Entry #14 - 10.31.5502

The eerie "presence" Sona felt in the Telepods Lab the other night - the one emanating from somewhere deep inside the caves - is getting stronger. No longer is Sona, with her extraordinary telepathic abilities, the only one sensing it. It's become clear that we're no longer alone here in the Ohm Central City -- and I'm not just talking about Hershel and his rotten hench-rats.

Our realization of this came shortly after the explosion, as we were crossing the plaza between the labs complex and bunkhouse, ready to call it a day. It was a magnificent moon-lit starry night, with two of the planet's three satellites rising in the east - Copernicus, a glowing orange beyond the city's central spires; Gallileo a bright white, high in the evening sky. Athena and I had taken the lead, walking silently side-by-side, while the rats were trailing behind chattering wildly about events of the night.

"I say we hunt Hershel down and gnaw off his balls!" 45 proclaimed with angry determination. "Ouch!" 3.14 cried from the back of their group, instinctively placing a paw over his groin.

"Now, now then, let's not be rash." 50-50 admonished, in typical, cautious, fashion. "We shouldn't do anything till we know for sure who set the trap - after all, it could've been the work of whoever Sona sensed; Hershel may have had nothing to do with it."

"'Rats' to that!" 45 shot back.

"Whoever did it, they didn't leave any clues," 14/2 chimed in, "so they're either very clever -- like Dr. Hershel -- or very lucky. Or perhaps..."

"Quiet!" Athena called out sharply, quickly silencing the rats. She'd come to a stop in the middle of the plaza, a sudden sweat was breaking-out on her forehead. And it wasn't that hot a night.

"What is it?" I asked cautiously, not wanting to alarm the vermin - and not sure I was wanting an answer, given the look on her face.. Athena was standing frozen, as if entranced by...something...threatening that I couldn't sense.

"Don't you see?" She asked at last, her voice almost a whisper. "There - up ahead - like a dark cloud just...hovering."

Squinting into the distance, I suddenly became aware of what looked like a darker patch of night -- not quite a 'cloud' but certainly something blacker than the space all around. It seemed to be just hanging there, somehow, in mid-air -- morphing slightly in size and shape; its edges fuzzy and ill-defined.

Whatever it was, it was giving me a major case of the creeps -- a cold chill ran down my spine. Then, after a few moments, it seemed to shift composition somehow, and I began to sense an intelligence to the dark shape -- whatever it was, I suddenly became aware that it was watching us, just as we'd been watching it!

Then, as mysteriously as it had materialized, it slowly dissipated back into the night, leaving only the chirping of crickets in its place.