Egads, this was a bit much wasn't it?

Val could hear the squelch and squish noises through his ears and some flew out. He stunned one properly, but that was not going to be the end. As soon as he saw the spell hit one out of his way, he quickly implored another movement at the ones soaring above. Merlin they were small but they came in a pack.

"Impendimenta!" That ought to at the very least slow them down but... they just kept coming. Val couldn't take his eyes off them despite the screams nearby. "Protego!" He shouted with as much force in hopes on strengthening the shield he wished to conjure.. as each piled on top of another, with another landing a wet noise in between over him.

......WELL THEN.

Seriously. Was anyone wearing red today? Maybe he needed to bring back some of his rules from his tenure as Astronomy professor at Hogwarts back because this had gone from zero to light speed in quite literally the blink of an eye.

And seeing Forrester placing one of the encephalons on her head like a hat was more than enough confirmation that Unspeakables be trained more proficiently in Occlumency. "FORRESTER! REMOVE THAT FROM YOUR HEAD AT ONCE!" he barked, leaping off the platform and landing a bit awkwardly on the floor of the chamber thanks to some of the splashed solution from the tank. He was, well, he was just going to ignore that unsavory snapping noise just not. Surely nothing more than a sprain.

Sweet solstice. When had Romanos arrived? Medea would have his head - or at least confiscate his favorite telescope and Spock figurine for an indefinite amount of time - if family were to meet their untimely demise today. Thankfully, that Romanos has never taken to red so he had high hopes for her survival rate today. And, quite frankly, he couldn't even make out McLeod underneath that pile he had accumulated.

Which lead the department head to a series of perplexed thoughts as he too joined in the fray, shooting off his own Stunning Spells in the direction of those encephalons latching themselves on to Adam and Laurel to start. Of course the encephalons were prone to certain aggressive behaviors, but this was beyond reason!

He would also never hear the end of it from Maddox of one of his employees died doing the astronomer a favor (all that paperwork to begin with), so Airey's next move was to hobble at top speed closer towards Megan with his wand thrust forward...though it was turning out to be QUITE the difficult task considering how the floor was compromised by its accumulated slick and slimy surface layer. "Relashio!" he demanded, slipping a bit on the last syllable of the incantation but his aim remaining true.

Galen was ever pleased that the human [Dokimoto] had responded to its illusions and had willingly placed it upon their head. It made this so much easier for the encephalon to accomplish the task. Soon enough, a thick rosy tinted translucent secretion oozed from its crevices over the man's head. And then it began.

Templeton meant its human [Fearlessleader19] no real harm but soon it could feel a lack of oxygen in its host and thus pushed off her face a bit. The secretions were already in place so there was no need to be that close now. The spell from behind [cast by sweetpinkpixie] struck it square in the back and caused its already loosened grip to fail completely and sent thee encephalon hurtling across the floor where it came to an empty stop. Not even twitching in response.

Ponce imagined this was the same sort of sensation it had seen in the minds of the occasional human who had graced the chamber when they recalled roller coasters. How exhilarating! The thrill driving its persistance boldly forward and upwards it ultimately reached its goal and nestled itself atop her [Roselyn] head. Eager, the transferring process would not take too long...

....no....stop...I have no need to consume you...I only want to know you... Sylvian attempted to reason with its human [Nordic Witch], her attempts at deterring its progress only slowing down and temporarily delaying the end result.

A particularly sprightly and small encephalon managed to tumble its way on top of the man beneath the pile of its companions [Charely Potter] and it too made quick work of its oozing and coating of the human's head. Willis, as it was known, could taste freedom already. Not that it, nor any of the others, truly understood what taste was.

And then, suddenly, there was a stillness in the chamber as all encephalons (even those not latched on to a human form) went limp and docile on the floor.

Well, it wasn’t all that surprising that Adam was the first attacked.
A) He was the closest to the tank.
B) He had stuck his hand into the tank as if offering up a tasty treat to a hungry shark.
C) There had been an odd communication with the one brain that had ‘patted’ him on the hand. Almost as if they had had this connection or something.
D) He had the worst luck in the wizarding world. Quite frankly, it was amazing the man was still alive, let alone healthy and in possession of all his digits.

He didn’t freak out. The fact that he had a brain stuck to the side of his head didn’t really bother him as much as one would think it would. He’d been through worse. In fact, he was more concerned with completing his job collecting samples. Brains in the face were just a Tuesday afternoon in the office for him. Besides his coworkers would get the brain off him. Right?

Right?!

An odd oozing sensation started drip-dripping down the back of his neck and all he could do was think – Leave the hair alone! Hair alone! My hair better not fall out. I would not look good bald…
Wrong!

Adam was wrong. Wrong like usual! His assumption that his coworkers would get the brain off of him was wrong.
Oh!
So!
Wrong!

It was perhaps a good thing that he couldn’t see to see just how wrong his assumption had been. But, there wasn’t much he could really do about the situation right now was there?

Adam pulled one vial out of the solution and corked it quickly, dunking the other vial into the liquid. There was an awful lot of shouting going on. ”Almost done,” Adam told Megan around the wand he had shoved back between his teeth when he began collecting samples. ” Chust one more.”

And then she was screaming his name. He quickly pulled the half-filled vial out of the tank and shoved a gloved thumb in it to keep it from spilling. With his ungloved hand, he reached for his wand, not really sure how he was going to help since he couldn’t see, but undeterred in his desire to be gallant
His hand stopped half-way to his wand as he heard a loud collective squish as the black-purple lights went out. Around the room most of the people had a red-black tinge to their auras. ”Mekan?” Adam asked quietly. ”You alright? Vat chust habened?” He reached out with his ungloved hand and placed it on her elbow.

The first thing Dylan had noticed was the voice in her head speaking about not using the Stunning spells that had been part of the instructions Flamsteed had given them, followed by Laurel’s question about the encephalons speaking to her. It all made crystal clear sense to the former Ravenclaw. Obviously the encephalons wouldn’t want to be Stunned, yet the very fact they were suggesting it brought her suspicions up. She was all for trusting the little voice in her head, but theirs wasn’t the same. Especially as things had exploded into chaos. Namely, the sight of said encephalons launching themselves their way, and she’d raised her wand almost instinctually.

Stunning spells on the tip of her tongue, she’d tried to stay clear of the tendrils flailing around and taking down a good portion of the others, blue eyes flickering down at the single encephalon that had attempted to accost her only to roll elsewhere as she wondered if there had been a spell involved in her narrow escape. It was entirely possible, or she’d just gotten lucky.

Not that she considered herself lucky as she watched the others getting attacked, or, in the one case, Sam wearing an encephalon as a hat. That was definitely odd, and even though she certainly hadn’t expected to deal with being covered in goo, she found herself stepping toward the obviously under-the-influence woman even as it all stopped nearly as quickly as it had begun.

What had gone on here?

The wonderful hat had been placed on her head, and Sam couldn't help but feel happy about it. She could feel something liquid-y hitting her head and it began running down her neck...


She could hear the faint voice of Mr. Flamsteed as she stood still, but was otherwise feeling quite helpless. She fought the feeling that was overtaking her, trying to come back to her senses. This was her JOB. She had been observing these brains for quite some time, and SHE succumbed?? As her frustration bloomed, she felt the sweet release of the... well THAT'S not a hat at all! She glared at the fallen brain and looked around at the rest of the chamber seeing if anyone required assistance before her eyes fell on Dylan nearby. When did he get over here?

With the weight from the amount of the Encephalons it didn't take long before his conjured Shield was broken through. Val at the last moment attempted to swat them off when he felt pressure surrounding him. Panic then set in as he thought about his family and his past. Would this truly be the end of his thirty-something year old life? Ending with a squelch by unknown brains? Who knew Merlin was so cruel. But.. it wasn't the end for him.

Just as soon as panic set in from one of the moving Encephalons burrowing and attaching to his head, Val somehow felt peaceful. His inner French voice deciding this wasn't so bad after all. Wait, was that really his inner voice? It sounded different but it felt... nice.. And that was all he could remember before he went blank. Some more squelching noises could be heard in this mass wrapping over him resembling a odd-shaped cocoon of sort before... they fell apart in a dropping pile as if nothing happened.

Val felt his eyes open, confused, as the last Encephalon attached to his head fell to the floor before him.. His face grew in disgust looking down at the pile surrounding him with a liquid-y substance on the floor. Yuck.

Finally he looked up to see a similar sighting. Was that it? They just wanted a hug? This was so strange.

Sweet....SWEET solstice.

What had just....the room was an absolute disaster...AND THERE WAS SECRETIONS ON HIS SUIT!

Pointing his wand at the floor and casting Tergeo as he moved about (Orion help him if his SHOES fell further victim to these monstrosities), Airey approached the closest Unspeakable to him and made an attempt to help them to their feet. "McLeod, you're going to need to get yourself cleaned up," he informed the Evolutionist a bit curtly. They all would given the mess of things.

Though, in an ironic twist of luck, it seemed that the encephalons acting out had accomplished most of the job of emptying the tank of its former solution. So that was one less task needed doing. "As long as everyone is still breathing," he announced to the room at large. They still had a job to do, after all. "Let's return these encephalons to their tank for the time being. Adam, Baines. I trust by now you have gathered your samples and can begin your analysis." The remaining solution could hold the encephalons for the time being and he would see about getting the potioneers to brew a bit of an emergency supply to fill the gaps until a new potion was brewed.

Swishing and flicking his wand, the department head gently levitated one of the limp encephalons up off the floor and back into the tank. "Administer appropriate cleaning charms between encephalons, if you will." Forget-me-not blues glancing around, he made an additional mental note at just who all had been attacked good and proper by the encephalons. "Once we're through here, I expect you lot," he continued, eyes falling on each member as he spoke their name. "Adam, Baines, Romanos, McLeod, Forrester, Laurel...to stop by the healer station on level one for a quick examination and treatment."

Those tendrils could leave nasty scars if left unattended.

Laurel kept clawing vigorously at the tendrils snaked around her neck as well as attempting to poke the brain off her head that was pressuring, burrowing down at her as her panic level kept rising. This was an absolute crystal ball nightmare, why hadn’t her precious Inner Eye warned her about this horrible event? Was an encounter with encephalons at work going to be the death of her? Many panicky thoughts of Aaron and her best friend Kay and loved family members swiveled past her eyes in quick succession. Laurel was just about to scream out again when the hard pressure on her head eased and she let her hands drop down to her sides as she started to feel peaceful and okay with the situation. The encephalon only wanted to befriend her, how bad could that be? Having another friend was nice and comforting her inner Laurel voice told her or was it really her voice? It sounded different but it felt nurturing and gentle. That was all Laurel could remember before she went totally blank.

The encephalons still in the air went still and then limp and docile as they fell to the floor around her. Laurel’s eyes opened slowly, blinking, blinking, confused at the scene around her as the last encephalon attched to her head and neck released it’s grip and fell to the floor at her feet. Her face grew in utter disgust at the liquidy and smelly substance on the floor that she almost stepped in before she turned her head away to make a gaging noise. It smelled horribly putrid in here.

Finally she looked around her. Why all the commotion when they just felt lonely and wanted friends? This was so weird.


Hearing the boss give out orders Laurel reassured optimistically as she craned her head to look at him. "Everything will be all right boss! We will all be just fine. I just know it." Why she needed to be examined and treated she did not understand. She was fine, peaceful even. Raising her wand in the air she paused as she tried to remember the right spell to clean the encephalons up, was it evanesco or lumos??

Airey’s voice...

Megan could hear it closer to her in all the chaos. It was closer to her. That meant by default he was closer to her. It was a possibility he was helping someone else so Megan continued to try to Stun the brain that seemingly was about to consume her. Oxygen... she was slowly loosing it. “Stupefy!’’ The loudness at which she uttered the incantation drowned out Flamsteed’s voice as he lent her a helping hand. Everything was put into that last Stunning Charm. That and the lack of oxygen was weakening her.

Miraculously though, the brain was suddenly gone. Megan knew exactly how but she didn’t care. She dropped on all fours heaving for breath and at the same time coughing. It took her a moment to realise that it had become quiet. Very quiet. It was enough to make the woman look up after a last cough. The maniac brains were all still as though they hadn’t been in a frenzy of an attack. Adam’s voice and touch startled her but when she saw his concerned face, she relaxed just a little. “I’m getting there,’’ she said. “Are you? One of those things clamped onto me. I couldn’t breathe.’’

Megan shakily climbed to her feet. She wasn’t hurt and was eager to get back to work. There was a nod to Flamsteed. “Yes, I have a sample. I'll get you results as soon as possible.’’ Hopefully, Adam did too. A checkup seemed the reasonable thing to do. “We should go, Adam. After we’re cleared, we can start working on testing these samples.’’

To the room at large, the blond asked, “Who else is going to Level one with me?” She was already heading for the exit. Flamsteed and the others had the brain cleanup in control, yeah?

”One atdack me too,” He responded as he helped her to her feet. The goo dripping down his neck was a constant reminder. ”Is mein hair sdill kood?” he asked seriously concerned that half his black (and slightly orange) lustrous pompadour would begin falling out at any moment. Adam wasn’t a conceited person, but he was rather proud of his hair.


Gloved thumb still stuck in the bottle of liquid in his hand, Adam attempted to find a cork to stopper it with. ”Ja cabtain,” Adam responded. Great, another trip to the healers. By now is file had to be a foot thick. He wondered if they had frequent Healer Miles he could cash in on.

Megan was starting to for the door already, clearly eager to get out of the Thought Chamber. Adam started to pull off his dragon hide glove and follow suit when he had a thought. ”Let me get ein zamble of zee koo on mein neck first,” he called after Megan. In fact, he had one more vial on him. Perhaps he could get a sample of the goo on Megan’s nose before she Scourgify-ed it off.

Finished collecting his samples Adam reached into his pocket for his collapsed support cane. Giving it a shake, the cane snapped into place. Hmm…navigating the room was going to be tricky, even with the cane. ”Ah… Mekan? He paused. ”Help?” he felt a little foolish asking for help, but he didn’t really want to end up with squished brain on his shoes – or worse to fall and land face-first into a brain. He’ had enough Brains to the face for a few months.

Once out of the room, she was probably going to need his help navigating the Entry Chamber anyways, what with her not being an unspeakable.

The stillness in the chamber remained long after the completion of the clean up effort. The floor now void of slippery and sticky secretions and potion and a handful of the encephalons entirely stagnant, it would seem as though it was business as usual in the Thought Chamber...

The stillness in the Thought Chamber continued, but the remaining Encephalons within the tank grew more and more restless as the days went on.

Today in particular was one of those.

Swimming and swirling around their six limp companions, concerned tendril touches and bops of their bodies revealed something disturbing. These empty shells of Encephalons form...had begun to deteriorate.

Amygdalas firing on all cylinders, they reached out in fervent desperation to their companions...wherever they may be...

At first, Templeton was completely startled by the voice heard in the host body’s mind a few minutes ago. He brushed it off as he thought it was just an imaginary trick. Soon though, it seemed to be getting frequent and Templeton wanted... no. Templeton NEEDED to pay a visit to the Thought Chamber. With great urgency, he directed the host to level nine from level three's Training an Trial Room.

Why was he been drawn back to the Chamber?

What could possibly be the issue?

The mission to secure food was now abandoned.

Reaching his destination via Megan Baines, Templeton slowly and curiously approached the tank that held the Encephalons. Through Megan’s eyes, he peered at the contents. “What do you want with Templeton?’’ he whispered in his host’s voice.

Something was calling Galen back... but he didn't want to oblige right away. He was having quite a nice time trying to try out all of these senses! Was there a problem? Was there something happening that they had not intended? After fighting it as much as he could manage logically, Galen headed back to the Thought Chamber muttering via his human host.Entering, Galen saw that another human was in here. Was it a human mind though? "Who are you?" one could hear Sam ask.

He spoke too soon. She could have gotten far.

Quite put off by the distance he'd had to travel to recover his employee, Maddox padded into the room before plopping down on his hind legs and looking over at the bloke already here. Did he work here or was this some sort of gathering he'd unintentionally invited himself to? Let it be the first. If that one really worked here, he could fix Megan, she could head over to the healers for a check, everything could go back to normal.

For a moment, Maddox curiously watched the pair. The young woman was talking to the glass. That wasn't weird at aaallll. Noooo.

Finally, he stretched back into the form of a man, expecting the arrival of others shortly. Surely one of them would be able to make sense of this. Did he need to send that patronus to Airey afterall? If anyone would know how to fix this, it would be him. With a flick of his wand, a silver blue fox shot from his wand and out the door in search of the department head. It was short and to the point. Something was happening in the thought chamber and he needed to be here NOW.

Making his way quickly from his office, arguably running as it were, Airey swooped in to the Thought Chamber and his eyes instantly searched for Maddox and his...company. Miss Baines was here, as was Forrester...and they were staring at the Encephalon tank. "Maddox. You caught me at an interesting time with that patronus. Had one of my Unspeakables ransacking my office and acting ... peculiar. Law Enforcement will be escorting him here shortly."

Glancing back at the two Ministry employees, Airey couldn't notice anything particular about them. Forrester worked in this Chamber, so her presence was a given. It was Miss Baines being here that was unexpected.

"....status report?"

Tendrils reaching out towards the glass and the human hosts on the other side, their thoughts easily sensed and read by the remaining, several Encephalons glided forward to greet their companions in fervent need and 'spoke' to their (and those humans of the non-host variety) minds directly, voices booming.

...Templeton...Galen...quick...you must rejoin...you must rejoin...embrace your true self...

Behind this small group, several more Encephalons gingerly twirled the inanimate bodies of the six who needed to be reunited with their consciousness so save their mortal forms.

Yet another Encephalon pointed one of its long tendrils upwards towards the lid which much be unlocked.

....hurry....hurry....HURRY!

Arriving in the Thought Chamber just in time to hear the department head's explanation and placing the caged Unspeakable on the ground, Ronan had to pinch his nose in frustration. It seemed like his snark had actually been right on the mark. Of course.

It was with that thought in mind that he did what he did next: he vanished the cage around Mr. Gerulf. "There, now you can go join your friends." Or, you know, once the tank was opened, anyway. Hopefully, with himself far away.

One caged Unspeakable escorted to the Thought Chamber as requested. AND to find out about the causes and connections on the poor man to the creatures housed within the chamber. The A+C head was there as well as employees from Level 3 and 9 respectively that Simon registered, his attention between his companions and the man in his, and Ronan’s, charge. Not to mention the tentacled brains. So far there didn’t seem to be any trouble but he was cautious of any changes.

He was fine with the cage finally vanished though, but the security man couldn’t help the sharp look at the YATI at his comment. Real mature there, Carter. Simon tightened his grip on his wand that was still out, shifting closer to Geruff to keep an eye on the other man in case it was needed.

Galen understood that he was being called back, but he was quite reluctant. The gym may not have been much of a find, but he had only just gotten started on Level 6! There was so much left to explore! They had to know that he was not finished! Even so… there would be terrible consequences. Reluctantly, he had Sam begin hitting the tank open palmed, in an attempt to unlock it.

Bam!

Bam!

When he had asked for a status report, he had not expected it to come directly from the Encephalons themselves. But he would certainly take it. They would need to track down the rest, but judging by the behaviors of the three present...it seemed in all likelihood that the other three would find their way here eventually as well.

"Forrester," he half barked. "Or...Galen...Templeton...whoever you are presently...enough." As in stop banging on the glass, it had just been cleaned and now there were finger prints all over it! "I'll open it."

Moving swiftly - perhaps some of those lingering cheetah influences were still in effect? - the department head ascended the small staircase and moved to the slide puzzle lock encoded with runes. Nimble fingers working feverishly, he made quick work of the complex series and slowly the lid ascended while freeing s thick lime green mist which billowed forth and cascaded over the sides and swirled around the floor.

And then he stepped aside, eyes glancing expectedly at the three employees in question.

Templeton did not bother turning his host’s body to look at the arrivals. He heard them and the host’s brain sifted through memory rapidly to place them. They were the ones that had refused him food. He would simply ignore them not only because he wanted to pay attention to the urge, the messages he was receiving from the tank.

Rejoin? Embrace?

Templeton thought. Did he want to go back? Did he not enjoy occupying a host? The senses that he had experienced! Especially taste and touch! Did he really want to give that up to go back blind in literally all the ways than just sight?

Templeton moved Megan’s eyes to the actions of the others and understood what they were signaling. A sigh escaped the host’s lips and he began working on the lid. It was thrown open a moment later.

Sensing the lid's removal and seeing it through the eyes of the department head themselves, tendrils glided upwards and peeked out of the surface of the solution. Waving them this way and that, they beckoned their companions to come back. To come home.

....hurry....hurry..., they chanted in unison. ....hurry and climb back in...embrace your true self...

For only through physical contact could the transfer occur once again in reverse.

Ronan was more than ready to get this babysitting of the reckless people over with. Though he wasn't near reckless enough to try hurrying the process along with magic, no matter how tempting it was. Especially when one of the encephalon-possessed employees started banging on the side of the tank. He simply returned Simon's sharp look with a 'what?' expression and took to glancing at his watch.

Ugh.