They looked up at him vaguely.
"Where's Mai?" he asked.
"She and Ayako are on their way to the hospital," Bou-san replied. "John woke up a little while ago, and he wanted to see Mai."
"Oh," said Naru dejectedly.
Masako huffed and sulked, realising that whatever chance she had had with the teen was long over.
"Look, just because we're the only ones here, doesn't mean we can't do any work," said the monk.
Naru looked confused.
Takigawa sighed. "I assume you've been taking readings through all this drama, so what's the science say?"
That was just the kick in the pants that SPR's young president needed to bring him back to himself.
"Nothing much different from when we started," he said. "The bakery is permanently colder than anywhere else in the center, but other than the incident with John, nothing new."
"And we hadn't set up any cameras at that stage, so there aren't any videos to review..." said the monk. "We had the mics up though."
The teen shook his head. "The tape's all just static."
"Interference?"
"Possibly," Naru replied.
"You have another theory?" Bou-san asked.
"As far as the audio goes, yes. I'm not sure the mic was set up properly."
"I can put your mind at ease over that," said Takigawa. "I set that mic up personally. It was expertly done."
"Then it must be interference," the teen sighed.
"Well, I would say so. But what's Hara-san's verdict?"
"I don't know," Naru replied. "I haven't given her the tour yet."
"I'd say that's priority. I'll take her, you stay here and wait for the girls," Bou-san said, calling the medium and escorting her to the bakery.
Naru stared at the floor, wondering how he'd let things get so out of hand.