Strange Things

We'd been sent to investigate some strange things happening at he University. Students seeing strange things, and then doing strange things. Like this guy, running his guts out over and over up a steep hill, and never seeming to tire, and not paying attention to onlookers.

Very strange, indeed. So, my team was assigned to document the strange things and hopefully find a cause so that this madness could be terminated. It's not an easy job, and it's not glamorous; but it's the kind of thing my team lives for.

The first strange thing we noticed was these guys. They were very cheerful, which caught our attention immediately: it was after five in the evening, and working late after a long day forming cement would have left normal people a little disgruntled and ready to go home.

 I think I actually heard them whistling the same five notes over and again. It was like the sun setting in their faces made them happy and upbeat. Very strange.

Click through for the rest of the story, but be warned: it's very strange...



Next we found these students with a strange affinity for light. As they stared at lights, mindlessly admiring the illumination, little grins began creeping across their faces.

 This guy had been looking into a streetlight, bike stationary and sweat long dried, since the sun went down.

We felt that we were getting closer to an answer, closer to the source of the strangeness, when suddenly, a brilliant light enveloped my team and passersby, like a tidal wave breaking over a minute island. We were helpless to do anything but look into the light.

 We all had a strangely good feeling, and those little grins were ubiquitously plastered on everyone's face. This was strange, but we felt no urge to run or evade. The light was everything.

 It filled all our thoughts, and we couldn't have broken away if we had wanted to.

 Except for A., one of my most experienced crack shooters. She was strangely unaffected, which is good--she was able to observe objectively throughout the episode. She kept shooting, but anytime she pointed her camera at the light, the pictures were not viewable, and her PC would freeze, wasting hours of her time editing as she restarted time and time again. This wasn't strange--it's quite normal, but not seeing the pictures was a strange thing.

This is E., and I'm afraid we lost him that night. All he can think about now is light. He seeks it out all day, and is never sated, it's never enough. He wanders the school grounds looking at lights, finding obscure lights, and utilizing light in photographs such as the world has never seen, like a photographic incubus, controlling his whole existence.

Oh, yeah, and while we mesmerized by the lights we heard this strange music. A., didn't hear it (just ask her) but all the other cases reported it. What was it that kept A. from the mesmer? What is it that continues to draw E. to the campus? And what is that light over there...?