They pulled them from the hall before they had adjusted to the idea of staying there,
a narrower chamber lay beyond the sealed inner doors, designated for examination rather than repose and the upper walls bore the marks, the measurements, the notations of containment. Tohu was first, then Jehovah, and then two silent attendants who took up positions by the single remaining exit and said nothing at all. The nine were permitted entrance together, precisely as the terms stated, but it made Zeus uncomfortable nonetheless the instant the doorway was sealed behind them.
Tohu indicated the ring at the center of the floor. 'Stand there. Do not try to resist the first pass. If you fight the reading as if it is pure reflex, everyone ends more uncomfortable than they were.'
