Noll injected a dose of morphine into Mai's IV. She was still out cold, but he expected her to wake at any moment. He didn't care to cause her any pain. That wasn't his goal.

He double checked the restraints holding her upright in his dining chair prior to taking a seat across from her. The equipment he had gathered to conduct his experiments sat beside his laptop. Behind him, on a tripod, was a camera, recording every moment. Noll didn't want to miss any details. He only had one chance to collect data.

As he typed up a few notes on his laptop, Noll heard Mai mumble. He glanced at her as her eyes cracked open.

"Naru…?" She was groggy, as Noll expected. She turned her head, trying to make sense of her circumstances.

"How do you feel?" Noll asked while continuing to type.

"Weird…?" Mai made an attempt to lift her arm, but it was stuck to her side. When she realized that she couldn't move, she began to panic.

"Naru! What is this?!"

"Stop fidgeting. I don't want you harming yourself," Noll scolded. He met her eye. Mai shook her head, and Noll jumped to his feet. He rushed to Mai's side and ceased her motions.

Gloved hands holding her head steady, Noll spoke, "You need to keep still. We don't want any accidents."

"Naru, what in the hell are you-" Mai gasped as Noll carefully turned her head. She was staring at herself in the mirror, unable to believe what she saw.

Her head was… The top part of it was missing! And her… Her… It was exposed! But there was no way! She was alive! And Noll… He wouldn't have…

"I need you to stay still while I run a few tests, Mai. You shouldn't feel a thing, so you have nothing to worry about." Noll watched Mai's reflection as she began to fully process her predicament.

"No! You can't do this, Naru! This is sick, and you know it! I… You said you loved me! And I… I trusted you! I gave you everything!"

Noll offered a serious look before a smile twisted its way onto his lips, "Don't misunderstand; I do love you, Mai, truly, but I think I'll love your brain even more."

"But you always call me stupid," Mai was grasping as straws, trying to latch onto any fact that would make Noll reconsider.

"Yes," he bent over Mai, his lips dangerously close to her ear, "most psychics are."

"N-Naru!" Mai's lip trembled and she squeezed her eyes closed. She couldn't stand to look at herself any longer. Nor could she fathom Noll's betrayal. He had always been there, concerned for her well-being and happiness. Mai didn't understand the sudden change!

Releasing the sides of Mai's skull, Noll straightened his back. He stepped to the side, watching Mai. Assured she wouldn't move suddenly Noll reached across the table for one of his newly acquired tools.

"I need you to tell me how your perception changes," Noll said as he took Mai's chin in hand. He steadied her with a delicate grasp.

Mai wouldn't give him any knowledge he craved, so she answered with a defiant, "No." Noll had lied to her. She had no reason to give him anything.

"This is important, Mai," Noll wasn't amused.

"No, this is wrong," Mai hissed.

Noll took a risk, stimulating Mai's parietal lobe with a small tool. He assumed Mai would offer some semblance of a reaction.

Mai inhaled as her eyes flung open. Her chest tightened as an overbearing sense of dread smothered her. Noll's dining table elongated itself before her and stretched into a realm of black. A figure, outlined with a purple hue, manifested itself to Mai. There was a new sensation… Sadness.

"Masako…?" Mai whispered.

Noll turned his attention to the far end of the table. It looked exactly as he left it, but Mai was staring in that direction and had addressed the missing medium by name.

Noll couldn't be certain if Mai was hallucinating, or if he had been able to trigger one of her psychic abilities. Regardless, it was interesting that she had referred to someone only he knew to be dead with absolute certainty.

"Where are you…?"

Mai was carrying out a conversation. Noll was careful not to interrupt.

"Here…? But… You've been gone for so long. How can you be here?" Mai turned her head slowly. Noll moved away, so as not to disrupt her field of view. She had set her gaze on the entrance to the kitchen.

"There…?"

Noll's lip turned up. The information, of which Mai had no previous knowledge, was accurate. Masako was there indeed; at least part of her was stowed in the freezer.

"He… He did this…?" Mai blinked several times. The void that had shown her a lost friend faded. Tears welled in the corners of her eyes. She had to bite down on her tongue to keep them from falling.

"What did you see?" Noll asked, curious as to how Mai would react with a better understanding of what had really happened.

"Murderer…" Mai choked back a sob.

Noll rested his hand on Mai's shoulder in an attempt to offer her comfort. Though Mai was ultimately a specimen, Noll felt slightly obligated to ease her sorrow. She was unlike all the others.

"You are the only one I will miss."