"..." Ilias was silent again, before looking at Robyn.

"...well, I think we know we can come back in." he said.

He then approached the door and paused for a moment, before gripping the handle and opening it slowly.

He peered inside and noticed that... aside from many things being slightly askew, nothing seemed different.

"...what was that?" he asked Chloe.

"That was unbelievably potent." he told her, stepping further inside.

Ilias raised an eyebrow when he heard this.

"I see." he said.

"And HOW do you know that?" he asked.

"WHO are you? WHAT are you?" he asked further.

"Seriously. All you've told us is that your name is Chloe. But can we have more information?" he asked her.

"Because, right now, we don't know what to think of you."

Ilias was silent for another moment, but Robyn could see the gears were turning, the pieces were being put together.

"...wait." he said.

"Wait, hold on." he muttered.

"I... I'm starting to have serious suspicions here... but I want to ask something to confirm this." he told her.

"You got in here without needing us to let you in." he commented.

"I'm guessing you don't have a keycard, do you?" he asked. "Or, rather, if you had one, you still wouldn't need it, would you?"

Ilias let out a heavy sigh.

"Right." he said.

"That explains it." he said further, looking to Robyn.

"This isn't a person." he told her.

"This isn't a living being." he commented further.

"This is a... well... a robot." he concluded.

"I think, anyway."

Ilias was silent again, before pondering it.

"The hardware makes sense for it to be TechRetti, but... yes, they don't do software. At least not software that is surely as intricate as yours is." he commented.

"But WHO would have done this...?" he wondered.

"Hmmmm." he mumbled.

"I... hmph." he muttered further, before shaking his head.

"Regardless, you have a solution for our soul separation issue?" he asked.

"Is that was that massive expulsion of mana was about?"

"...huh." Ilias muttered.

"That's... remarkable." he said.

"Guess we'll need to test it first." he went on, thinking about it.

"But who?" he asked.

"Who should the first test subject be?" he asked further.

"Any ideas?" he asked Robyn.

"I know Alicja can give us actual consent, should it be her?"

"Got it." Ilias said, before looking at Chloe.

"Ah, yes." he said.

"How much have you made?" he asked her.

"As in, how much do you have, in terms of treating individuals?" he clarified.

"Are you going to require more venom from Helena?" he asked further.

"...because if you do, might as well get it NOW." he sighed.

Ilias just sighed.

"Right." he said.

"One moment." he told her.

He then grabbed a petri dish and, with some coaxing and reassuring, got some more venom from Helena, before returning it to Chloe.

"Here." he said.

"Robyn, let's get out of here." he told Gem.

"Fine Alicja, or someone else, to administer the test dosage to." he said further, after confirming the optimal dose parameters from Chloe.

"...yeah. I think it will." Ilias replied as they walked.

"I mean... Chloe seems to know what she's... it's... ugh, whatever, Chloe seems capable." he said.

"Programmed to be, anyway, it seems." he clarified.

"And... it made sense what she said." he shrugged.

"That's an amazing piece of tech, though." he then admitted.

"Wonder who the programmer is..."

"...another good question." Ilias muttered, as they reached the medical wing, where they saw an exasperated Nate at the reception.

He looked over towards them, and his eyes opened a little.

"...PLEASE tell me you have good news." he said.

"Please?" he asked.

"We need it at this point." he told them, desperation in his tone.