Levi nodded in response.

"You should." he said. "You weren't directly connected to them, and once I leave and get far enough away, you should be able to not hear them anymore." he reasoned.

"Take care, Levi." Hal said to him.

"Bye for now." Levi said to Hal in response.

"Goodbye." he then said to Jasmine.

With that, he took his leave, and as soon as the door was shut, and he started to walk away, Jasmine felt the whispers in her ears turn to nothing more than mere murmurs, before silence.

"I think it's safe to remove the plugs now." Hal told her.

Hal looked over to the wall and sighed, before getting up and making his way over towards her, examining the stuck blade.

"That was an impressive throw." he said.

"But I assure you, compensation will not be needed." he told her.

"This office has seen FAR worse than a knife being thrown into a wall." he chuckled.

"However, if you feel you must, just tell Marcus about this." he then said further. "If it's who I think it is, he'll contact me about it." he went on.

"For now, you'd best get your weapon and go, before something else happens."

"Ah, yes." Hal said.

"I would like them back, please." he told her, extending his hand. "They're not disposable, and they DO cost a little bit to produce." he admitted as she dropped them into his palm. "Can get a bit pricey to make earplugs so someone doesn't literally hear the mana that the Ancient Ones put out." he then muttered, shaking his head a little.

"Regardless, thank you for bringing those in." he told her, looking to the metal box. "I'll have my R&D team test them and try to make some sort of counter-agent for them." he went on.

"Would you care for updates on the situation, or notified if and when we find such a solution?" he asked her.

"And if so, how best would we contact you?" he asked further, another idea already formulating in his mind.

Hal raised an eyebrow.

"Helscape, eh?" he asked, before chuckling.

"Fair enough." he said.

"Thank you for providing a place for my employees to spend their time and have some fun." he told her.

"It's very stressful working here." he sighed. "Downtime is a sanity saver." he continued.

"Perhaps I shall drop by soon."

"Thank you, and so long for now." Hal responded, before getting up and making his way to the door, opening it.

"Hold on." he told her.

"Do you need someone to escort you back to the security checkpoint?" he asked.

"Or do you think you can make it there yourself?" he asked further. "The other option is to press one of the blue tiles on the walls, and then say where you want to go." he went on.

"It's quite comprehensive and simple if you'd like to try it." he added.

"Fair enough." Hal responded.

"Be well, and be safe." he told her, before disappearing into the office again.

Jasmine then found her way out of the building, and then back to the bar, where she saw Marcus sitting at the bar, itself, a drink in his hands, and his back towards her. But he knew she was there. He could smell her. He knew her scent.

"Welcome back." he said, looking over towards her.

"...geez, this is only the second time you've been to the Unit, and once again you come back looking like crap." he commented, narrowing his eyes a little.

"Oh... oh, holy hell, what HAPPENED to you?" he asked, an extremely shocked tone to his voice now.

"...." Marcus was silent as she just said things to him and didn't even answer his question. Didn't even acknowledge he even ASKED a question. He looked at her more intensely for a moment, and then sighed.

"Right." he said.

"I can tell whatever happened to you is... pretty bad." he said further.

"I can see it in your eyes." he went on.

"Literally." he continued.

"They're very pale right now."

"....you're serious." Marcus said, before pausing.

"Wait..." he mumbled. "Oh, you had a run-in with their conduit." he realised, before sighing heavily.

"Well, crap." he said.

"Yes, you go and rest. I'll take care of the bar for the next while." he said further.

"...and for what it's worth, the Triad and Council have told me, off the record, that your sister's punishment will be extremely minimal... if any." he then assured her.

"I'm going to put up surveillance equipment in her shop to catch the ones doing this."

Marcus just sighed quietly, and nodded with a small smile.

"Yeah, sure." he said. "Let's have a drink." he told her.

"And you need to take it easy, to understate it, for a bit." he went on.

"I tell you, you're a tough one." he then said.

"A banshee, and then hearing Ancient Ones?" he continued.

"You've already experienced more than most hunters have in their entire life."

Marcus just laughed lightly.

"I getcha." he said. "I really do." he told her.

"And gimme a scotch on the rocks." he said. "Might as well have some primo stuff alongside you." he reasoned.

-About a week later-

Hal approached the bar, and checked his watch. It was about 10 minutes until it closed, and he could see that things were winding down inside. All that remained were a few regular patrons, and he recognised them as Unit workers.

"Heh." he chuckled, before making his way inside and approaching the bar, where Jasmine was working.

"Good evening." he greeted her.

"Or morning, technically." he added with a smirk.