Masculine, feminine, and fully crystalline

The instructions echoed clear as day, travelling through the student’s mind like an earworm. Jolting her awake, it was...an odd compelling. Something that she knew had to be done, but didn’t know where to start. She didn’t even know what it looked like, aside from the vague image her mind formed her in that fever dream; never mind what the object’s purpose is, nor its function in the grand scheme of the mission apparently bestowed upon her.
Out of the corner of her eye, a piece of paper beckoned to the student. It’s color was brighter than that of all the other papers: a white that seemed like it was glowing somewhat. She rolled out of her futon and approached the piece of paper. Strange...she knew she was writing a page of her essay on it before, yet suddenly it had vanished with the presence of a new passage.
“THE FARMS OF IZIKEL. GO THERE,” it said. A clue? What were the Farms of Izikel, though? She knew there were the historic ranch of the town’s founder, “Izzy” Bartholomew, some dozens of miles outside of the city. Could those be it?
In either case, she felt she had no choice but to embark. She packed all she could in her knapsack: her tablet for communication, a flashlight and remote-controlled drone for inspection, a few snacks for sustenance, assorted survival assets, and the clue she recently glanced at. It felt strange just going upon this journey without any question, but she had to shrug it off. There was a sense of...urgency; Like she had to do this. She has to go to Izzy’s Ranch and find what she’s looking for, but she didn’t know why. Questions were aplenty in the mind, but one stood out as her most befuddling…

What was the Potential Onionviewer?

As she exited her dorm, she ran into one of her colleagues. A freshman like her in college, one she knew since kindergarten like the back of her hand.
“Joesy!” he greeted friendily. “You’re up hella late. Whassup?”
“Rex! I, uh,” she stumbled. How could she explain to him what’s up without sounding mad? “I’m going on an, uh...i-impromptu...relative visit! Y-yeah, visiting my great cousin twice removed, that’s it.”
“Oh, c’mon,” he retorted, “y’know I can tell when you’re shitting me. You’re off to Izzy’s Ranch, right?” Her jaw agaped in awe.
“H-How did you--?!”
“Relax,” he continued, “it’s not like I’m psychic, heheh. It’s just that you seem to be packing up quite a bit and the only place I can think of was that old farmstead way out in the boones.”
“Haha, f-fair…” she stuttered, before regaining her composure. “Yeah, I got this strange...urge to go there. There’s this thing that’s been taking up my mind--”
“Lemme guess,” he chimed, “the Potential Onionviewer?”
“Yeah! Did...did you have the same dream I had?”
“I...might?” he sighed, before hanging back towards the walls of their hallway. “I dunno, it was so vague and shit. Told me to head for the Farms of Izikel and that’s it. There was also this...crude drawing? Has ‘potential onionviewer’ written on it, with this...fuckin’ bizzare thing on it.”
“Weird…”
“Well, in either case, maybe I can help with what you’re doin’?”
“Sure!” She nodded, before making her way towards exiting their abode, her friend flocking closely behind. “I’m to guess you have the drawing with you, right?”
“In my pocket. I can probably scout out and talk through these Bluetooths.” He pulled out a pair of single-ear headsets from his pocket. From a glance, she could tell that – despite their age and worn out appearances – they could still connect perfectly well.
“Good, good…” she affirmed, before taking one of his headsets. “...eheheh. Ahh, truth be told, I’m...k-kinda nervous with this whole thing.”
“Me too. I mean, for all we know, this...thing could be anything. What if it turns us all into onions?!” He flailed his arms in emphasis.
“What if it’s this massive onion monster with like...tentacles like Cthulu? Or, or wings like the Mothman?! And it makes these lurching noises, like GRSHNARKHCHNARLRGHAR”
“Holy shit, stop! You’re gonna give me fuckin’ shivers!”
“Hey, you started!” She pushed him playfully before running towards the exit.

The night sky. It usually isn’t something that inspires all that much in people, especially in the city. Just the moon and...not much else. And yet, tonight, she felt compelled to look up at it and stare. The stars...she didn’t get to see them often. They were usually invisible in the presence of city lights and night life buzz, but seeing them at this ranch gave her a sense of comfort. Like there was a purpose to this aft--
“Hey!” her friend shouted through her headset, making her jump in fright. “You gonna stare at the tab or stare at the vast nothingness?”
“Shut up!” she hollered back. He was right in the end, though; this wasn’t the time for sightseeing. Focusing on her tablet, she piloted the drone into the farm alongside him and made a split. “I’ll see if there’s anything in the basement.”
“Aight,” he said, “just make sure you keep night vision on. I’ll go check the top floor.”
“Roger, roger,” she signed off, making her drone’s way to the downstairs section. A dusty building like this one, despite its historical value, made sure its basement was extra raggety. It was as if the house was abandoned by all after old Izzy died, making sure his property was untouched after the funeral, which...didn’t make sense as she thought about it.
This was Izzy Bartholomew’s personal farmstead. Personal residence of the founder in his later years, and yet the state didn’t even attempt to claim it as a historical property! It’d be like the LBJ Ranch being abandoned after he died...well, okay, not that bad, but still! It just doesn’t add up.
She mulled over this whilst looking at the camera view. Not much to see. Some assorted binders and drawers, ranch hand equipment, old storage containers for animal feed she guessed...what someone would expect in the basement of a nigh century-old abandoned ranch. No sight of this ‘Potential Onionviewer,’ however.
“Joesy!” her friend reported through the headset. “I...I think I fou- t! I- und th- tential Onionvi-”
“Wait, you found it?” she replied, hoping he didn’t cut out. “Rex?!” She looked up from her screen to see a blinding light, coming from the second floor of the ranch floor, before running straight for it. She knew what it was, the words echoing louder and louder in her ears as she approached.
“Grasp the Potential Onionviewer.”