"Thanks," Bethany says with a slight smile, before flopping onto the couch.

"Well, it stands to reason there IS something they want, then. The focus is too strong otherwise. It's not sleeper agents; mutilation doesn't fit into that. More likely it's something to do with the power itself. You've heard the term 'you are what you eat'? My best guess is that they're empowering themselves for some kind of status or bargain. Two psychophages following the same pattern for the same reason at wildly divergent points in time suggests that it's something to do with something nonhuman and/or immortal, since time isn't a factor."

She sits quietly for a moment, before taking out her phone. She deleted the earlier pictures off her phone, but having the prop at hand might help to remember. The scrimshaw on the skull of the man in the storage closet - that's delicate work. It doesn't fit with the rest. If she could remember the designs...