With that being the case, there also seem to be contrived measures for initiating contact as well. Even if one is unused to it or normally resistant to wanting it, it provides a ... sense of ease, when we are experiencing... distraction. Loss of color, lack of sleep, our subconscious, haunted.

Where do these instances all tie in together, I wonder? If such things had been haunting them to begin with, did they come to view the dependency on such a sensation as a weakness...?