Illias just smiled.

"All right." he said.

"You want something to eat as well?" he asked her.

"And I know it wouldn't be the first time getting into the journals for you." he then said. "Just figured it'd still be exciting." he went on.

"It should turn the scientific community upside down." he chuckled.

"You got it." Illias replied, before heading to grab the food.

A little bit later, he returned with Greek salad, a variety of gyros, and some soda for them.

"Here we go." he said.

"Brought back a bit of a variety pack." he chuckled.

"The cafeteria's being mopped up right now, so I figured it'll be easier to just eat here, as opposed to disturbing them." he reasoned further.

"Though you probably already planned to eat here." he then laughed.

Illias just nodded when she said what she did.

"All right then." he replied.

The two of them made their way to her office, shut the door behind them, and then Illias sat down in front of the desk, while Kiah sat down behind it. It was hers, after all.

"Eat while we talk?" Illias suggested.

"The gyros, anyway." he clarified.

"They're best while hot. The salad can be eaten anytime." he chuckled.

"Oh, and any ideas where to start?" he asked her, getting to business.

Illias accepted the folder, and looked over the contents.

"Hmmm." he mumbled.

"......hmph." he then muttered.

"From what I see, his office is pretty damn secure." he said, trying to hide his disappointment, before he noticed something.

"Wait." he then interjected.

"His windows seem a bit... unprotected." he commented.

"I mean, yeah, he's a number of stories up, but that's maybe a place where the security could be lax." he reasoned.

"Unless there's something there we don't know about." he went on.

"Which... is possible. I'm admittedly hardly ever in Sharp's office, and even then, it's not for long." he said further, as he poured over the files again.

Illias raised an eyebrow when he heard that.

"Slightly weaker to the left?" he asked.

'Hmmmmmmm... interesting...' he thought.

"Weird." he then said aloud.

"Poor workmanship, do you think?" he asked.

"But that seems unlikely... top dollar was paid for this facility, I'm told." he went on.

"Regardless, that IS weird." he admitted.

"We'll have to see if there's any reason for it."

"Well, fair enough." Illias responded as they ate.

"That WOULD make sense." he admitted.

"We just need to remember that we're not there to fix the issues, just bring them to light, and propose possible solutions." he then said.

"...sorry, just reminding myself." he quickly told her.

"Need to remember not to be TOO ambitious." he chuckled.

"We just need to scan the place, looking for trouble areas." he shrugged.

'...and find whatever it is in there that I NEED...' he finished internally.

"Of course." Illias responded.

- - - -

Hal sighed as he stretched out his arms, and got up from the desk.

"All right, time to go home." he said.

"I'm pretty damn tired." he mumbled, before making his way to the wall safe he had.

'...need to get the book, first.' he thought.

It was about that time, that his secretary heard his voice emanate from his office... loud and clear.

"SON OF A BITCH!"

"Depends." Hal growled.

"Can you find the dead man that decided to break into my office and somehow steal an artefact that I was holding onto for Hollie Remmington?" he asked, venom in his tone.

"Hollie is going to have my HEAD on a platter if she finds out that it's gone." he told her.

"And I have no explanation as to how it's happened. My office is one of the most secure locations in this building." he said further.

"Damn it, check the security camera!" he then ordered her.

"We need to see if anyone came into my office!" he said further.

'...when the tome was actually IN my office, while I wasn't there, which is practically impossible.' he then thought.

She went back and told him of this, which really did not make him happy.

"Damn it all!" he cursed.

"This is impossible." he growled.

"Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!" he cursed, slamming his fist onto his desk.

"Nobody knew I had it!" he went on.

"...........I have to tell her." he realized and vocalized.

"I'm going to die."

Sharp just leaned forward, and put his hands in his face.

"I don't know." he admitted.

"I don't think there's ANYTHING you can do." he said.

"Just... just contact her." he told her.

"Get her here as soon as possible." he went on.

"....and prepare for the worst."