September 15 to December 15, 2005. Much of the background area of each photo, on the other hand, has apparently been obscured by new visuals somehow imposed over an original image, by unidentifiable means; portions of the emulsion have been either destroyed or significantly altered, creating a visual illusion not unlike the “chiaroscuro” effect observed in certain Renaissance paintings which, while being restored, turn out to have been painted over a primary image that the artist may have wanted to either alter or conceal.18
As usual, even these partially subliminal secondary images are best described as indistinct and difficult to identify and/or categorize. Nevertheless, extensive analysis has revealed certain constants, i.e.:
• That background areas correspond with rough approximations of Photos #1 through #4, with the exception/addition of:
• A figure, face always angled away from “the camera,” whose physical proportions seem to match those observed in photos taken of Slaughter, pre-mortem.19
Photo #9 was taken elsewhere; the diorama shown in Photos #5 through #8 is notably absent. A grey-painted stretch of wall, the hinge of a partially open door and the angle of lens during exposure all suggest that the camera may have been mounted on a tripod inside one of the Freihoeven’s many industrial-sized storage closets, but not enough distinguishing marks are visible to establish exactly which one (there are six on Floor Three alone, for example, near the location of Lab Four).
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17. Invented by Dr. Abbott as part of his 1978 dissertational work at the University of Toronto, these are often used as a meditational aid during guided remote viewing sessions: The “navigator” or non-psychic team member will set the diorama up to roughly approximate the area he/she wants the viewer to access, then talk them through it on a detail-by-detail level until their trance becomes deep enough that they can guide themselves on the rest of their mental journey.
18. “This is a prime example of what is commonly called ‘spirit photography’—in this case, a Directed Imagery experiment involving Marozzi that may have been infiltrated by outside influences, producing the photo. These influences may have been, as Slaughter’s commentary suggests, lucifuges originally suborned into helping her and Madach perpetrate their various psychic frauds; since Slaughter, the person with genuine paranatural power in their equation, was probably the one who did the actual invocation, the lucifuges would have seen her as their primary oppressor, and directed their revenge against her in specific. Even were we to take all of the above as being empirically ‘true,’ however, once the lucifuges’ malefic influence had already brought about Slaughter’s death (if that is, indeed, what actually happened), one would tend to assume that they would have no further interest in the case…or that, if they did, their campaign would shift focus onto Madach, the sole surviving author of the original invocation. And in that case, why harass Marozzi at all?” (Dr. Abbott, ibid.)
19. Note to self: Why am I here? Wasn’t there some other, slightly less insane place I could have gotten a summer job at? I knew Eden; a sweet girl, if easily influenced, overly-fascinated by/with psychic phenomena and those Freihoeven members who claimed to work with/produce them. Emma Slaughter looked at me in the halls once as I passed by, and I dreamed about it for a week—still felt her watching me, wherever I went. Is this relevant? Is recording stuff like this science? (S. Horse-Kicker, March 2/06)*
*“A valid question, Sylvester. Thanks for your input.” (Dr. Abbott, ibid.)
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Notes [collated into list-form for easy reading]: