Chapter Text
Verbal notes recorded by Doctor Madeline Fenton, Spring 2005
08:37. Alright, we just decanted Subject EM out of Fenton Thermos into the test chamber. Subject EM appears to be swearing, though the chamber is soundproof so we can't be sure, but it’s absolutely raising its middle fingers. Mechanical sensors show infrasonic vibrations, steadily increasing in hertz - oh, it's singing! Subject EM must be trying to determine resonant frequency of the test chamber! Okay, deploy the ectofidine now, then. Shame, we wanted to observe it a while longer. Alas, no plan survives contact with the enemy. We will consider more irregularly shaped containment devices and re-examine the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse. Look at that, the infrasound has ceased and Subject EM is growing lethargic.
8:55. Ectofidine took effect faster on Subject EM than on blob ghosts, that’s interesting. Perhaps related to more elaborate mimicry of animal physiology? Subject EM is fully unresponsive. Due to Danny's incident last weekend we believe ectofidine may have a sedative effect on sensitive humans; so we’ve got extra respiratory protection on top of our suits. Let’s tie this ghost up!
09:01. Subject EM is restrained to the operating table and it’s still out like a light. Surgical exploration begins now.
09:03. Subject EM’s similarity to a human ends immediately past the skin; the mouth and throat anatomy are very weird and complex. It’s got a very flexible, muscular soft palate, and the texture of the teeth is strange… Wow, do you hear that? They ring, like little singing bowls! How interesting!
09:12. Subject EM has a simplified system of sinuses and a trachea, but no lungs. It seems the respiratory anatomy is really just for vocalizing, which makes sense; it’s not like it’s actually breathing. What is that? I’ve never seen anything quite like this organ we just found in the subject’s throat, it’s about the size of a baby’s fist and almost a perfect cube, with beveled edges. We should take that out to look at under the microscope later.
09:13. By maneuvering the surrounding pseudo-muscles, we have determined that the cube-shaped organ is a larynx. Ghosts have literal voice boxes! Is it just me or do ghosts seem to have a thing about puns?
09:18. We have discovered a second voice box! Do all ghosts have two, or just Subject EM because of its specialization in vocal hypnosis? The second larynx and the especially flexible mouth indicate advanced ability for throat singing, overtone singing, and similar techniques. And probably some that humans can’t do at all! The folklorists will surely want to comb through the superstitions of cultures that practice that, I suppose. We’re going to take out both voice boxes to compare them.
09:24. When we removed the first larynx, we discovered that the interior is full of delicate structures that look like mushroom gills. It’s infinitely more complex than a human larynx. We’re taking the second one now and - hello! Subject EM stopped glowing as soon as we fully separated both voice boxes. I guess that’s a point in favor of Obsession Theory, congratulations to you guys. Let’s reassemble it a bit, then, I want to watch it “fade” and see if that’s any different from destabilizing.
09:47. Subject EM is reassembled and left alone in the test chamber. We are turning off the ectofidine.
11:18. Well… Sometimes science is about having a clusterfuck and writing down what happens, isn't it? Subject EM typically generates heat equivalent to a small campfire, so we didn't bother with much fire protection; we thought the sprinklers we already have would be adequate. When the ectofidine wore off and Subject EM discovered it couldn't vocalize, it raised its temperature high enough to immediately melt the test chamber, and then it fled through the Fenton Portal. Our thermometers measured 1500 degrees Celsius before they broke, which is well over the temperature of the hottest wildfires in history. That’s what we get for underestimating a ghost! They’re just as dangerous when they’re cornered as any other wild animal.