You glanced around the hall. Other monster students—werewolves, vampires, a drowsy gorgon—showed no reaction. Only you and Morgan.
“The Old Infirmary,” you whispered. “Where they used to ‘treat’ incorporeal students before the Accords.” Monster College Version 0.8.6
“You feel it too?” a voice crackled beside you, cold as dry ice. Morgan flickered into view, their translucent form wearing a rare expression: unease. “That’s not a hex. That’s a resonance cascade . Someone’s trying to pull a ghost’s anchor out of the physical plane.” You glanced around the hall
“Ah, the human and their anchor ghost,” Hollow said, smiling thinly. “You’re right, Morgan. This machine doesn’t just trap ghosts. It amplifies their worst memory into a broadcast frequency. Once I tune it to your pain, every monster on campus will feel what you feel. The sorrow, the rage, the loneliness. They’ll lose control. And I’ll finally prove that emotions are just chemical noise to be… optimized.” “The Old Infirmary,” you whispered
You recall a line from Thornheart’s lecture: Sentient hexes adapt to intent . You shout, “Hollow, your machine feeds on negative emotion—but you’re just as lonely as Morgan.” Hollow falters. The Resonator flickers, detecting his suppressed guilt. It turns on its creator. Outcome: Hollow is trapped in a loop of his own worst memories. You and Morgan escape. Morgan’s trust increases, but they note: “You’re scarier than me, human.”
“Version 0.8.6,” they said, almost smiling. “Patch notes: fixed eternal loneliness bug. Added ‘hand-holding’ feature. Still crashes during emotional vulnerability.”