Yay for flashdrives and a working computer!

After the strange attack, and even stranger possession, Ayako took a shivering Mai in Lin's body back to their room in order to clean out her wounds and cover them with gauze. They weren't serious, not compared to what they could have been, and there were thankfully no pieces of mirror lodged into Lin's head. It had been a long day, incredibly long, for the young girl. The team was no closer to finding out what had caused her and the Chinese man to switch bodies. They weren't any closer finding out how to change them back. Nor were they any step further in discovering who, or what, the thing that attacked her was, much les how to get rid of it entirely. To make matters worse, now an entirely new, and exponentially more powerful, entity had entered the picture, and no one had even the faintest idea of what to do about that.

And Mai still hadn't regained any memories, and without her dreams… Well, there was little she could really do to help, and she knew it. At least Lin was able to help with the research and still retained the knowledge about the supernatural that he had due to a lifetime of experience, which was much more than the girl could say for herself. At the moment, Mai felt completely and utterly useless.

"Mai?" Ayako asked gently, seeing the extremely down face of the man before her. The miko removed the washcloth she was using to dab away the blood on her coworker's face. "Am I pressing too hard?"

"Mmnnm," Lin's voice sounded as Mai made his head shake back and forth. "It's not that, it's just…" And then she cried. Everything was so overwhelming. For all she knew, she would be stuck in Lin's body forever. She would never get married, she would never be able to see her old friends at school like this. And what about Lin? How would he go on like this? Sure, as a temporary ordeal they could both handle it, but permanently? Lin must have someone out there he liked. If not, he would always have a chance to start dating and get married. But he couldn't now. Not like this. In fact, there was no true telling as to whether either of them would even survive this. That thing… that grinning, evil, vile thing was so cold, and dark, and Mai didn't even know how they would defeat it. Nothing that powerful had ever specifically targeted anyone in the group before. Yet she could tell just be feeling the thing's aura, she knew, that it was going to go after only her and Lin. And with no leads, the others were bound to get hurt while trying to stop it. And here was she, only able to cry.

How pathetic, she thought.

"It's alright," Ayako soothed, petting Lin's dark locks in an attempt to soothe the girl. It was all she knew to do. "It's alright, Mai. It'll be alright."

"But I can't do anything! I haven't dreamed at all, and I haven't felt any differences in presences except when that creature was right there. Lin's power is drastically lowered due to this change, and it's my fault and I can't help change us back! I'm useless!"

"What makes you think that?" the miko breathed in surprise, "How in the world could you be at fault? The very thought is ridiculous!"

"If I hadn't gone swimming-"

"Mai," Ayako's stern voice directed. Her hand gripped Lin's chin, making the girl see Ayako straight in the face, straight into the seriousness of her words. "This is not your fault. The only fault you have right now is worrying us sick by trying to take all the blame on yourself. This isn't just your burden. You and Lin aren't just the only ones this affects. This is the team's problem."

"B-But-"

"But nothing!" Ayako snapped, but she leaned forward and gave the older man a hug as she said it. "You are a member of this team, and as such the entire team is looking for a way to change you two back. Lin hasn't given up or tried to blame himself, so don't you dare either! You promise me, okay!"

"Okay," Mai agreed, hugging Ayako back tightly, which caught the priestess off guard since the man's hug was much tighter than she was expecting. She gave off a little squeak of wincing pain, Mai immediately letting her go with a quick apology, but both girls were laughing in spite of themselves.

"Besides," the older woman continued, after having caught her breath, "Lin and Naru are doing everything they can to help resolve the situation. And if there is anyone that could help, it would be someone who doesn't get emotional and always kept their cool so frozen that everyone wonders whether there's a stick lodged up their butt." Ayako gave a slight wink at her comrade. "And that is definitely Naru."

Now the two started in another outburst of laughter, taking twice as long to calm down from this than it was the other one.

"And if I were you, I'd be more worried about changing back. After how much you've worried our stoic boss, you're going to be buried in paperwork for months!"

"Ugh, don't remind me!" Mai grumbled, stretching her limbs for a bit before adjusting herself in another seated position. "And I'm sorry about being so overwhelmed. You're right. I shouldn't worry until Naru loses it too."

"Like that will ever happen!"

"Lin," Naru said coldly at the young girl before him. The dark haired man's eyes were glaring, and his face was stern. It was the most emotion that he had shown in anger at his assistant, whether Lin was in his normal body or not. "You were supposed to research this." Naru's arms gripped his chest tightly as he crossed them.

The air was tense, and the remaining members of the SPR team in the room stopped what they were doing at the change in atmosphere the room had undergone. All attention went to the two teens standing before them.

"'Lin!" Naru snapped furiously once he heard no reply.

"I did," Mai's voice said back, quavering for just a moment. Lin did not like the sudden lashing out his boss was doing. It made his chest hurt, and his ears ring. His face was hot, and his blood was hot, and his eyes stung. Perhaps Mai was never yelled at a lot, and the thought of being mad at by Naru was painful to her. That would explain the tears. But it also hurt, and Lin couldn't help but feel sad and full of ache from the angry tone Naru was using at her. He wanted to cry! But he was Lin, whether he was in Mai's body or not, so he held back the tears and tried to keep his composure as best as possible. All this emotion was not like him, and the feelings were not helping. "There is nothing physically documented with relevance to this case on the internet or in any library database. It would appear as though this was the first case of such an event. Soul switching only comes up theoretically, and the theory only includes the idea of it, not the specifics or causes. There's nothing more I can do."

"Masako," Naru now directed, looking at the kimono-wearing medium with a restrained urgency. "Is there a way you can help her? You know the most about the experience of possession out of all of us. What do you know?"

The medium's mouth went open a little, shocked at the sudden demand to know the extent of her capabilities, but she quickly regained her composure. "Unless I am possessed by the same spirit entity as her, there is little I can decipher for you. However, from experience, I know that when possessed the mind is shared by both the soul of the possessing body, and the sole of the body being possessed, and the memories are shared by both entities."

"But Mai can't remember anything, or Lin for that matter, right?" Takigawa reminded in frustration, looking at Lin's host.

There was a delayed response, Lin seeming somewhat surprised at suddenly being called on or something of the sort, but he quickly regained his comprehension and gave a solid, "Right," as an answer.

"Wait," John piped, "You're saying that the events that the spirit goes through are shared within the mind. I haven't come across anything like that in my exorcism cases," but he quickly added, "to that extent at least."

"The nature of the human mind is to put a priority on self preservation," Lin said, his voice enough that Mai's tone showed the somewhat tired feeling of the man.

Takigawa gave a small snort of, "What's that suppos-"

"He means that the mind will cease to think about or accept too traumatizing of events, for the sake of the psyche, and therefore turns them into repressed memories," Naru cut in, suddenly very interested. He spent a great moment thinking to himself after saying this. He wondered why they had not come up with or tried this theory before. If it was true, then it would save them a great deal of time in trying to find out who the spirit was or where their base of being was. At the very least, it would tell them what they were dealing with, and possibly how to resolve the matter altogether.

This was definitely the only lead they had so far.

"Takigawa, John, go bring the equipment. We're going to do a hypnotism."

"Look into the light," Naru urged gently toward his assistant, his voice rich and lulling. It seemed like it was the only voice in the world. "Feel the warmth of the light surround you…"

Mai did as she was told, staring into the eerie red glow that was filling the room. Her eyelids were already starting to weigh down on her, like she was looking through a haze. She couldn't quite comprehend what was going on around her, but she could hear Naru's voice. Naru's soothing, perfect voice…

"Synchronize your breaths with its illumination…"

Though Mai had been through this process before, back on her first case with the SPR team, she couldn't have recalled the experience completely at the time. The room was dark, and the light was warm. It seemed to pull her in, her mind, her spirit, her thoughts…

"Feel your tension leave you and into the light…" that beautiful voice gently continued to urge. "Focus on the light."

Her mind was leaving her completely, her thoughts blank and dark. She could faintly tell that there was a glow in front of her allowing her to see, yet she couldn't make out what anything was. She did not particularily care… it didn't matter what was going on.

"Listen to my voice… "

Mai could feel it, the light. It was like a gentle pull, almost supernatural, pulling her consciousness away from her as though to separate it from her body. It was painless, and she was filled with calm. She was so at ease she couldn't even feel her body. She was floating in a a sea of relaxation.

And then she couldn't comprehend anything. She couldn't differentiate between the light and darkness in the room. She couldn't feel herself breathing in with each pulse of the glow, and breathing out with the next. The gentle voice she had once heard was no longer in reach of her, yet she had not even noticed.

"Try to remember," Naru ordered calmly, "Remember what it was like to be possessed. Feel the sensation of it through your body. Remember what it feels like."

"It's warm," a small voice said, the words hardly above a whisper. "Like being held by a parent."

"What else?"

"I'm not afraid," Mai continued quietly, her voice still detached from her mind, as though her emotions were speaking for themselves without a conscious effort. "The creature is pushed back. It can't attack me… because it is afraid."

"Was the creature the one that attacked Lin and you in the lake?"

"Yes…" Mai spoke, "But I was saved… It warded it off… and protected us."

"What is it you were being protected against?"

"The remnants of a human soul… The negative emotions of those who have died… solidified into one being," breathed Mai. "It… wants to exist."

Takigawa and John exchanged a glance of equal emotion, but said nothing to break the spell of calm over the girl.

"How does it plan to do this?"

"Taking… bit by bit… the parts that will make him real… By eating humans…" Naru's eyes narrowed at the girl's response. "For each human he devours… the less of a shade he becomes…"

"How did you stop it?"

"I was protected… like before in the lake… It aided me… It came all the way from its shrine because… it heard my fear…"

"Where is the shine located? Where did it come from?"

"A cave half flooded in water… by the cliff."

"What possessed you?" Naru inquired, leaning in closer to the girl though she was still out of reach from him.

No sooner had he finished asking the question, the light bulb cracked, the sound echoing through the small room causing the team members to jump in surprise. Naru cast a cold gaze of anticipation toward the breaking glass, ignoring the startled shrieks and gasps coming from his coworkers. Not even a moment later, the bulb shattered, and the room was cast into darkness.

"Naru!" Mai yelped, her sudden awakening causing Lin's voice to crack. "Who-Who turned out the lights!"