Green's condition suddenly worsened. Like a fire wavering without wind, a gloomy shadow cast by the dim light of a rainy day spread across his face. Though he covered it well and quickly pulled himself together, the subtle change didn't escape Kraft's notice.
So the answer was yes. Those voices had found him.
"Looks like the situation is more complicated than I thought." The doctor shifted in his seat. "Can you tell me what they're like?"
Green held his hot tea, his gaze drifting behind the steam as his focus wandered around the room.
The clean cupboard, the corner far from the window, the slightly wider gaps between the bricks in the wall—all were places whose depths were easy to see. Perhaps their only thing in common was that, subconsciously, they seemed like places where something could hide.
"It's much like what the booklet described." The Priest was clearly restraining the urge to keep looking around. The training that had conditioned his reflexes made it impossible for him to relax; he was constantly prepared to react to something that might appear from any direction.
"But experiencing it myself is far worse than the description."
"How so?"
"A voice, but it's much more than that. A mere sound couldn't drive someone mad. You can clearly feel it appear. It's a very strange sensation, like someone—or something like a person—has suddenly appeared somewhere."
"Then comes the sound. It's quite clear, and you can tell it's a human voice. At least, that's what your instincts tell you."
"Do you think it means something? Could it be a language?"
"Probably not. The tone and pronunciation are different every time, and it's very vague." The tea had finally cooled a little, and the steam was fading, but the fog in Green's eyes remained. "But it