[*827] turned to [*648] and said, "Out of all of you, I've heard the most about your work. Is there anything you've been working on lately?"

[*648] beamed at the request. "As a matter of fact, I have!", he energetically said. He held out one of his talons, over which floated a blue cloud with small, intricately shaped particles floating inside. A faint, almost echo-like sound seemed to be coming from it.

"This is my latest experiment," [*648] said. "This thing taps into the metaphysical connection between the creatures of the universe and our power to receive echoes of creatures' sensations. It can't target specific creatures, but it's a proof of concept!"

A resounding clang suddenly issued from the cloud. [*648] lurched backwards, then leaned into the cloud to listen to the sounds coming from the cloud better. [*827] also listened in. They scrutinized the sensations coming from the cloud for a few minutes.

As the cloud slowly dissipated and the sensations became weaker, [*648] and [*827] drew their heads back, with haunted looks on their faces.

"That . . . was strange . . .", [*648] stammered.

- The Pigeonhole Project