To her surprised, 'Lindsay' looked at her, and his eyes lit up, as he snapped his fingers.

"Splendid idea!" he declared.

"Yes, absolutely!" he said further, as she heard him hastily unlock her door and open it.

"Come, come!" he continued. "Let's see what the sentries did, and see if we can't fix those raiders!" he went on.

"Hurry, hurry!" he insisted, as he stepped out of the way.

"While they're still breathing." he told her, pausing. "Well... okay, while they're still probably alive." he clarified. "The sentries don't usually kill what they bring back... not on purpose, anyway."

'Lindsay' just smirked a little, as they started to walk in the direction that would take them to where the sentries would be taking the raiders.

"Fight?" he asked.

"That is the farthest thing from my mind, dear cousin." he assured her, a subtle evil glint to his eyes that flew under her radar.

- - -

Hal just growled as he studied the security files that he had been sent... and it seemed to show that Kiah, herself, was the reason that the staff and guards had been found unconscious.

And he was NOT pleased.

That's when he heard his receptionist arguing with someone... that sounded a lot like Kiah.

He immediately got up and made his way to his office door, throwing it up.

"You!" he said to Kiah. "In here! Now!" he ordered her.

"Kiah Ivey Remmington!" Hal snapped at her.

"You have a LOT to explain!" he told her.

"You cannot just attack a member of the medical staff and two security guards, and just amble off into the Unit!" he said further.

"You'd better have a good explanation for this." he went on.

"I don't care if we're family, or that you're the best damned lab tech I have in this place, you're not immune to consequences." he continued, sounding extremely unimpressed.

"So. What's your explanation?" he asked.

Almost immediately, she felt an ominous and oppressive presence from him.

"...excuse me." he said.

"What did you just say?" he asked.

"Did you honestly just threaten me? And one of my oldest friends?" he asked her.

"..." he was then silent, narrowing his eyes.

"You know that if you did... then the full force of the Council will be upon you, and there WILL be a court martial." he warned her further.

As soon as she approached the door, it slammed shut on its own.

"Not so fast." Hal said to her.

"Either you answer my questions, or you are going to be seriously regretting some of your recent choices." he warned her.

"Employee or not, friend or not, family or not, I will not hesitate to use force against a threat to the safety and wellbeing of those I care about, even if that threat is from someone ELSE I care about." he said further.

"Answer me, Kiah." he demanded.

"And your answer better be good."

"Ethics exist for a reason!" Hal snapped back.

"And what do you mean you haven't gone by Kiah in 'generations'?" he asked her.

"We've called you that ever since you started working her. That or Dr. Remmington." he went on. "And you've only been unconscious for a couple of days." he continued.

"...the hell HAPPENED to you while you were out?" he asked.

"Seriously. You're like a completely different person!"

"L. Who is L!?" Hal demanded.

"And he knocked you out? How?" he asked further.

"You developed a sudden migraine while doing paperwork with Ilias, and passed out shortly after." he told her.

"What are you ON about?" he asked her, feeling some unease in the pit of his stomach.

He was ready to put the building on immediate emergency lockdown so that she couldn't escape from here. And he had the reflexes to initiate it instantly.

"You speak as though you're someone entirely different." he then said, reiterating it from last time.

Her explanation would have been fine, except for her tone, as well as everything she'd said before, made it sound ominous. It almost sounded like a ratonalisation for doing horrible things... or worse, a legit belief in it.

"Further life, and ever-..." Hal started to say, before shaking his head.

"Cousin?" he asked her.

"Wait... cousin... 'L'..." he went on, before pausing slightly.

"Are you talking about Lindsay?" he asked.

"..." Hal was silent as he heard this, unsure as to how to properly react to this. This was completely NOT how Kiah acted, even when she was joking around or acting out-of-character. This was just something... different. Entirely.

"...was?" he asked.

"It... still is." he told her.

"He's not stopped going by that." he continued.

"I... think you need serious help." he then said further.

"You're not going anywhere until we figure this out." Hal told her, approaching.

"Says you!" K responded, deftly picking up a chair and chucking it at him. He managed to catch it, but by the time he'd done so, K had barged out of the room, and was on her way out.

Hal acted fast, and opened a hidden panel on his wall, pressing an orange button behind it. As soon as he did, an alarm blared over the P.A. system, with an automated message playing.

"THE BUILDING IS NOW UNDER STRICT LOCKDOWN. THERE WILL BE NO ENTRY OR EXIT UNTIL THE LOCKDOWN ENDS." it declared... and that meant mortal and mana. Nobody could get in or out, unless their mana superseded the mana used for the lockdown.

Hal then pressed a smaller button and spoke into the microphone there.

"Attention! Dr. Kiah Remmington is to be avoided at all costs!" he said. "If you see her, do not engage! Call security and inform them of her whereabouts. This is not a drill, I repeat, this is NOT a drill. Dr. Kiah Remmington is to be considered an S-level threat, and we will not exit lockdown until she is found and properly detained!" he finished.