S/He described the hallucinations to them as they appeared, and while s/he muttered about dancing green bubbles morphing into rotating orange triangles s/he said “Huh?”. After five minutes the visions stopped.
They are struck by the loneliness of their vision.
"It now feels strange to walk back."
Walking out of the elevation machine, they understood the optimism that drives their life.
Reality is a hallucination.
"I just talked to them two days ago. I can't believe s/he is gone."
"I'm sorry."
"You are the one s/he always wanted me to meet."
"Really?"
"I just arrived from TrES-2 this morning. I was supposed to meet them."
(TrES-2 has been identified as the darkest known exoplanet.)
"I'm the detective. I have to ask you some questions."
After hours of diving into the mysteries of consciousness, they have reached a radical conclusion.
They continue their interrogation at a random bar at night.
The cocktails at the @supersportevent bar are like a general anaesthetic. They experience oblivion, an interruption of consciousness more complete than even the deepest sleep. Whole hours passed in a millisecond. The world will go on without them. Some visitors find this terrifying.
"One martini for you."
"You forgot the olive."
"We're out of olives. How about some pretzels?"
"No thank you."
Five hours later.
"Going home, Charamaynne?"
"We're out of cat food."
"Yes, I'll buy some in the morning."
"You've been smoking again."
After a walk through the park they arrive at their home.