Theo had again lost time as he tried to reconcile the start, middle, and closing events of the evening into a single coherent narrative. Eyes unfocused and lost to his own internal playback, it was only as the car came to a stop in an underground garage that he shook himself and became alert to his surroundings.

  Patrick, he noticed, had been watching him closely from the seat next to him.

  “We’re here,” he said simply, opening the door of the car. Theo followed through the open door on Patrick’s side, stepping out into the halo of a bright but warm light in front of an elevator.

  “I know you’ve already been through a hell of an experience tonight, Théodore, but there are a few more things we need to do before we can get some rest.” Patrick pressed the down button on a touch pad screen outside the lift. This was followed closely by the number five, though not before Theo noticed that the lift had options all the way down to thirty. He then turned towards Theo and beckoned him into the open doors.

  “This is a testing and training facility run by my organisation. We have close links to the Government and the military, though we are not officially part of them. We work closely with them on covert operations like the one you saw this evening.” Theo only nodded, unable to find any words that would do justice to the circumstances he found himself in.

  Patrick, obviously aware of his shock and anticipating the burgeoning state of panic he felt, tried to reassure him. “Just breathe, Théodore. I’ll stay with you through the next hour or so as we sort out the events of the evening. Everything will be fine, and we will have answers for you before you know it.”

  It was at that point that the lift doors opened with a soft pneumatic hiss. A brightly lit hallway, reminiscent of freshly cleaned airport terminals, lay before them. Muted flashing LED lights of different colours moved along the base of both walls before branching off. A sign on the wall provided the destination for each colour. A soft, but not unpleasant antiseptic tang hung in the air, which seemed to stick to the back of his throat as he breathed in the cleansed air.

  “We are going to head to the debriefing bay; that’s the red light. We will give you something to eat and drink, a light stimulant to help you stay awake, and a place to shower and change. We’ll then follow the green light to another testing bay. This test will happen in a machine you will not have seen before, but will have some similarity to an MRI.”

  “I … I work in a hospital. I know what an MRI is,” Theo said.

  “Very good. While you are being tested, I will search for information about your friends from tonight’s raid. Depending on the outcome of the tests, we may go to the blue bay. After that, we will head to the yellow room, which is a designated rest area, where you can finally get some sleep, Théodore.”

  “Just Theo, please.” He shook his head, trying to parse all those words. They weren’t quite coming together to form sentences. “Can’t I go home instead?” Theo asked.

  “Given what we know about this particular organisation, we hold some concern that they may try to actively monitor the homes of those who attended. If it is any reassurance, all the others that have been debriefed will be taken to a similar safe housing facility for a period.”

  “You didn’t get everyone then?”

  “Sadly no. We arrived too late to prevent most of the recruitment that occurred. This is also only one cell of the organisation that was involved.”

  Theo continued to follow Patrick and the moving red LED light. The echoing footsteps, and the lack of any other sign of life in the corridors was eerie after the frantic horrors of the night. A part of his mind had separated from his shock as he digested the instructions.

  As the red light came to an end at an unmarked metal door, Theo watched as Patrick placed his hand against a screen that sat adjacent to where a door handle would normally be. As a green light scanned his palm, the door opened soundlessly, pulling itself back into the adjoining wall.

  Inside was a very comfortable looking room, fitted with a kitchenette and soft brown leather couches. Inviting Theo in, Patrick made his way to the kitchenette. Theo did a slow lap whilst Patrick fussed, taking note of the spare but tasteful Scandinavian furniture and subdued modern art on the wall. A light-coloured wooden bookshelf was to his right, which was only minimally stocked with ornaments, literary classics, and some potted plants.

  “You should see a door to your left, please feel free to shower and change, there are a range of different clothing sizes inside. Take your time. While you do that, I will prepare something to eat and drink, what would you prefer?”

  “Tea please.”

  “And would you like anything to eat?”

  “I honestly don’t think I could stomach anything,” Theo replied as he made his way into the bathroom. As Pat had described, there was a range of soft micro-fibre tracksuits in different sizes, colours, and styles.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Despite feeling a desperate need to cleanse himself both physically and psychologically, Theo rushed through the shower, keen to get some answers. He was also buzzing slightly from an adrenal overdose, despite Patrick’s evident attempts to provide reassurance. Exhausted but entirely too awake, he made his way back into the main sitting area. He continued to dry at his unruly hair as he sat cross-legged on the couch. Not long after, Patrick handed him a cup of tea, sitting himself down on the couch opposite with a coffee.

  “There is a light stimulant in your tea that should help with your mental clarity and to lift the exhaustion somewhat. It is tasteless, and with no side effects apart from a gentle cleansing function that should help to purify any other chemicals currently in your system.” There was a slight pause before he continued.

  “Tell me a bit about yourself Theo, how old are you?”

  “I’m twenty-four.”

  “You mentioned working in a hospital, what is it you do there?”

  “I’m a psychiatric registrar.”

  “That should be helpful given the circumstances.” Patrick took a sip of his coffee after breathing in the rich aroma that had started to circulate around the room. “Tell me about your family and your social circle?”

  “My parents died when I was a teenager, and my brother and I went to live with my father’s sister.” It was a well-rehearsed story, an old grief, but it still raised its head every now and again. “My brother’s name is Gabriel, he’s a few years older. Mum was French, hence the names.” He explained. “I don’t really speak to my brother anymore. He couldn’t really cope with mum and dad’s death and got stuck in with a bad crowd. He’s been in prison for possession more times than I can count.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that, Theo.” Patrick seemed genuinely apologetic.

  “We all have a history,” Theo replied, brushing off the sadness. “Some good, some bad. My friends have always been part of my family. Jimmy and Daz are like brothers to me.” Thinking of them brought his anxiety rushing back.

  Thankfully, Patrick seemed adept at containing the emotional impact of his questions. They continued for the better part of an hour, starting broader before narrowing down to the events of the evening itself. Theo didn’t really hold anything back, and he realised how skilfully Patrick questioned him to pull out the full details of the evening. Patrick was silent for a moment when Theo described his time lapse in the bathroom.

  “If I might hazard a guess, there seems to have been an interaction between the psilocybin and the stimulant that we found traces of in the cocktails that had been served. There are likely other factors such as the location of where the mushrooms were found, but I believe the trance state you experienced meant that you were untraceable to the members of the Tagma Aimatos as they tested the recruits.”

  “Tagma Aimatos?” he asked. “Testing? What does that mean?”

  “The Tagma, which is one of the names we use for the organisation that perpetrated the events of this evening, use of combination of drugs to map the meta-psychic potential of recruits. We found traces of one drug in the cocktails, and another on most of the clubs’ surfaces, likely introduced in an aerosol fashion.” Theo nodded, thinking of the warm mists that had been ever present in the main galleries. “The interaction of the two allows them to track participants, and to assess neural responsivity to certain energies.”

  “Holy shit... sounds like a damn cult.” Theo tried very hard to think this through rationally, but he was having too much trouble keeping his mind on track.

  “Not too far wrong to be honest with you,” Patrick replied. “However, we know that this cult has existed for a very long time. One of our primary missions is to disrupt their efforts at any cost.”

  “And what about your organisation, what is it called?” Theo asked. He was starting to get worried about the situation he had found himself in, but strangely there was no sense of panic. Good fucking tea, he thought.

  “A good question,” Patrick said as he stood. “Let’s make our way to the green room for your initial testing. I suppose this would be my organisations way of conducting a similar aptitude test, though this is far more comprehensive and checks not only psychic energy manifestation, but also neurobiological and metaphysical potential.” Theo was very aware of the fact that he had avoided answering his question, but again, did not feel any particular anxiety about this.

  “What did you put in my fucking tea? I should be going nuts with all this crazy by now?” Theo asked as he too stood.

  “Ah, you noticed that did you? The stimulant, while helping to keep you alert, also mildly tempers the amygdala, dampening your innate stress response so that your prefrontal cortex remains active in the processing of new information.”

  “Who makes this?” Theo asked.

  “There are some drugs we have access to that are not yet on the general market, nor listed with the TGA or other therapeutic bodies. Needless to say, we have a very advanced R&D division.”

  Theo was struggling to cope with the dysphoric battle between his current sense of calm, and the panic he thought he should be feeling. “This feels like some serious conspiracy theory shit going on right now.”

  “I can see why you would think that.” Patrick laughed softly. “Though try not to think of us as a conspiracy group, so much as one of the silent hands of government. We are a transnational organisation that supports local governments to deal with issues that fall outside of everyday social governance.”

  “More PR guy bullshit,” Theo muttered. He got a heartier laugh at that.

  “Again, there is some truth in what you say. I do play a liaison role which is more publicly orientated than most in the organisation.”

  “So, is this process a part of your own recruitment strategy? Am I being vetted to be part of this mysterious organisation?”

  “We are exploring your potential certainly, though at its core, this is about ensuring your safety. Your experience this evening is outside of the norm, and so I am trying to ensure that you would not be a harm to yourself. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, this will help to ensure that you do not become the target of any other organisation, including the Tagma. Should the following test indicate potential, and should you wish to explore your options within the organisation, then that is a discussion we will have. Full disclosure, should you choose not to, we will erase your memory of this evening completely so as to not jeopardise your own safety.”

  “Mass murder, secret organisations, and now memory wiping. Sure sounds like a fucking conspiracy to me. So, what choice do I have?”

  “You will always have a choice, Theo, it's just that some choices are less appealing than others. But we digress somewhat. This conversation may be better continued after you have completed the test and have a better sense of the bigger picture.”