Spoilers ahead
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The Mass Hallucination
Oppy:
"It's my turn to give you an explanation."
Oppy:
"About the Mass Hallucination event that Tobias and Francis were going on about. But don't worry, I won't be nearly as long-winded."
Oppy:
"Because there honestly isn't much that we know about it."
Oppy:
"It happened on the morning of September 15th, 1961. My colleague, Doctor James Cay, was conducting experiments at a highly classified site in the Deep Zone. He was assisted by my husband, Doctor Allen Turner."
Oppy:
"At 0400, their experiment unleashed a gamma-ray surge that instantly killed both of them. The surge was an impossible amount of energy, orders of magnitude greater than any man-made source. It also triggered hallucinations in anyone awake within a 10-mile radius."
Oppy:
"It was a burst of wide-spread insanity, but only for a short moment."
I Saw Nothing
Tobias:
"30 seconds of hallucinations sure didn't feel short when I was freefalling through outer space. Heck of a ride though- did you know that the rings of Saturn sing?"
Francis:
"I saw disembodied arms. Tons of them, grasping, crawling."
Tobias:
"What about you, Oppy? What did you see?"
Oppy:
"I saw nothing."
Francis:
"How is that possible? Everybody else saw something."
Oppy:
"Must've passed me by. I don't know what to tell you."
Francis:
"But weren't you working in your lab that night?"
Oppy:
"And weren't you supposed to be doing your research, rather than keeping track of my whereabouts?"
Tobias:
"Okay. Wow. Touchy."
Atlantis?
Francis:
"Now that we know the Remnants were connected to the Mass Hallucination, maybe we can figure out what caused it."
Tobias:
"Boy, oh boy, do I have theories."
Oppy:
"Don't start. Dr. Cay and Allen clearly uncovered some new way of using LIM to motivate that gamma-ray burst."
Tobias:
"Yes, precisely, and where do gamma rays come from but outer space?"
Oppy:
"Feet back on planet Earth, kid. There are plenty of terrestrial sources of gamma rays. Thunderstorms, for example."
Francis:
"You said it yourself. The energy levels from that night were much greater than anything we've seen on Earth."
Oppy:
"Sure, but going straight to aliens when there's countless perfectly scientific possibilities?"
Oppy:
"Perhaps Dr. Cay and Allen developed a LIM-assisted mass particle collision. Or, heck. tapped into some sort of gamma-ray reservoir."
Tobias:
"A reservoir, or a portal?"
Oppy:
"A portal. To where, exactly?"
Tobias:
"To Atlantis."
Oppy:
"Of course. Now why didn't I think of that? That's absolutely it."
What's In This For You?
Francis:
"Hey Oppy. You've never cared about any of the Zone's stories and superstitions."
Francis:
"So why now? What's in this for you?"
Oppy:
"What I do is not, and has never been, any of your business."
Francis:
"You're asking us to trust you. So yes, it's our business now."
Oppy:
"How about this?"
Oppy:
"You two sign off and count orbs or whatever it is you like to do, and I'll get the Driver to the Mass Hallucination's source myself."
Tobias:
"Excuse me?"
Francis:
"Tobias found this Remnant. This is his discovery."
Oppy:
"Sure. And I'll send you a nice gift basket to mark the occasion."
Oppy:
"But I won't let anyone interfere with this."
Better Off Without Them
Tobias:
"To hell with that. We either throw everything we can at this thing, or we lose this chance, and the answers to the Mass Hallucination are gone forever."
Oppy:
"This isn't like one of your little Sasquatch hunts. I'm not letting you get your tin-foil pseudoscience anywhere near this."
Oppy:
"This is too damn important to me."
Francis:
"It sure didn't seem too important earlier, when you messed up and nearly killed the Driver."
Oppy:
"You want to play that game? You really want to talk about our track records?"
Francis:
"Screw you, Oppy."
Oppy:
"I'd rather run this Remnant into the ground than work with either of you."
Tobias:
"Forget it. We're wasting our breath with this old bat. There's got to be another way."
Francis:
"She's out of her mind. I can't do this."
Oppy:
"Look, if you want to waste your precious time picking apart bird droppings and squinting at constellations, by all means. Follow their lead."
Oppy:
"But we're better off without them, trust me."
Oppy:
"I'll get you through no matter what."
Oppy:
"This really is my last chance."