Then I saw something both strange and terrifying.

Dan stopped breathing. His heart rate monitor now read zero. Through the communication set Professor Valken wore, I heard our patient shriek as she relived the memory playing out on the view screen. My hair stood up on end as she yelled, “Don’t take him!” over and over.

A ghostly shape floated upwards from her brother’s body. This spiritual form had all the characteristics of Dan’s physical body. His face contorted in pain as flames suddenly engulfed his spirit like a log soaked with gasoline. His mouth was open in what was obviously a scream, but made no sound.

The video image made my flesh crawl. Kristen was witnessing something no human should ever be allowed to see. Dan’s time to leave this world had come to pass, and Kristen happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Radiating an aura of evil, this thing had come to claim Dan’s soul. The ebony clothed specter snatched his spirit out of the air.

Continued screaming from the scanning room shook me out of momentary shock. Through the monitoring room, I noticed Kristen holding Dr. Valken’s hand. The professor looked as rigid as a board; his face was an empty gaze of shock and horror. His eyes were filled with fear, his jaw open in a silent scream. This was an emergency situation; I decided to terminate the test.

I initiated the power-down sequence, allowing Kristen’s monitors to switch to battery back up. Her vitals fell off rapidly until the numbers all reached zero and produced a flat line. Reliving the experience had caused Kristen’s death. Just before the monitor went blank, I saw a figure fading from the memory generated ICU room. I briefly glimpsed a hooded, black-robed figure wielding a long scythe.

Continuing emergency procedures, I dialed 911, who dispatched an EMT unit immediately. I still heard screaming in the scanning room. After a few moments, I realized it was Dr. Valken. His lunatic raving horrified me.

I dashed inside the monitoring room. Dr. Valken sat on the floor, his back against the wall. He babbled a lunatic chant. “Did you see it?” he kept repeating. “That thing took Dan away. His soul broiled and that thing took him away. Did you see it?”

Professor Valken’s condition was quite unnerving. He is a highly educated, very intelligent man. By the time I left the research center, not more than an hour ago, he had retreated into some dark corner of his mind, resulting in a catatonic state. This may sound unscientific, but I believe that when Kristen took his hand, he somehow shared the memory event, experiencing it firsthand.

I don’t know what’s to become of Dr. Valken. He could end up institutionalized, just as Kristen. Neither do I know what future our research holds. No doubt, a formal inquiry will be conducted to determine what, if anything, went wrong. Perhaps the IBSF will pursue this pathway and see where it leads.

Our technology operated well, maybe a little too well. The machinery worked beyond our wildest expectations, allowing us a glimpse into the mind of dementia. Not every catatonic patient has had the same experience as Kristen, so this technology may have a future after all.

Thankfully, what I saw was a video image of a memory event. Dr. Valken and Kristen, on the other hand, have both witnessed what no human was ever meant to see. There are things which have no place in our mortal minds. It has given me much to contemplate.

I’m an individual who thirsts for knowledge, but this incident has shown me the limits of understanding. Just because a thing can be known doesn’t mean it should be known. Sometimes, the incomprehensible matters of the universe are better left undisturbed. I’ll never forget that.