When Spirits Beckon

When Spirits Beckon, Part 2, Chapter 9

2 February, 10.05am

After the others left, Barry Stevens and Tim Harlow began to review the initial video recording.

They took the added precaution of having only Tim facing the video monitor directly, giving a running commentary of what was being shown. Barry, a police officer and a paramedic stepped out of the room. While sheltered by the door and window blinds, they kept Tim in view.

To save time, Tim viewed the playback at faster speeds. Using the editing console already available in his room, he marked off digitally the footage to be used for broadcast. Tim's report of the initial sequence of events was more or less as Barry remembered. When he reached the critical point at 9.24am, Tim slowed the playback speed to half-normal, so as not to miss any key details.

"Time stamp 9.24.01. I click on the image, the webpage changes and the background remains bright orange while we wait for new content to be loaded. The monitor becomes brighter, and the back of my head slides leftward out of view. That must be when I passed out."

The sound of a soft thud punctuated his last words. "That must be me hitting the floor," added Barry. "Luckily, I didn't fall against the camera."

"Do you want me to play that segment back?" Tim asked.

"No. It sounds like the monitor flaring up orange is the root cause for why we were knocked unconscious. So far, nothing you've said has been strange in any way. We'll need some expert help to help us with an analysis on this development."

"I believe you're right," Tim agreed. "From what I can see, the monitor is still showing the same orange light after 30 seconds."

"Tim, let's stop a minute and let the paramedics check you," Barry suggested. "It looks like the playback video has had no effect on you, so it should be safe enough to air it. But, we should be doubly sure. Things are weird enough as it is."

"Okay," replied Tim, stopping the video. He came out and after a quick check by the paramedic, and also walking the drunk's test conducted by the police officer, he headed back into the room.

"Restarting at triple-speed. Nothing's changed." A short while later was the sound of another thud.

"What was that?"

Tim rewound the tape and the sound of the thud was heard again. "That was at 9.39.42. Nothing on screen, but it sounded just like when you fell earlier."

The paramedic then spoke up: "Maybe it was your colleague Justin Warnes. Ms. Henrietta Bowman said he came in before Mr. Eric Lacostit, and she suspects that it was his feet that Mr. Lacostit saw."

"That sounds about right," agreed Tim. "Justin could never resist poking his nose in here every time he got back to the office."

Tim restarted the fast playback and a short while later, there was the sound of a phone ringing seven times, then stopping. Momentarily, there was the sound of a high-pitched voice, and Tim immediately stopped and rewound the tape to play back at normal speed.

"What the ..!" came an exclamation. "Henri, we may need an ambulance."

"That sounds like Eric," said Barry. "That must be when he came in, then passed out. I doubt we want that to go on air." Barry's words were confirmed a few seconds later by the sound of another soft thud.

Tim resumed the fast playback, then exclaimed. "My, oh my! This is interesting."

"What's happening?" Barry queried.

"Don't come in yet. I'll rewind and play it again at half-speed and tell you as the changes take place," Tim warned.

"The changes start at 9.49.07. A red circle has just appeared at the center of the webpage screen, and the background faded momentarily when it showed up. The red circle is growing larger; it's stopped growing and is now about the size of a drink coaster."