Kalisha observed her close group—Avery, Nicky, George, and Helen—as they slept fitfully, repeating phrases from the shared dream. Avery gasped “Hoor je me?” while Nicky reached out with his hands, mirroring Kalisha’s dream action of rushing a giant phone to stop it. Kalisha concluded they were linked, their abilities amplified into a hive-like group consciousness, likely initiated or boosted by Avery’s strength.

She noted the hum in the tunnel had intensified, now pulsing in a rhythmic cycle that synchronized with the overhead fluorescents brightening and dimming. Kalisha recognized this as visible evidence of their telekinetic output, though it still offered no immediate escape. She encountered Pete Littlejohn, now severely diminished, speaking the “Do you hear me?” refrain in multiple languages, further confirming the dream’s spread.

Moving toward the Back Half door, Kalisha found a crayon message on the wall: “CALL THE BIG FONE. ANSER THE BIG FONE,” implying even the cognitively damaged Ward A kids were experiencing the dream while awake. Nick arrived, referencing the dream’s progression to increasingly larger phones and suggesting Avery might be receiving and amplifying the signal rather than originating it. They agreed the exact source mattered less than the shared effect.

Kalisha objected to Nick calling the Ward A children “gorks,” labeling it a slur; Nick apologized and amended his language. George joined them, confirming he had the same dream and noting the hum felt stronger. The group compared symptoms—headaches had eased—and assessed the environment: the kids were restless, and the power surge continued.

As they spoke, the tension of their situation pressed in. George remarked that the final dream phone was larger than he was, suggesting an escalating call to connect or respond. He then bluntly raised the immediate danger: the expectation that Institute staff might soon gas the tunnel to end the standoff, expressing surprise it had not already happened.