"I'd never really thought of this place as a prison, truth be told," Doc replies softly, moving to sit next to Malcolm with his own plate of food. Although he seems a lot more interested in the biscuits if the pile he brought on a sharing plate is anything to go by.

He had known a prison. Known very well how it made him feel, how torturous and laborious each day had been. And while Mathias might push her boundaries, might test the limits of his sanity from time to time, this is... different.

"I have no doubt some people do believe that mirrors are windows into another realm." While they have seen and attempted to interact with spectres in their black, wispy garbs, not everything they have experienced have been... here. The 'Other Mathias', for example, or the forlorn-looking ghosts.

"He might not even know why he is here. So few of us do." Do Shadow Men have existential crises? Doc certainly believes that all men do.